Tag - akiya

 
 

AKIYA

Held April 19 to 21 and organized by the nonprofit organization Kominka Japan, the Minka Summit bridges architectural tradition with contemporary possibilities.
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 16, 2024
Minka Summit returns for third year of home design, talks and more
The Minka Summit showcases Japan's traditional homes amid modern crises and a steady build in interest.
Australian Tayler Paulsen and her Kiwi husband Neil managed to purchase a fully-equipped lodge in Myoko, Niigata Prefecture, for only AU$110,000 (about ¥10 million).
COMMUNITY / The Foreign Element
Jan 29, 2024
In Niigata, a winter (and real estate) wonderland
For Australians and New Zealanders facing expensive prices back home, Japan’s snow country is a hotbed for cheap real estate.
Mika and Jesse say their landlady prefers a hands-off style of property management, leaving all matters, including maintenence and repairs, to the renting couple.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 18, 2023
Renting akiya: A backdoor into Japan's abandoned homes
“If the choice is between leaving (an akiya) empty or renting it out, please rent it out.”
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2023
Abandoned houses providing a new source of valuable timber in Japan
In some areas, forlorn grand old houses remain as vestiges of the prosperous shipping and mining industries along the Sea of Japan route built during the Edo Period and Meiji Era.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 28, 2022
Notes from Setouchi: An autumnal spectacle of light and shadow
Artworks in abandoned houses play with the natural light found on the islands in the Seto Inland Sea.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 4, 2022
A race against time to save Japan’s traditional homes
It takes a village to save the dwindling expressions of Japan's quintessential folk architecture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Longform
Apr 4, 2022
Reimagining Japan’s growing glut of empty homes
Entrepreneurs see an opportunity in Japan's abandoned properties as businesses try to change them from liabilities into assets.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos
May 17, 2021
Renting, building or renovating: Tips to get the best roof over your head
If you plan to stay for a while in Japan, there are several routes you can take when it comes to finding a place to rest your head.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos
May 10, 2021
Japan’s undeterred housing market is full of opportunity for foreign residents
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many foreign residents to think about what they want to do long-term in Japan. For some, buying property is the answer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 23, 2020
Cheap, spacious, crowd-free: Rural Japan is having a moment with the foreign community
Laura Blackhall took a risk purchasing an empty house in the Ibaraki countryside. Amid and following a pandemic, though, it's a choice that just might pay off.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2019
House-flipper takes advantage of Japan's 8 million-plus empty homes
More than 8 million homes lie abandoned across Japan, a symptom of the declining population and people's migration to major cities.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2019
Number of abandoned homes in Japan edges up to record high of nearly 8.5 million
Empty homes now account for 13.6 percent of Japan's housing stock, with the bulk of them concentrated in Yamanashi and Wakayama prefectures, government data show.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 13, 2016
The lure of Japan's mysterious ruins
Abandoned sites offer explorers a numinous mix of history, mortality and a sense of the passage of time
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 6, 2015
Cheap rural homes come at a price
Though the hollowing-out of population in regional areas in Japan has become a major issue for the central government, it's been a problem for regional governments for more than three decades. Twenty years ago there was a popular promotional method called "I-turn," devised as a supplement to the "U-turn" movement. This latter scheme lured people who lived in cities back to their hometowns. The I-Turn scheme, however, targeted people who grew up in cities but perhaps had some romantic longing for rural life.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on