Full episode28 minNews & Politics, as YouTube files it

Japan’s Abandoned Houses: Crisis or Expat Dream? | Full Episode | SBS Dateline

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About this episode

As homeownership becomes increasingly expensive in many parts of the world, we travel to Japan, where millions of empty and unwanted houses, known as ‘akiya’, are being sold cheaply or given away. Can foreign buyers help solve Japan’s empty house problem?

00:00 Intro 02:29 How many empty homes are there in Japan? 03:24 Australian Jaya Thursfield shows his renovated akiya 04:35 How much has Jaya spent on his new home? 07:02 How a foreigner can buy an akiya 07:19 Meet the "akiya hunters" from Akiya & Inaka real estate consultancy 09:10 How much do akiyas cost and what's a catch? 09:59 Looking for akiyas in the Japanese countryside 10:42 Japan's vacant housing problem 11:58 Can you just claim an empty house? 13:16 What the Japanese government does to address the issue 13:39 Why the Japanese don't want akiya 16:52 How akiya consultants help the Japanese to deal with their inherited property 20:55 Why Australian Dara Robinson is looking to invest in an akiya 24:36 Do people in small towns want foreigners to move in?

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Posted by
SBS Dateline, the YouTube channel of News & Current Affairs | Dateline, on 2023-09-06
Rights holder
News & Current Affairs | Dateline, whose own site links this channel (checked 2026-11-07)
Length
28 min
Where it plays
Everywhere but Australia, as its rights holder set it on YouTube
Made for kids
No, as YouTube designates it
Language
English, as YouTube records it
Captions
YouTube says it has captions; its player shows them
What it is
A full episode, as its rights holder calls it
Who can watch here
Adult profiles and older: no rating is recorded on YouTube, so adults only. How these videos are chosen

The title, description, picture, length, category, ratings, broadcast times, where it plays and whether it is made for kids come from YouTube. The rights holder named, how it was checked, what it is by its own title or playlist, and which profiles see it are this site's own.