Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 25 May 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Official figures report that there are more than eight million houses standing empty across Japan, the reality could be even higher. One of the highest concentrations of empty houses or ‘Akiya’ as they are known, is in the Prefecture of Akita, in Northern Japan, where in the past five years, houses have been abandoned at a rate of 13.6 percent.
The problem is being put down to a number of factors. The lack of employment or education opportunities in rural economies means more migration into the cities. An ageing population combined with a low birth rate is upending traditional living arrangements. The land on which property sits benefits from tax relief, and if a property disappears so does the preferential measure. Building codes are strict. Religious reasons are cited as another factor - it’s believed that the spirits of ancestors still dwell in the home.
The Government has invested heavily in the housing sector, from financial incentives to occupy older empty houses, to focusing on building preferred new and expensive homes in Japan’s cities in order to boost the economy. But as the population demographics continue to shift and shrink, unless the balance of supply and demand is addressed soon, then the suggestion is that empty Akiya will be an ongoing issue for Japan.
This week on the Inquiry we’re asking: Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan?
Contributors: Ayumi Sugimoto, Associate Professor, Rural Studies, Akita International University, Japan Misa Izuhara, Professor of Social Policy, University of Bristol, UK Kazuki Morimoto, Associate Professor in Japanese, University of Leeds, UK Jiro Yoshida, Associate Professor of Business, Pennsylvania State University, USA; Guest Professor of Economics, University of Tokyo, Japan
Presented: Charmaine Cozier Produced: Jill Collins Researcher: Bisi Adebayo Editor: Tara McDermott Technical producer: Richard Hannaford Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
(Photo: Abandoned wooden house in Tambasasayama, Japan,5 April, 2023 Credit: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to The Inquiry on Charme Cozier each week for expert witnesses one question and an answer. |
| 0:10.5 | January 2023, Japan. Parents in the Tokyo region receive an offer it's hope they won't refuse. |
| 0:18.8 | Returned for moving their young families out of urban areas they could get one million |
| 0:23.7 | yen per child that's just over 7,000 US dollars. The cash does come with conditions at least one |
| 0:33.4 | family member must have a job or be planning to start a business in their new rural location. |
| 0:39.9 | If they quit before five years is up they have to pay everything back. |
| 0:46.4 | It's the latest in a series of local and central government initiatives to tackle an intriguing |
| 0:51.6 | property problem. So this week we're asking why are there millions of empty houses in Japan? |
| 1:02.8 | Part 1. Acquire |
| 1:05.4 | In Japan is vacant houses is Acquire. Acquire means vacant or empty. Acquire means house. |
| 1:21.6 | My name is Ayumi Tsurimoto. I am associate professor at Acquire International University. |
| 1:28.8 | On the stable day when I built my office when I drive my car I can observe |
| 1:35.5 | tableau acquire empty houses on the way. So sometimes I can easily identify |
| 1:41.4 | at this is acquire empty house because it's the glowing higher or grass windows or doors |
| 1:48.9 | or those roots are already bloc. So such bad condition of acquire could be easily identified. |
| 1:57.2 | Acquire to prefecture where Ayumi Tsurimoto lives has one of the highest concentrations of |
| 2:02.4 | empty houses in Japan. The number there has been growing for years. According to 2018 national statistics |
| 2:10.6 | the number of empty houses was 60,800 and includes of 4,200 over the past five years. |
| 2:20.5 | The empty house late was 13.6% and this late here is exactly the same as Japan's whole empty house late. |
| 2:31.5 | It's important to note that not all acquire are in poor condition so can be difficult to spot. |
| 2:37.7 | They also exist in urban areas. Official figures identify more than 8 million abandoned |
| 2:43.6 | homes across Japan so it's likely the actual number exceeds that. There are several reasons for |
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