Japan’s ‘rubbish’ homes: surge in akiya abandoned houses as more elderly Japanese die
- More than 9 million ‘akiya’ homes – 13.8 per cent of all Japan’s residential properties – have been left empty after owners die, a new report found
- Depopulation is partly to blame. But some families simply can’t afford the high cost of demolition, or squabble over what to do with the property
The windows are boarded up, the paint is peeling and the garden is hopelessly overgrown. This single-storey property in the upmarket Negishi district of Yokohama, south of Tokyo, should be ripe for redevelopment – but has instead been left to gently decay for more than a decade.
These akiya (“empty houses”) are being abandoned when their elderly occupants either die or move into retirement homes. Surviving family members often don’t want to move into the properties and cannot afford the high cost of demolition. In many cases, inheritors can’t even be located – or squabble over how the asset should be divided if they are found.
In each case, the building remains uninhabited.
Seth Sulkin, founder of property developer and asset management firm Pacifica Capital KK, said the “primary reason” for homes in Japan being left empty “is that the population outside Tokyo is falling rapidly, especially in areas such as Tohoku and Hokkaido, and old people are simply abandoning their homes”.
“In addition to that, it is very difficult to recycle these properties because of the inheritance and property title systems in Japan,” he told This Week in Asia.
