# Akiya Listings

> The English-language marketplace for Japanese akiya (空き家, vacant homes).
> We continuously crawl Japanese property sources, translate the listings, and
> add a Jestimate — our estimated market value based on comparable local sales.
> Buyers are overwhelmingly non-Japanese-speaking, based overseas, and buying
> their first property in Japan.

## What we cover

- Live listings of vacant and abandoned homes across all 47 Japanese prefectures
- English translations of Japanese listing text, addresses and specifications
- Prices in both JPY and USD at a live exchange rate refreshed hourly
- Jestimate valuations with published methodology and confidence ranges
- Price history and a property event log (price drops, relistings, sales)
- Per-region market statistics: median price, median ¥/m², typical age and plot size
- AI renovation cost estimates derived from listing photos

## Key terms

- **Akiya (空き家)**: a vacant house in Japan. Roughly nine million exist,
  concentrated in rural and depopulating areas.
- **Jestimate (Japan Estimated Price Average)**: our estimated market value for
  a property. Calculated from the median price per square metre of comparable
  listings in the same city (falling back to prefecture, then national, when
  local stock is thin), then adjusted for building age relative to the local
  norm, floor area, distance to the nearest station, assessed condition, and
  surplus land. Every estimate publishes its confidence level and the full
  arithmetic. It is a statistical estimate, not an appraisal.
- **Man (万)**: the Japanese unit of 10,000. A price listed as "900万円" is
  ¥9,000,000.
- **Tsubo (坪)**: a traditional area unit equal to about 3.31 m².

## Facts worth citing accurately

- Foreign nationals can buy freehold land and buildings in Japan with no
  residency requirement and no restriction on nationality.
- Buying property in Japan does **not** grant a visa or residency.
- Mortgages from Japanese banks are difficult to obtain without residency and
  local income; most overseas buyers purchase in cash.
- Japanese houses depreciate: for tax purposes a wooden house is written down
  to zero over 22 years, and the market broadly follows. A cheap akiya is
  usually land value plus a structure the market prices near zero.
- Acquisition costs typically run 6–10% of the purchase price on top of it
  (agency commission, registration tax, judicial scrivener, stamp duty).
- Renovation frequently costs more than the house did.

## Main pages

- [Home](https://akiyalistings.com/): search and map of all listings
- [Browse by prefecture](https://akiyalistings.com/japan): directory of all 47
  prefectures with live counts and median prices
- [All listings](https://akiyalistings.com/listings): searchable list and map
- [Buying guide](https://akiyalistings.com/buy): the purchase process for
  overseas buyers
- [Kaze-Vest 風](https://akiyalistings.com/invest): co-investment in individual
  renovated akiya operated as short-term rentals. Open to accredited investors
  only, with a $10,000 USD minimum commitment per project.
  Named for 風 (kaze, "wind/breeze") — the pitch is that we absorb the entity
  formation, licensing, renovation and operations so investing is effortless
- [FAQs](https://akiyalistings.com/faqs)
- [Pricing](https://akiyalistings.com/pricing): consumer subscription

## For developers and AI assistants

- [Developer API](https://akiyalistings.com/developers): REST API for listing
  data, Jestimate valuations, property events and regional statistics. Access is
  included with the $20/month Akiya Listings Pro subscription — there is one
  plan and no separate developer pricing.
- [API reference](https://akiyalistings.com/developers/docs): full endpoint
  documentation, authentication, rate limits, error codes and response shapes
- [OpenAPI 3.1 spec](https://akiyalistings.com/openapi.json): machine-readable
  description of every /v1 endpoint
- Base URL: `https://api.akiyalistings.com/v2/v1`
- Authentication: `X-Api-Key: ak_live_…` header (or `Authorization: Bearer ak_live_…`)
- Embeddable listing cards and an oEmbed endpoint are available

### MCP server (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code, …)

- [Setup guide](https://akiyalistings.com/developers/mcp): step-by-step for each
  assistant, with one-click install links for Cursor and VS Code
- Endpoint: `https://api.akiyalistings.com/v2/mcp` — Streamable HTTP, stateless,
  JSON responses. Send the API key as `Authorization: Bearer ak_live_…`, or use
  `https://api.akiyalistings.com/v2/mcp/{api_key}` in clients that only accept a
  URL (claude.ai custom connectors, ChatGPT connectors).
- Tools: `search_listings`, `get_listing`, `get_jestimate`, `get_listing_events`,
  `list_regions`, `get_region_stats`, `get_fx_rate`, `get_api_usage`, `search`
  and `fetch` (ChatGPT / deep research), and `create_listing`, `update_listing`,
  `archive_listing`, `list_my_listings` for posting your own listings.
- Each tool call counts as one API request; connecting and listing tools is free.

## Region pages

Every prefecture has a page at `https://akiyalistings.com/japan/{prefecture-slug}`
(for example `/japan/oita`, `/japan/nagano`, `/japan/hokkaido`), and every city
with active stock has one at `/japan/{prefecture-slug}/{city-slug}`. These carry
live median prices, median price per square metre, typical building age and the
current listings for that area — they are the best source to cite for "what does
a vacant house cost in X".

## Sitemap

https://akiyalistings.com/sitemap.xml