Short answer: Many older guides send you to the "Fujinokuni Akiya Bank", Shizuoka's prefectural listing site. It no longer exists: the prefecture says it was discontinued on 31 March 2025. Today you search three layers: the akiya banks of individual cities, the real estate association's site, and the national banks run by At Home and LIFULL HOME'S. All of them are in Japanese, so you work with browser translation and the terms 空き家バンク, 売買 and 賃貸. The distinctive risks in Shizuoka are the Nankai Trough and Suruga Trough earthquake and tsunami scenarios published in the prefecture's Fourth Earthquake Damage Estimate, the Mt. Fuji hazard maps and, since the 2021 Atami debris flow, the question of whether a hillside lot sits on fill.
The prefecture's page on the akiya bank is explicit that the prefectural bank was abolished on 31 March 2025 and that listings continued on At Home's national akiya bank until 31 March 2026. It lists these alternatives:
For questions the page gives the prefecture's housing section: sumai@pref.shizuoka.lg.jp or 054-221-3084. The lesson for a buyer is general: a link in a two-year-old blog post may point to something that has closed. Always confirm on the municipality's own page that the bank is still operating and what it requires. The structure (the town introduces, the owner sells) is explained in our akiya bank conditions guide.
| What you want | Japanese search / label |
|---|---|
| A city's akiya bank | 沼津市 空き家バンク, 富士市 空き家バンク, 静岡市 空き家バンク (replace with the city) |
| Houses for sale / rent | 売買 / 賃貸 |
| Mountain-area properties in Shizuoka City | 中山間地域空き家情報バンク |
| Subsidy for the house you picked | [city] 空き家 改修 補助金 |
Translation tools handle conditions pages reasonably but mangle place names, so keep the Japanese town name in your notes. Our kanji red-flag guide covers the labels that matter on a listing, and the agent question list gives Japanese you can paste into an email.
Shizuoka City runs two separate systems, one for urban areas and one for the mountain districts, and each has its own renovation subsidy: the "akiya renovation subsidy" for urban properties and a "mid-mountain area migrant housing renovation subsidy" for mountain districts. The city's own text is candid that stock is limited: good properties are met by chance rather than found on demand. The mountain-area bank, 中山間地域空き家情報バンク, states two expectations. Newcomers should join the neighbourhood association and actively take part in local activities; owners should contract with migrants who are expected to settle and live cooperatively with the community. The city registers properties and passes information to applicants who submit a negotiation request form, but it provides information only and does not mediate: you negotiate directly with the owner or through a licensed agent. The pages do not give subsidy amounts, so ask the city for the current figures and conditions.
Yutorist Shizuoka's support page lists ¥600,000 for a single person, ¥1,000,000 for a household and ¥1,000,000 for each child under 18, with amounts varying by municipality. The origin condition mirrors the national scheme (Cabinet Office): living in Tokyo's 23 wards, or living in Saitama, Chiba or Kanagawa (outside disadvantaged areas) and commuting to the wards, for five of the last ten years including the final year. After moving you need one of: employment, a start-up, telework or "related population" status, and you must apply within one year of moving. The page does not mention foreign nationals or residence status. As with the other prefectures, someone moving from overseas would not meet the origin test as written, so the fund is mainly relevant if you already live in Tokyo.
Choosing between Izu, Fuji and the Hamamatsu side? An Akiya Check report brings the flood, tsunami, landslide, elevation and zoning data for the exact address into one English report (emailed; PDF on request). Compare 3 puts three addresses side by side so the trade-offs are visible.
Single report $49 · Compare 3 $99 Free 12-point checklistShizuoka Prefecture publishes its Fourth Earthquake Damage Estimate (第4次地震被害想定), with reports dated from 2013, an addendum on the Sagami Trough in January 2015 and a level 1 tsunami update in June 2015. It models both "level 1" earthquakes (those with historical precedent) and "level 2" maximum-class events, and supplies tsunami inundation depth maps by region and town-level damage estimates in Excel. The prefecture itself states that the municipal boundary datasets used for building damage calculations are not suitable as statutory reference materials, which is a good reminder to treat any estimate as planning information rather than a promise. A separate page publishes the assumed tsunami inundation maps (想定津波浸水域図). For a coastal address, read the inundation depth, then use the national hazard map (how to read it) to see how much time and what route you have to higher ground.
One more point relates to the same threat: houses built before 1981 follow an older seismic standard; see pre-1981 houses. Ask an insurer what earthquake and tsunami cover is available for the address, because ordinary fire policies generally do not include earthquake damage.
Shizuoka's Fuji hazard map page hosts the March 2021 revision, which replaced the 2004 maps after simulation work done between 2018 and 2021. The maps cover lava flows (small, medium and large eruptions), pyroclastic flows, snowmelt lahars, large projectiles and ashfall, with a combined hazard integration map. If you are looking in the foothills of Mt. Fuji, look up the address; elsewhere in the prefecture, ashfall is the more widely relevant item. The same maps are published by Yamanashi, as described in our Yamanashi guide.
In July 2021 a debris flow struck the Izusan district of Atami City. Shizuoka Prefecture set up a dedicated page with its administrative-response verification committee materials (Atami Izusan debris flow), and the prefecture has since had a dedicated ordinance regulating embankments (盛土等の規制に関する条例). For a buyer, the practical question is simple: what is uphill of the lot, and is any of it man-made fill? Use the large-scale fill land map and the landslide layer, and read our retaining wall and cliff guide.
No. According to the prefecture's page, the Fujinokuni Akiya Bank (ふじのくに空き家バンク) was discontinued on 31 March 2025. The page directs people to municipal akiya banks, the Yutorist Shizuoka relocation portal, the akiya site of the Shizuoka Real Estate Association, and the national banks run by At Home and LIFULL HOME'S.
For its mid-mountain area akiya bank the city says it provides information only and does not mediate. The parties negotiate directly or through a licensed real estate agent, and applicants are expected to join the neighbourhood association and take part in local activities.
The prefecture's page lists ¥600,000 for a single person, ¥1,000,000 for a household and ¥1,000,000 for each child, subject to municipal rules. It is for people who lived in or commuted to Tokyo's 23 wards, requires a qualifying job, business or telework arrangement, and must be applied for within a year of moving. The page does not mention foreign nationals.
The prefecture's Fourth Earthquake Damage Estimate covers the Suruga and Nankai Troughs and the Sagami Trough, with level 1 and level 2 scenarios, tsunami inundation depth maps by region and town-level damage data. The prefecture notes the municipal damage data are not suitable as statutory reference materials.
Shizuoka Prefecture publishes the revised March 2021 Fuji hazard maps, which cover lava flows, pyroclastic flows, snowmelt lahars, large projectiles and ashfall. Check whether the address falls in an affected area; the maps are a basis for evacuation planning rather than a prediction.
Have a specific listing in mind? Get the official zoning, hazard and transaction data for that exact lot — plus the questions to send the agent — in one report.
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.