There’s one date in Japanese real estate that matters more than any other: June 1, 1981. On that date, Japan’s revised Building Standards Act went into effect, establishing what’s called the 新耐震基準 (shin-taishin kijun) — the new earthquake resistance standards. Every residential building in Japan falls on one side or the other of that line, …
Read more “Earthquake-Proofing and the 1981 Building Code Divide”
The cheap house you found online might be cheap for a reason that has nothing to do with the house. It might be cheap because it can never be rebuilt. Or because the road it sits on is too narrow for legal construction. Or because the land underneath it is classified as farmland and you …
Read more “Land Rights, Setback Rules, and the Things Nobody Tells You”
Otaru gets five to six meters of cumulative snowfall per winter. I want to make sure that number registers. That’s not a dusting. That’s not a white Christmas. Five to six meters is sixteen to twenty feet of snow falling on your house, your yard, your street, and every surface that faces the sky, accumulating …
Read more “Snow Country: What Hokkaido Weather Does to a House”
Everyone wants to know the purchase price. That’s the wrong number. The right number is the total cost — purchase plus renovation — and in Japan, especially in Hokkaido, renovation is where the real spending happens. A house that costs ¥3 million ($20,000) might need another ¥3-8 million to bring it up to the standard …
Read more “Renovation Costs in Japan: What Things Actually Cost to Fix”
I’ll be upfront about something: I did not get a professional inspection on my Otaru house. I walked through it once, in winter, with snow on the ground, and looked at the rooms, turned on a few faucets, checked that the lights worked. Brief. Cursory. The kind of walkthrough where you’re already emotionally committed and …
Read more “What to Look for When Inspecting a Japanese House”
A 40-year-old house in the United States is normal. A 40-year-old house in England is new. A 40-year-old house in Japan is a tear-down. This is the single most disorienting thing about Japanese real estate for Western buyers. The house you’re looking at — solid foundation, intact roof, functioning plumbing — is valued at zero. …
Read more “Japanese Houses Are Not Built to Last — And That’s the Point”