You can buy one of those very cheap in the countryside. Many are abandoned because in Japan the land taxes are more expensive when the land is empty so when old people die the relatives don’t even bother to take care of the properties and let the houses just there to rotten. As long as there is something standing in the land taxes go down.
I’ve been to many, I want to buy one but because most of them are on the countryside there are no jobs for me there so I’m stuck in the middle of Osaka. Hopefully one day I will buy one.
If you haven’t already, read Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings by Edward Morse. It’s a classic.
We’ve been looking at traditional Japanese homes as well. If you’re serious about buying, I’d recommend staying at a minpaku BnB for a few days in the area you’re looking. Try to look at one or two that require a complete renovation, some that are in the process of renovation, and at least one that had been fully renovated. In December we visited a kayabuki style A frame house originally built 500 years ago. It had been thru a renovation, but that was 180 years ago. The major appeal of big country homes like this are the magnificent Hinoki Cedar beams.
The home had been abandoned for nearly 50 years before the current owners bought it a few months ago. They were still cleaning old piles of wood, birds nests, broken furniture, tools and so on when we visited. The most exciting thing I saw them pull out of the rubble was a matched katana and tanto pair of swords (Kamakura era). I’ve no idea what they’re worth, but it took my breath away to see them in that context.
[http://www.hachise.com](http://www.hachise.com) sells machiya in Kyoto and the surrounding area. They provide service in English, and they have services to either rent out your house or check on it while you’re not there. They also have some for daily rental or longer term.
Some of the machiya are renovated and some are not.
I visit their site often to drool and dream.
If I ever win the lottery, I will definitely get a machiya.
I’ve got one I’ve been renovating for over a year.
My friend Tokyo Llama has a lot of great content on YouTube too if you’re interested in doing one yourself.
This is the kind of house I dream to live in…
Posted this before, but it is very relevent to this post too:
I think most of you realize, but this is **NOT** a typical Japanese house at all. Looks nice, but modern Japanese often prefer “wooden floors” and western style beds/walls etc. This is a somewhat typical not so cheap house out in Kanagawa or something: https://imgur.com/a/owOShhu
And OK just in case you are saying “Wait, the pictures are of an *old* Japanese house.” Here’s a typical old house out in Shizuoka: https://imgur.com/a/a4n0zdw
Yes it has tatami mat floors and stuff, but nothing as fancy as the pictures. Some of them are somewhat similar to the pictures posted, but only the very insanely expensive ones. Personally I love old houses, and I think they are cute! And yes, like I said, *some* very nice houses look like the pictures in the original post but that kind of thing is more common in Japanese style inns etc.
These are beautiful photos. Thank you for sharing them.
Does anyone know the average prices for these houses? I’ve heard that they’re cheap but if I look them up they’re pretty expensive.
I’m almost 1.5 years into owning my house. (I’ve bought it with my dad) The basement will eventually be a suite and I want to make it as close to a “Modern Traditional Japanese House” as I can. So the low entrance with shoe storage. Small table to sit on the floor. The bathroom I’m going to make exactly the same, with the shower first then a tub beside. I’m sure you all know the rest. I’m so excited for it, but it won’t be started for a whike still.
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You can buy one of those very cheap in the countryside. Many are abandoned because in Japan the land taxes are more expensive when the land is empty so when old people die the relatives don’t even bother to take care of the properties and let the houses just there to rotten. As long as there is something standing in the land taxes go down.
I’ve been to many, I want to buy one but because most of them are on the countryside there are no jobs for me there so I’m stuck in the middle of Osaka. Hopefully one day I will buy one.
If you haven’t already, read Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings by Edward Morse. It’s a classic.
I love them too. They are so unique and so cool. I just want to go to Japan someday and maybe buy one 🤩
We’ve been looking at traditional Japanese homes as well. If you’re serious about buying, I’d recommend staying at a minpaku BnB for a few days in the area you’re looking. Try to look at one or two that require a complete renovation, some that are in the process of renovation, and at least one that had been fully renovated. In December we visited a kayabuki style A frame house originally built 500 years ago. It had been thru a renovation, but that was 180 years ago. The major appeal of big country homes like this are the magnificent Hinoki Cedar beams.
The home had been abandoned for nearly 50 years before the current owners bought it a few months ago. They were still cleaning old piles of wood, birds nests, broken furniture, tools and so on when we visited. The most exciting thing I saw them pull out of the rubble was a matched katana and tanto pair of swords (Kamakura era). I’ve no idea what they’re worth, but it took my breath away to see them in that context.
[http://www.hachise.com](http://www.hachise.com) sells machiya in Kyoto and the surrounding area. They provide service in English, and they have services to either rent out your house or check on it while you’re not there. They also have some for daily rental or longer term.
Some of the machiya are renovated and some are not.
I visit their site often to drool and dream.
If I ever win the lottery, I will definitely get a machiya.
I’ve got one I’ve been renovating for over a year.
Pretty recent:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJh6CZJrwU7/?igshid=1x07cg5h3wv5s
Converted an Oshirei closet into a desk space this week:
https://i.imgur.com/ons8VSf.jpg
An older write up I did:
https://imgur.com/a/MEErgqS
Random post I did about staining the wood:
https://imgur.com/gallery/qOG5def
Pictures after I removed the second floor and opened the ceilings up/ made new ceilings.
https://imgur.com/gallery/aiPAZEg
Kitchen:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEa2uiEg08u/?igshid=7vtqnmyrsyof
Bathroom:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEsiLaoA26M/?igshid=xa79enplyevq
My friend Tokyo Llama has a lot of great content on YouTube too if you’re interested in doing one yourself.
This is the kind of house I dream to live in…
Posted this before, but it is very relevent to this post too:
I think most of you realize, but this is **NOT** a typical Japanese house at all. Looks nice, but modern Japanese often prefer “wooden floors” and western style beds/walls etc. This is a somewhat typical not so cheap house out in Kanagawa or something:
https://imgur.com/a/owOShhu
And OK just in case you are saying “Wait, the pictures are of an *old* Japanese house.” Here’s a typical old house out in Shizuoka:
https://imgur.com/a/a4n0zdw
Yes it has tatami mat floors and stuff, but nothing as fancy as the pictures. Some of them are somewhat similar to the pictures posted, but only the very insanely expensive ones. Personally I love old houses, and I think they are cute! And yes, like I said, *some* very nice houses look like the pictures in the original post but that kind of thing is more common in Japanese style inns etc.
These are beautiful photos. Thank you for sharing them.
Does anyone know the average prices for these houses? I’ve heard that they’re cheap but if I look them up they’re pretty expensive.
I’m almost 1.5 years into owning my house. (I’ve bought it with my dad)
The basement will eventually be a suite and I want to make it as close to a “Modern Traditional Japanese House” as I can.
So the low entrance with shoe storage. Small table to sit on the floor. The bathroom I’m going to make exactly the same, with the shower first then a tub beside.
I’m sure you all know the rest. I’m so excited for it, but it won’t be started for a whike still.