Short answer: Shimane has no single prefectural akiya bank. Each municipality runs its own, and the Furusato Shimane Settlement Foundation's relocation portal, Kurashimanet, gathers them by region (Izumo, Iwami and Oki). Everything is in Japanese, so search with browser translation and the words 空き家バンク, 売買 and 賃貸. What sets Shimane apart for a foreign buyer is that its relocation-fund page spells out the residence statuses it accepts, instead of staying silent on nationality. Local hazards to check are Sea of Japan tsunami, landslide zones on steep valley lots and a history of shallow earthquakes.
The portal. The prefecture's akiya measures page says the akiya bank system is operated by municipalities and refers readers to the Furusato Shimane Settlement Foundation's site. That site, kurashimanet.jp (with offices in Matsue and the Iwami region, plus a Tokyo satellite), has a vacant-house section listing municipal banks in the Izumo area (Matsue, Izumo, Yasugi, Unnan, Iinan, Okuizumo), the Iwami area (Oda, Misato, Kawamoto, Gotsu, Onan, Hamada, Masuda, Yoshika, Tsuwano) and the Oki islands (Nishinoshima, Okinoshima). The page says to contact each municipality's department with enquiries, so the portal is a directory rather than a transaction service.
The scale. The prefecture's page cites the 2023 Housing and Land Survey: 54,600 vacant houses, 17.0 percent of 320,300 homes in Shimane. It names five dedicated akiya consultation centres (in Matsue City, Izumo City through an NPO, Iinan Town through an NPO, Kawamoto Town and Onan Town) and lists municipal contacts. It also says that akiya registered in an akiya bank qualify for an additional subsidy under its housing remodel programme (from fiscal 2020); amounts are not on that page.
National banks. At Home (akiya-athome.jp) and LIFULL HOME'S also carry Shimane municipalities that take part. Whatever the source, the listing is an introduction and the conditions are on the town's page: see our akiya bank conditions guide.
| Goal | Japanese to use |
|---|---|
| A town's akiya bank | 島根県 [town] 空き家バンク, for example 邑南町, 津和野町, 隠岐の島町 |
| Sale or rental | 売買 / 賃貸 |
| Renovation subsidy | [town] 空き家 改修 補助金 |
| Relocation fund | わくわく島根生活実現支援事業 |
| Hazards | ハザードマップ plus the town name |
Many Shimane listings are in small towns and on islands, so read the road frontage (接道), the land category and the water and heating arrangements on every listing, and use the kanji red-flag guide. The agent question list is Japanese ready to paste.
The prefecture's Wakuwaku Shimane relocation support page (fiscal 2026) lists ¥1,000,000 for a household and ¥600,000 for a single person. The origin condition follows the national scheme (Cabinet Office): five of the previous ten years in Tokyo's 23 wards, or commuting to them from the Tokyo area, with a continuous year immediately before the move. You need a qualifying job (a position posted on Kurashimanet, a professional talent programme, or telework for your existing employer for at least 20 hours a week) or a related-population or start-up route, apply within a year of moving and intend to stay five years. If you move away within three years you repay in full, and half between three and five years. The scheme covers 18 municipalities, listed on the page.
The notable sentence is about status. The page requires applicants to be Japanese, or foreign nationals with the status of permanent resident, spouse of a Japanese national, spouse of a permanent resident, long-term resident or special permanent resident (永住者, 日本人の配偶者等, 永住者の配偶者等, 定住者, 特別永住者). So the page does speak to foreign residents, but it still requires Tokyo-area history, and a buyer arriving from overseas, or holding a status not on that list, would not meet it as written. Confirm with the destination town.
Weighing a Shimane valley house against a coastal one? An Akiya Check report brings together the tsunami, flood, landslide, elevation and zoning data for the exact lot in one English report (emailed; PDF on request) and lists the follow-up questions for the agent. Compare 3 puts three candidates side by side.
Single report $49 · Compare 3 $99 Free 12-point checklistIn March 2017 the prefecture set a tsunami inundation assumption for a maximum-class tsunami, drawing on the 2014 national study of large Sea of Japan earthquakes. The prefecture warns that flooding can occur outside the mapped area and be deeper than shown, that a larger tsunami than assumed remains possible, and that the second or third wave may have more impact than the first. It later designated tsunami disaster alert zones over that mapped area in Yasugi, Izumo, Oda, Gotsu, Hamada, Masuda, Matsue, Okinoshima, Ama, Chibu and Nishinoshima. The Matsue Local Meteorological Observatory adds that Shimane can suffer tsunami damage from Sea of Japan earthquakes even without local shaking; it lists the 1983 Sea of Japan earthquake (M7.7) and the 1993 earthquake off south-west Hokkaido (M7.8) among tsunami-producing events.
The same observatory page says every earthquake with its source in Shimane has been shallow. The most recent notable one, on 9 April 2018, was M6.1 at about 12 km depth, with a maximum intensity of 5-strong in Oda City and 5-weak in Izumo, Unnan, Kawamoto and Misato. For a house, that means paying attention to structure: build year, foundation and wall condition (pre-1981 houses), and what earthquake cover an insurer will offer for the address (fire insurance guide).
The prefecture has designated landslide warning and special warning zones since 2005 and says it completed designation of the special warning (red) zones across the prefecture on 14 September 2021, with reviews roughly every five years. You can check a lot at the municipal office, at the prefectural civil engineering office, or on the prefecture's web map, Map on Shimane. A lot outside any zone is not guaranteed safe, so also read the hazard map guide and the retaining wall guide for hillside lots.
Each municipality runs its own akiya bank. The Furusato Shimane Settlement Foundation's Kurashimanet portal lists them by region: Izumo, Iwami and Oki. Its page tells visitors to contact each municipality directly, and the pages are in Japanese.
The prefecture's page for fiscal 2026 requires applicants to be Japanese or foreign nationals holding one of these residence statuses: permanent resident, spouse of a Japanese national, spouse of a permanent resident, long-term resident or special permanent resident. The Tokyo-area residence or commuting history and the other conditions still apply.
Yes. In March 2017 the prefecture set a tsunami inundation assumption for a maximum-class tsunami from Sea of Japan earthquakes and later designated tsunami disaster alert zones in coastal municipalities. The prefecture warns that flooding can occur outside the mapped area and that the second or third wave may be larger than the first.
Landslide warning zones can be confirmed at the municipal office or the prefectural civil engineering office, and on the prefecture's web map, Map on Shimane. The prefecture says designation of special warning zones was completed across the prefecture on 14 September 2021 and that zones are reviewed about every five years.
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Get a $49 risk report Free 12-point checklistThis guide is general information based on public sources cited above. It is not legal, tax, or real-estate brokerage advice. Confirm every item for a specific property with the agent, the municipality, and licensed professionals.