There are about an estimated 8 million total houses left unoccupied in Tochigi, a prefecture North of Tokyo, Japan according to an article published by JapanInsides.com.
Last 2018, a survey done by Japan’s Housing and Land reported that around 8.49 million homes are lying vacant in Japan. These unoccupied houses are sold at very low cost and others are even given away for free just to repopulate the rural areas.
Strengthened by the plans of former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshide Suga to revitalize the rural areas as part of its socio-economic plans for the country, he pledged to stimulate the rural economy by pushing tourism and agricultural reform in the countryside. This is due to the latest findings that 13.6% of 62.42 homes in Japan are currently unoccupied.
In Japan, Akiya Banks were established to make it more convenient for people to find vacant houses in the country such as in Tochigi and Nagano. These banks list all vacant houses and offer them for sale for as low as 50,000 yen or approximately ₱25,000.
Why are there a lot of vacant houses in the rural areas of Japan?
The major reason for the skyrocketing number of vacant houses in Japan is the high death rate and the tendency of people to leave their homes to move to Tokyo or other bigger cities for better opportunities.
What are the incentives given by the government to encourage more people to move back to rural areas?
The government is luring people to go back to rural areas by giving them renovation subsidies, free properties, and even cash incentives.
The programs of the government have been effective so far since most properties were put to good use and some are converted to workshops or eateries. It helped also minimize the number of abandoned buildings that could collapse in the future if left unsupervised.
There is even a certain program by which employed remote workers in Tokyo working in the countryside are given 1 million yen or approximately ₱500,000 cash grant. Also, company owners who will set up IT businesses in the rural areas will also be granted 3 million yen or ₱1.5Million in donation.
If you are Japanese, would you relocate to the rural area and take advantage of the free housing incentives of the government?
