Homes empty in Japan: The state is giving them away.

Periskopi

6 December 2018, 18:55(8 years ago)

Four years ago, Naokos and Takayuki Ides were given a home. There is a two - room house placed among trees in a small town of Okutama in Tokyo Prefecture. Before moving away, the couple and their three children, two teenagers, and a five - year - old, lived with Naoko's parents. [...]

Four years ago, Naokos and Takayuki Ides were given a home. There is a two - room house placed among trees in a small town of Okutama in Tokyo Prefecture.

Before moving away, the couple and their three children, two teenagers, and a five - year - old, lived with Naoko's parents.

We had to make many adjustments, but we always wanted to live in a small town and have a flower garden”, Naoko 45 said. Free house looks like it's a trick.

But Japan has always had property problems: There are more houses than people to live in. In 2013, 61 million homes and 52 million families were numbered. And the situation is expected to deteriorate. Japan's population is expected to drop from 127 million to 88 million within 2065, according to statistics from the national social security institute, which means more homes will be empty.

Since young people leave rural areas to find work in urbanised cities, towns and villages have returned to places “fantazem”, or as known in Japan's popular culture “akiya”.

It is predicted that in 2040 approximately 900 towns and villages along Japan will no longer exist, and Oquita is one of them. In this context housing delivery is a survival strategy.