On a ¥1,000,000 (about $6,500) akiya in Japan, the closing fees alone can land near 54% of the purchase price. Most costs of buying property in Japan are fixed fees, not percentages. The commission cap, the scrivener and the taxes barely shrink when the house does, so the cheaper the house, the uglier the ratio.
I want to know more about buying property in Japan than the people casually scrolling listings, because we plan to buy a house there in November 2026. In June 2026 we sold our Florida house and nearly everything we owned so we could start buying and renovating houses internationally. We are buying remotely, having only seen the house in videos and photos, and then we fly to Japan in early 2027 to renovate our very own akiya (空き家), or abandoned house. We budgeted $100,000, which we believe will cover the purchase, the renovation and six months of living expenses in Japan. I am still saving toward that number, so any fee I don’t budget for comes out of the renovation. No gatekeeping here, this is what I wish someone had handed me when we started our search a few months ago.
Conversions are rounded at roughly ¥155 to $1, as of September 2026. The yen moves against the dollar, so run your own numbers when you start looking.
The short version
- Agent commission is the biggest budgeting mistake. On a cheap vacant house the cap is ¥330,000 including tax, roughly six times what the standard formula gives you.
- Real estate acquisition tax is a one time tax paid to the prefecture. The bill arrives 3 to 18 months after closing, in Japanese, in your mailbox.
- The 6% to 10% rule of thumb for closing costs holds on normal properties. At $32,500 (¥5,000,000) it is nearer 11%, and at $6,500 (¥1,000,000) it is around 54%. Add your fixed costs first, then the percentage ones. Never use a flat percentage.
- A $6,500 house realistically lands around $50,000 (¥8,000,000) to $95,000 (¥15,000,000) all in with renovation, before a plane ticket.
Agent commission: the fee that can be one third of your purchase price
Everyone finds the standard agent commission ladder first (仲介手数料, chūkai tesūryō): 5% plus consumption tax up to ¥2,000,000, 4% plus ¥20,000 plus tax to ¥4,000,000, and 3% plus ¥60,000 plus tax above that (about 3.3% plus ¥66,000).
| House Price USD | House Price JPY | Agent Commission | Consumption Tax | Max Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $6,500 | ¥1,000,000 | ¥50,000 to ¥300,000 | ¥5,000 to ¥30,000 | $2,100 or ¥330,000 |
| $13,000 | ¥2,000,000 | ¥100,000 to ¥300,000 | ¥10,000 to ¥30,000 | $2,100 or ¥330,000 |
| $19,500 | ¥3,000,000 | ¥140,000 to ¥300,000 | ¥14,000 to ¥30,000 | $2,100 or ¥330,000 |
| $26,000 | ¥4,000,000 | ¥180,000 to ¥300,000 | ¥18,000 to ¥30,000 | $2,100 or ¥330,000 |
| $32,500 | ¥5,000,000 | ¥210,000 to ¥300,000 | ¥21,000 to ¥30,000 | $2,100 or ¥330,000 |
| $39,000 | ¥6,000,000 | ¥240,000 to ¥300,000 | ¥24,000 to ¥30,000 | $2,100 or ¥330,000 |
| $45,500 | ¥7,000,000 | ¥270,000 to ¥300,000 | ¥27,000 to ¥30,000 | $2,100 or ¥330,000 |
| $52,000 | ¥8,000,000 | ¥300,000 | ¥30,000 | $2,100 or ¥330,000 |
| $58,500 | ¥9,000,000 | ¥330,000 | ¥33,000 | $2,300 or ¥363,000 |
| $65,000 | ¥10,000,000 | ¥360,000 | ¥36,000 | $2,550 or ¥396,000 |
Run a ¥1,000,000 house through the low end of this table and you get ¥55,000. Lovely. It is also most likely wrong.
On July 1, 2024, Japan revised the rule for low-price vacant properties. At or under ¥8,000,000, an agent may charge up to ¥300,000 plus consumption tax, so ¥330,000. The revision also extended it so the charge can fall on the buyer, not the seller alone. The old version applied at or under ¥4,000,000.
So the real ceiling is ¥330,000, six times the ¥55,000 number, on a fee you had filed away as solved. We are just budgeting ¥330,000, or about $2,100, for this, and if it is less we will be good with that. Ask your agent in writing what they will charge before you get attached to a house.
Stamp duty and registration tax
Stamp duty is the friendliest line here. A house at ¥1,000,000 or less pays ¥500. Above that, see the table below.
| Cost USD | Cost JPY | House Price USD | House Price JPY |
| $6.50 | ¥1,000 | $6,500 to $32,500 | Over ¥1,000,000 to ¥5,000,000 |
| $32 | ¥5,000 | $32,500 to $65,000 | Over ¥5,000,000 to ¥10,000,000 |
| $65 | ¥10,000 | $65,000 to $325,000 | Over ¥10,000,000 to ¥50,000,000 |
Registration and license tax matters more. It is charged on assessed value, not price, which on an akiya is usually good news. Most houses are assessed at 50% to 70% of the purchase price. Land transfer is 1.5% under the reduced rate, which runs through March 31, 2029, and building transfer is 2.0% standard. A residential building reduction to 0.1% to 0.3% exists, but it needs a 住宅用家屋証明書 (residential house certificate): 50 square metres of registered floor area minimum, at least 90% residential use, acquisition for your own residence, and registration within one year. Pre-1982 builds also need a seismic conformity certificate.
That certificate generally requires a 住民票 (Japanese resident record), so a non-resident (us) will struggle to get one, which means we need to calculate 2.0% on the building rather than 0.3%. Confirm it with a judicial scrivener rather than treating it as settled.
So if we buy a property in the $32,500 (¥5,000,000) range, we are budgeting about $1,130 (¥175,000) for registration. That number has wiggle room built in on purpose.
The judicial scrivener
A 司法書士 (judicial scrivener) handles your title registration. Expect $650 (¥100,000) to $1,000 (¥150,000) for a simple transfer, $1,000 (¥150,000) to $2,000 (¥300,000) with multiple parcels or title problems. Some quotes come in at $325 (¥50,000). We are budgeting on the high side here, $1,000 to $1,500.
This fee sits on top of the registration tax the scrivener pays for you. Akiya frequently carry an inherited title left unresolved across generations, with heirs who must be found and asked to sign. That is the most common reason a bill triples.
Real estate acquisition tax: the ambush bill
This one catches people off guard because it does not come at closing. It arrives from the prefecture, by mail, in Japanese, 3 to 18 months later. Sources disagree on timing, so plan wide.
The rate is 3% on land and residential buildings through March 31, 2027, and 4% on non-residential buildings. It is based on the government’s official assessed value of the property, not the price, and through the same date the assessed value of land is cut in half before the tax is figured.
There is also a used-home deduction, but it depends on the house being your own home. Nationality does not matter here, how you use the house does. We are pretty sure it will not apply to us, but if you plan to live in the house, apply. It comes off the building’s assessed value first: ¥12,000,000 for builds from April 1997, ¥10,000,000 for April 1989 to March 1997, ¥4,500,000 for July 1985 to March 1989, and ¥4,200,000 for July 1981 to June 1985. It also needs taxable floor area of 50 to 240 square metres, and a build date on or after January 1, 1982 or a seismic certificate.
You have to file for it at the prefectural tax office. No filing, no reduction. A typical rural akiya bill runs around $300 (¥45,000), premium properties $2,000 (¥300,000) and up.
Fixed asset tax and city planning tax
Fixed asset tax is 1.4% of assessed value, every year. City planning tax adds up to 0.3%, but only inside a designated urbanization area, which many rural akiya are not in.
The residential land special measure cuts your land’s assessed value to one sixth, up to 200 square metres, while a house stands on it. A typical rural akiya runs $30 (¥5,000) to $100 (¥15,000) a year. Under $100 a year to own a house is the part that keeps pulling people in. We are budgeting for the high end, $100 to $200.
There is an exemption threshold too. If your total assessed value in one municipality is under $2,000 (¥300,000) for land or $1,300 (¥200,000) for buildings, no fixed asset tax is levied at all. Plenty of deep-rural akiya fall under it, though holdings in the same municipality are added together.
One warning. Demolish the house and the one sixth reduction dies with it, and land tax jumps roughly 3 to 6 times. You will also reimburse the seller a pro-rated share of this year’s tax at closing.
Every akiya buying cost in one chart
Here is the whole stack, from the transaction fees to the inspections and clean out. Note that a boundary survey is a schedule risk as much as a cost.
| Cost | Typical Amount USD | Typical Amount JPY | When it hits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent commission | Up to $2,100 at or under $52K | Up to ¥330,000 at or under ¥8M | At contract or closing |
| Stamp duty | $3 to $65 | ¥500 to ¥10,000 | At signing |
| Registration and license tax | $100 to $2,000 depending on assessed value | 1.5% land, 2.0% building (assessed value) | At registration |
| Judicial scrivener fee | $650 to $2,000 | ¥100,000 to ¥300,000 | At registration |
| Real estate acquisition tax | $300 to $2,000 | Around ¥45,000 rural, ¥300,000+ premium | 3 to 18 months after closing |
| Fixed asset and city planning tax | $30 to $100 | ¥5,000 to ¥15,000 per year | Annually |
| Home inspection | $325 to $900 | ¥50,000 to ¥140,000 | Before you commit |
| Seismic diagnosis | $650 to $2,600 | ¥100,000 to ¥400,000 | Before you commit |
| Boundary survey | $2,000 to $5,200 | ¥300,000 to ¥800,000 | Before closing, takes 3 to 4 months |
| Interpreter | $650 to $2,000 | ¥100,000 to ¥300,000 total | Viewings through closing |
| Clearing belongings | $1,300 to $6,500 or more | ¥200,000 to ¥1,000,000 | After closing |
| Fire and earthquake insurance | $260 to $420 | ¥40,000 to ¥65,000 per year | From closing |
| International transfer | Varies | 0.4% to 4% of the amount | At payment |
| FEFTA filing | $130 to $320 | ¥20,000 to ¥50,000 (estimate) | Within 20 days |
| TOTAL (full stack) | About $8,500 to $26,000 | About ¥1,300,000 to ¥4,000,000 | Plus the transfer fee |
- Consumption tax. With a private individual seller, which covers nearly all akiya, there is no 10% consumption tax on the building, and land is never taxed. It does apply to agent commission, scrivener fees, loan handling fees, and all renovation work, so quote your renovation tax inclusive.
- Clearing the previous owner’s belongings. Contracts often say 現況渡し (genkyō watashi), as-is with contents included. That sounds like a bonus. It is a cost handed to you, and trash removal in Japan is expensive, so negotiate removal before signing.
- Interpretation. Around ¥30,000 to ¥60,000 a day for a site visit. The 重要事項説明 (jūyō jikō setsumei), or “Explanation of Important Matters,” is a legally required verbal briefing, in Japanese, covering road access, zoning, non-rebuildable status, and known defects. Nodding through it to save on an interpreter is the most expensive false economy here.
- Insurance. Earthquake cover is sold only as a rider on a fire policy, and an old wooden house is the worst-rated category, so you pay the top of the range on the least valuable thing you will ever insure. Good thing it is only about $400 a year. Maximum term is 5 years. Payouts follow assessed value, so a house assessed at ¥500,000 will never produce a ¥15,000,000 renovation payout.
- Travel. Almost nobody buys on the first trip. At $700 to $1,650 airfare from the US plus ground costs, two or three trips means $6,000 to $12,000 before you own anything, more than the house in some cases. We are buying remotely, but we may be crazy.
- FEFTA filing. Non-residents must report the acquisition to the Ministry of Finance within 20 days, and an agent can file it. Treat my ¥20,000 to ¥50,000 figure as an estimate, since I found no published price.
The 54% problem
Every guide tells you to budget 6% to 10% of the price for fees. Accurate for a normal property, badly wrong for a cheap one. At ¥5,000,000, fees run about 11%. At ¥1,000,000, about 54%. The cause is the fixed-fee floor. Your scrivener does not charge less because the house was cheap, and the commission cap does not shrink.
That 54% counts the transaction fees: commission, stamp duty, registration, the scrivener, acquisition tax and the FEFTA filing. The full stack in the chart above adds inspections, the survey and clearing out the house, and on a ¥1,000,000 house that can run past the price of the house itself.
So stop calculating fees as a percentage. Add your fixed costs first, put the percentage ones on top, then look at the sticker price. Do that and something clicks: a ¥3,000,000 house often beats a ¥300,000 house, because the fee stack is nearly identical and the cheap one is in worse shape. That is why the “free akiya” story disappoints people. We are budgeting for at least $10,000 in fees or more!
FAQs
How much are the hidden costs of buying an akiya?
Transaction fees run about 6% to 10% on a normal property, 11% at ¥5,000,000, and 54% at ¥1,000,000. Add inspections, a survey and clearing out the house, plus renovation, and a ¥1,000,000 akiya lands at ¥8,000,000 to ¥15,000,000 all in, before travel. The renovation side is broken down in my akiya renovation cost post.
Can a foreigner buy property in Japan without living there?
Yes. Japan puts no residency or visa requirement on ownership. Buying does not get you a visa either, and non-residency makes some tax reductions harder to claim. More in this post on foreign buyers.
When does the real estate acquisition tax bill arrive?
Anywhere from 3 to 18 months after acquisition, by mail, in Japanese. Set the money aside at closing and leave it there. A bill landing mid-renovation hurts.
Should I demolish the old house?
Usually no, or not before doing the math. A standing house keeps your land assessed at one sixth, up to 200 square metres. Tear it down and land tax jumps roughly 3 to 6 times, permanently.
Run your own numbers
None of this is meant to talk you out of an akiya, only to keep the fees from eating the money you meant to spend on a roof. Put these figures next to a real listing before you fall for a photo of a farmhouse.
If you want to see where our money is coming from, here is how we’re saving $100,000 to move to Japan.
The weekly email is where the real numbers land first. The listings we’re looking at, what each fee actually comes to once we pay it, and the stuff I get wrong before it ever makes it into a blog post.
Rather watch than read? I’m filming the akiya search and the renovation for YouTube, so subscribe there and you’ll see it all happen.
Got a question about buying in Japan? Email me at hello@selenebuildsthings.com.
Read Next
- Why a ¥0 akiya is never actually free
- What an akiya renovation really costs in 2026
- Whether foreigners can buy in Japan, and why it won’t get you a visa
Until next time,
Selene
