My Akiya House Is Available for Rent

DATE:

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*** Nov. 2023 update: this house is currently rented, but will be available March 2024. Serious inquiries should e-mail me.

The Japanese Countryside house I have lived in for about the past year is available for rent. I have moved in with my husband elsewhere. We considered keeping it as a weekend home, but the reality is that we simply have too many projects going to put it to good use. So now this akiya is for rent! The house will be managed by members of the local community (I receive no income from this property). Here are the stats:

Rent: 2万円 per month (at the time of posting, that’s around $137USD per month). At a later date, the house is anticipated to be available for ownership.
Location: Sadamisaki Peninsula, Ehime prefecture, Shikoku (Rural Japan)
Schools: Misaki Elementary School, Misaki Junior High School, Misaki High School (5 mins by car)
Grocery store: Foods Nikoniko, Lawson (4 mins by car)
Restaurants: Sadamisaki Hanahana, Marina tei, Cafe Kitoki (5 mins by car)
Airport: Matsuyama airport (~1.5 hours by car)
Close to a public park, fishing area, bakery

There are three tatami rooms on the main level. The kitchen/dining is separated by the genkan/breezeway. There is one upper-level bedroom. By Western standards, this is a one-bedroom house. In traditional Japanese style, this house accommodated a family with two or three children.

There are three sheds. Most of the backyard is concrete. There is no front yard.

Not included:

  • Appliances (you will need to provide your own fridge, LP stove, A/C, etc.)
  • Repairs and maintenance (large-scale should be done in cooperation and consultation with management)

Included: Hot water heater, any items left at the property (most items have been removed).

Showa-era Kominka Traditional Japanese home living room with shoji sliding doors and an Aladdin kerosene stove
The showa-era interior design of my akiya kominka in rural japan
2nd floor landing of my Showa-era akiya, kominka traditional japanese house in the inaka.
2nd floor of my akiya in the Japan inaka with showa-era pressed glass, tatami mat flooring and fusuam rice paper sliding doors
Backyard garden café in Japan's Inaka, surrounded by akiya vacant houses.

Estimated utilities

*These numbers will vary depending on your lifestyle and usage. I’ve provided these estimates for general reference purposes only.
Water: ¥1140 JPY / month
Electrical: ¥10,700 JPY / month
Gas: ¥2285 JPY / month
Internet (Pikara): ¥5,000 JPY / month
Community dues: ¥12,000 JPY / year

Prospective tenant requests

The local community is especially interested in a prospective tenant who would like to participate in local activities. This means both leisure (eg: festivals) and work (eg: community weed clean-up). Bonus points for someone who wants to start a business in town.

Japanese language ability: recommended but not required. If you can’t speak Japanese, you should be able to use google translate on a smart phone.

Notes about this akiya for rent

This house comes with no warranties or guarantees. It has not been surveyed for structural, mechanical, or electrical safety. There is no insulation and the house was not built to be air-tight, so it gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

Visa: you will need to manage your own visa business. Renting/owning property does not provide any right to live here. Need advice? Ask these qualified sources.

Contact

Send an email with your name, LINE ID, and a brief introduction to bitsii.creative [at] gmail.com, and I will forward it to the manager.

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Questions?

Comment below!

Bitsii
Bitsiihttps://www.youtube.com/@bitsii
Bitsii is an award-winning designer, having specialized in socially responsible interior design. Currently living in a remote part of Shikoku, she shares videos and articles about her home, garden, and cultural experiences as a foreigner in the Japanese Countryside.

8 COMMENTS

  1. Me & my husband wish we could, me especially because I design & create fiber art that’s conscientious on sustainability, durability & eco-friendly. I have a sole proprietorship, am a Certified Tribal Artist, I design knitted crafts featuring traditional Alaska Native art & designs with my own designs complementing them- I only bring that up because I saw in one of your videos that there is silk producers & weavers in that area & I adore silk. I’m just learning to weave fabrics though I mainly hand knit. I do my best to use non-superwashed protein fibers like silk, alpaca, camel, yak, merino fibers that are not chemically treated except for acid dyes or natural dyes that I do for each piece.
    We also prefer rural settings that have tight knit communities because we’re Alaskans, that’s what we’re used to lol.
    Sad sigh, the community & house sound perfect, I truly wish we could rent this house & be a part of the community.

  2. I would like to rent this and start a Bonsai Garden. I would not need to plant in the ground to make this type of Garden. Would the community be excepting of an older Trans Woman with a Bonsai Garden Dream? My life has thus far been an interesting trip maybe this could be our next chapter.-P@

    • It would definitely be a first for them! I’m not sure how they would respond – probably just confused. It’s a pretty isolated area, unexposed to much global culture.

  3. Hi Bitsii! My Partner and I are interested in potentially renting this property. I am a digital nomad, looking for a place to rent in the Japanese countryside so I can follow my dreams of buying properties in Japan and refurbishing them to help bring life back to the communities. I can pay a Years rent in advance and am heading to Japan in two weeks times to start looking for other places to rent! Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon!

  4. Hi Bisti! I love your place and it is a great idea to keep the house and rent it. I am interested in renting it long term if possible. It is not for now but if the option is possible then I might reconsider how I live my life right now and take the big leap to finally live my dream.
    Thank you 🙂

  5. Hello Bisti,
    Great place, I am interested in renting it, let me know how to get in touch with you and get a bit more detail about renting the place.
    thank you

  6. Seems you already have a good response but I too am interested in renting the house. Would very much like the community aspect. I’m a writer, three books published and many articles. Also a yoga teacher and Qigong practitioner. Longing for the surrounding quiet and wanting to do some gardening.

    Sending you a quiet hug

    Peta-Lyn

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