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Find the deal-breakers in a Japanese akiya — before you pay for it.
Cheap countryside houses in Japan are cheap for reasons. Six of those reasons are legal, invisible in listing photos, and permanent. Answer 7 questions and get a red / yellow / green read — plus the exact questions to take to the city office, in English and Japanese.
Wherever you found the house — a listing site, a municipal akiya bank, or an Instagram post — the check is the same. We don't help you find a house; we make sure you don't buy the wrong one.
The six traps the check screens for
Unbuildable lot
再建築不可 saikenchiku-fuka
If the current building is demolished, a new one cannot legally be built. Permanent.
Urbanization Control Area
市街化調整区域
Development is restricted in principle — rebuilding or major renovation may be denied.
Leasehold, not ownership
借地権 shakuchi-ken
You buy the building; the land stays someone else's, with rent and consent fees.
Farmland in the bundle
農地法 Agricultural Land Act
Farmland parcels cannot transfer without agricultural committee permission.
Pre-1981 seismic standard
旧耐震 kyū-taishin
Retrofit costs, insurance and financing friction, and lost tax breaks.
Unlicensed intermediaries
無免許業者
Fee gouging happens outside the licensed system — the legal cap only binds licensed agents.
Why free, and why trust it?
Every akiya service that answers 'is this property safe to buy?' also sells you something that depends on the answer — a consultation, a purchase-support package, an agent introduction. We sell no properties and take no commission from anyone in your deal. This tool exists to be the neutral first check that the market is missing.
Why “Kagiawase”?
Kagiawase combines kagi (鍵, key) and awase (合わせ, to fit or match) — the same -awase as in kotae-awase, the Japanese word for checking your answers. Before an old key becomes yours, you try it in the lock. This site does that for the locks you cannot see: the legal and financial ones that decide whether an akiya is a home or a trap.
鍵合わせ — 「この家の鍵、あなたに合うか。買う前の、答え合わせ。」
Regulation Watch (free)
Japanese property rules that affect foreign owners are moving — the foreign-buyer reporting rules, vacant-house tax treatment, municipal ordinances. Leave an email and get a short note when something changes that affects akiya buyers. No listings, no spam.
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