Here’s an interesting place. It’s an older farm in Oyabe, Japan being offered for free. The current owner is actually hoping a foreigner will accept this house in order to come and bring some needed vitality and diversity to this seemingly too quiet old farm community. The property includes a barn and garage and comes with its own farmland. This is another house built with classic Japanese open beam (zelkova) construction. Nobody has lived here for thirteen years and the house definitely needs some work, including repair of a leaky roof and some foundation damage. But hey, with a purchase price of zero that should leave some money in the budget for renovations. The owner is quite eager to see this home go to someone who will join their community, and is actually offering to help pay for renovations if the new owner will live here full time. The owner is so sure you’ll love the area that he’s inviting folks to come, check things out, and then decide for themselves if they’d like to make this community in Japan their own.
* There are important restrictions on this land as only registered Japanese farmers (non-foreigners can become farmers, but they need to register) can purchase farmland in Japan.
Click here to view the listing for this property.
My name is Kurt Bell.
You can learn more about The Good Life in my book Going Alone.
Be safe... But not too safe.