When I first came to Japan in 2019, I knew immediately that I would be leaving too soon. I spent the second half of my trip in a depression, already anticipating my departure from this one-of-a-kind country. While still wandering the back roads of Nara, I began scheming for ways I could move here permanently. I spent the flight home practicing to myself how I would break the news to my cat.

The Good, the Bad, and the Great

The good news was that Japan has a very friendly visa policy for people from many countries. If you're an American, for example, you can spend up to 6 months per year in Japan as a tourist with no visa required. "Fantastic!", I thought. I can just work hard for half the year back home, and spend the other half exploring every prefecture of Japan!

The bad news came when I checked the prices of hotels and AirBnBs in Japan. All at once my hopes of ever spending a real amount of time here were shattered. That is, until I looked at the price of buying a home outright.

At first I thought it was a mistake. Or some kind of scam. How can the price of purchasing a home in Japan be so low when the rental prices are so high? For the same amount of money it would cost me to live in an AirBnB for a year, I could buy a property in Japan of equivalent value and own it permanently! And so began my long adventure into the world of Japanese real estate, and therefor this website. I have probably visited every website that has ever listed a home for sale in Japan at this point, and I am working to compile all of the best and most affordable options and present them here for you.

The Cheap Japan Homes database is growing rapidly, and my goal is for it to be the most comprehensive English database of Japanese homes on the internet. By subscribing to the Cheap Japan Homes newsletter, you can get free access to a selection of homes from the database directly in your inbox every week, including links on where to purchase them or get more information. Additionally, Premium membership gives unlimited access to search and filter our entire database, including select Premium-only listings that aren't available to free subscribers.

Each week's newsletter also includes relevant articles procured from a selection of Japanese news outlets that I think might interest you or aid you in your journey to becoming a Japan homeowner. I am also always working on new features and benefits for both free and Premium subscribers, so stay tuned!