When buyers first explore Japan’s countryside housing market, they inevitably ask the same question: Why do I need to pay a fee upfront? This confusion is understandable. It stems from an urban-centric view of a property buying process that is fundamentally broken for...
The path to revitalizing Japan’s countryside is often littered with proposals that die in committee meetings. There is, however, a better way—a strategy that champions creation over consensus. For any creative rural Japan project, the answer lies not in asking...
When people talk about Japan’s shrinking countryside, they often reach for one phrase: rural development. But all too often, it gets replaced with “revitalization,” a term soaked in false nostalgia. That word choice matters. “Revitalization” assumes that rural Japan...
Rural Japan entrepreneurs are not just wanted, they’re essential. Despite ongoing rural revitalization efforts, most government policies still target families rather than founders. But if the Japanese countryside is to become more than a place of retreat, we...
Our Appearance on the NOS Japan Segment Earlier this month, Akiyaz was featured on a widely viewed NOS Japan segment, where we addressed global curiosity around cheap Japanese houses. Titled “Het geheim achter spotgoedkope huizen in Japan: ‘Het is...
