Buyer's Guide
Buying and rebuilding a rural home in Japan
A practical article series covering ownership, farmland law, lodging licences, inspections, renovation budgets and due diligence — each with an interactive checklist you can work through as you evaluate properties.
Can Foreigners Buy Property in Japan? Ownership, Structures, and What It Doesn't Get You
Foreign individuals and companies can generally own Japanese land and buildings — but ownership gives you no visa, no farmland rights, and no lodging licence. Here's how to structure a rural purchase correctly.
9 min read
The Farmland Trap: Why That Cheap Akiya with Rice Paddies Isn't Automatically Yours
Rice paddies, fields and forest attached to a rural Japanese house are governed by the Farmland Act and forestry rules. Learn how Article 3 approval, blue land, irrigation districts and forest notifications really work.
8 min read
Minpaku vs. Simple Lodging: Choosing the Right Licence Before You Renovate
Japan's 180-day minpaku rule, the Hotel Business Act's simple-lodging route, fire equipment, health-centre approvals — decide your regulatory model before designing the guest wing, not after.
8 min read
Zoning, Road Access, and the House You Can't Rebuild
A standing house is not proof you may rebuild it. Urbanization-control areas, the 2-metre road-frontage rule, existing-nonconforming buildings and unregistered extensions — the planning checks that decide a rural purchase.
7 min read
Inspecting an Old Japanese House: The Seven-Layer Hierarchy
A standard home inspection is only the first layer. Foundations, timber frames, seismic standards, termites, retaining walls and asbestos — how to actually assess a pre-1981 rural house before you buy.
9 min read
What a Kominka Renovation Really Costs (and Why It Can Exceed the Purchase Price)
Full renovations of traditional Japanese houses run ¥8-40 million and beyond. Planning ranges for seismic work, insulation, roofs and water systems — plus the retrofit sequence that avoids paying twice.
8 min read
Water, Roads, and Snow: The Rural Infrastructure and Hazard Screen
A structurally sound house can still be unusable: undocumented spring-water rights, undersized septic tanks, winter road closures, flood-prone access bridges. How to screen utilities and natural hazards before buying.
8 min read
The Due-Diligence Playbook: Documents, Contract Conditions, and Closing Controls
Japanese purchases don't automatically include inspection conditions. The document request list, the contract protections to negotiate (停止条件, 契約不適合責任), and the closing checks that protect your deposit.
10 min read
Building Your Japan Property Team: 16 Professionals and Where to Find Them
From judicial scriveners to kominka architects, termite specialists to cross-border tax advisers — the professional team a rural Japanese purchase actually needs, with the Japanese search terms to find each one.
7 min read