For the casual visitor to one of Japan's crowded megacities — and even some natives who rarely see the rest of the country — it's easy to assume housing demand is high nationwide.
But with over 8.2 million homes nationwide now vacant due to an aging population, declining birthrate and mass migration of younger workers to megacities, some rural regions, and even some cities, are struggling to deal with the abandoned homes, called akiya, which are not only eyesores but also fire hazards.
In the six major prefectures of the traditional Kansai region, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Hyogo, Shiga and Wakayama, the problem is not as acute as it is elsewhere. But prefectures like Hyogo, and even cities like Kyoto and Nara, are increasingly adopting measures to reduce the number of vacant homes, including via subsidies for owners.