Why Is Nobody Buying These Japanese Houses Where the Mine Closed? (From $2,000)

Ten abandoned Japanese houses (akiya) for sale in Saikai, Nagasaki - from $2,000 to $145,333. Saikai is a long green peninsula on the west coast of Kyushu with islands hanging off the end of it. Some of those islands are joined to the mainland by bridges. One of them is not. That one is Matsushima, a coal island where thirteen thousand people once lived. The mine closed in 1963. Today there are around eight hundred. Three of the houses on this list are on that island, and one of them costs three thousand three hundred dollars. 00:00 Intro - the peninsula, the coal island, and a house from June 1945 01:34 Number 10 - Oshima Island ($145,333) - the 2013 House 03:17 Number 9 - Ogushi ($113,333) - the Renovated House 05:00 Number 8 - Tanno ($100,000) - the Cleared Land House 06:47 Number 7 - Amakubo ($50,000) - the 2.3 Metre Road House 08:33 Number 6 - Yukinoura ($36,667) - the Eleven Times More Land House 10:17 Number 5 - Oseto ($32,667) - the Honest Listing House 12:04 Number 4 - Matsushima Island ($23,333) - the Untouched House 13:42 Number 3 - Matsushima Island ($13,333) - the Two Thousand Square Foot House 15:25 Number 2 - Matsushima Island ($3,333) - the No Road House 17:06 Number 1 - Tairanouchigo ($2,000) - the June 1945 House 18:56 Why none of it is moving 21:31 Outro Listing links for all ten houses are in the pinned comment below. The cheapest house on this list was built in June 1945, two months before the war ended, less than forty kilometres from Nagasaki. It is still standing. The roof leaks, the floor is damaged, and three hundred and thirty two square metres of farmland comes with it. Two thousand dollars. So why does none of it sell? Matsushima had a coal mine from the seventeen eighties, and by 1913 a proper company working it. Thirteen thousand people lived on that island at its peak. The mine closed in 1963, and today there are around eight hundred people left. Twelve thousand people walked off inside a generation and left their houses behind. Then the ordinary reasons stack on top. A wooden house in Japan is commonly written down to nothing on paper after about twenty two years, so the buildings are worth zero and you are paying for the ground. Nine of these ten need work and every listing says the buyer pays. One has a leaking roof. One has damaged floors and a musty smell. One has no building certificate in the file. One has boundaries that have never been confirmed. And Saikai city publishes a page telling visitors how to arrive - it offers you two options, bus or boat. For someone comparing these prices to a median American home at over $400,000, a British town they were priced out of years ago, or the Australian market, the math looks very different. Want us to search a specific part of Japan? Leave it in a comment - the next video was chosen that way. Disclaimer: This video is for informational and educational purposes only. Property prices, availability, conditions, taxes, zoning, and other details can change. Always independently verify property information and consult qualified professionals before making a real estate decision. #AkiyaJapan #AbandonedHouses #Nagasaki #JapanRealEstate #IslandLife #MoveToJapan #LivingInJapan #CheapHouses