Short answer: Tottori Prefecture does not run one akiya bank for the whole prefecture. Its akiya bank page lists the banks of individual municipalities (Tottori, Yonago, Kurayoshi, Sakaiminato and a string of towns), each with its own conditions and contact. The pages are in Japanese, so search with browser translation and the words 空き家バンク, 売買 and 賃貸. Relocation money follows the national Tokyo-origin rules, and the prefecture's own housing subsidy is built around local timber and does not mention akiya. The hazard that Tottori has actually experienced in the last decade is the 2016 Central Tottori earthquake.
The prefecture's page. The akiya bank page, last updated on 9 June 2023, explains that municipalities collect information from vacant-house owners and provide it to people who want to use them. It gives links and phone numbers for the municipal banks, including Tottori City's akiya information bank, Yonago City's akiya and vacant-land bank, Kurayoshi City's bank and Sakaiminato City's bank, and towns such as Iwami, Wakasa, Chizu, Yazu, Misasa, Yurihama, Kotoura, Hokuei, Daisen, Nanbu, Nichinan, Hino and Kofu. The prefectural contact on the page is the Middle Mountain and Regional Promotion Division (0857-26-7961). The page is dated 2023, so check the town's own site for the current state.
National banks. At Home (akiya-athome.jp) and LIFULL HOME'S also carry listings from participating towns. A listing is an introduction; the conditions on residence, renovation and neighbourhood participation are on the town's page, as described in our akiya bank conditions guide.
| Goal | Japanese to use |
|---|---|
| A town's bank | 鳥取県 [town] 空き家バンク, for example 倉吉市, 米子市, 智頭町 |
| Sale or rental | 売買 / 賃貸 |
| Renovation subsidy | [town] 空き家 改修 補助金 |
| Relocation fund | 鳥取県 移住支援金 |
| Hazards | ハザードマップ plus the town name |
Read the land category, road frontage (接道) and the heating and water arrangements on every listing, and use the kanji red-flag guide for the rest. The agent question list is Japanese ready to paste.
The prefecture's relocation support page lists ¥1,000,000 for a household, ¥600,000 for a single person and up to ¥1,000,000 per child under 18. You must have lived in Tokyo's 23 wards or the non-disadvantaged parts of the Tokyo area for five of the previous ten years, with a continuous year immediately before moving (the national framework is on the Cabinet Office page). One of four routes must apply: a job on the Tottori business-talent job site (20 hours a week or more, permanent), remote work for your existing employer, a prefecturally supported start-up, or recognition as a relocation supporter by the municipality. You apply within a year of moving and intend to stay five years; the money is repaid in full if you move away within three years and by half between three and five years, with hardship exceptions. The page does not mention nationality, and a buyer arriving from overseas would not meet the origin condition as written.
The prefecture's Sumairu housing support page for fiscal 2026 (applications from 1 April 2026 to 19 March 2027) pays for new building and renovation of owner-occupied homes using Tottori timber, through builders based in the prefecture; renovation support is capped at ¥500,000 or 50 percent of the cost. It does not mention akiya or buying a used house, so ask whether your project qualifies before assuming it does.
Comparing a Tottori coastal house with one inland? 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 checklistThe prefecture's special page on the earthquake records that at 14:07 on 21 October 2016 an M6.6 earthquake struck central Tottori, with a maximum intensity of 6-weak in Kurayoshi. Within the prefecture, 18 houses were completely destroyed, 312 were half destroyed and 15,078 were partially damaged; nobody died, including related deaths, 8 people were seriously injured and 17 lightly, and there were no fires. The numbers show a pattern worth knowing: very little total collapse, but a great many damaged houses. If a listing is in the central part of the prefecture, ask whether the house was affected, what was repaired and whether the roof was re-laid. Then look at build year and foundation (pre-1981 houses) and earthquake cover (fire insurance guide).
The prefecture designated tsunami disaster alert zones on 17 September 2019 for seven municipalities (Iwami, Tottori, Yurihama, Hokuei, Kotoura, Daisen and Hiezu), on 7 February 2020 for Sakaiminato and on 27 March 2020 for Yonago. The zones cover areas where a maximum-class tsunami could endanger life, and maps are available from the prefecture's river offices and each municipality. Compare them with the national layer in the hazard map guide.
The prefecture's landslide warning zone page says designations and reviews are made continuously and offers three ways to check: the Tottori Web Map, the sediment disaster warning information system and an AR viewer. It also notes that undesignated places can have landslides and urges residents to look at the terrain themselves. For a slope lot, read the retaining wall guide.
The prefecture publishes pages on snow cautions and on the damage from past heavy snow, for example the snowfall beginning 30 December 2020 and the one beginning 27 January 2023. None of the pages reviewed gave numbers we can quote, so treat roof-snow questions as inspection items: how the roof is built, when it was last repaired and who clears snow if the owner is away. JMA's 1991 to 2020 normals count 3.0 typhoon approaches a year for the Chugoku region, against 5.8 for the mainland (JMA). See the inspection guide.
The prefecture's akiya bank page lists municipal banks rather than a single prefectural one, including Tottori City, Yonago City, Kurayoshi City, Sakaiminato City and a number of towns. Each town's page holds the conditions. The pages are in Japanese.
The prefecture's page lists ¥1,000,000 for a household, ¥600,000 for a single person and up to ¥1,000,000 per child under 18, for people who lived in Tokyo's 23 wards or the non-disadvantaged Tokyo area for five of the previous ten years. You must intend to stay five years, and the money is repaid in full if you move away within three years and by half between three and five years.
The prefecture's fiscal 2026 Sumairu support page covers new building and renovation of owner-occupied homes using Tottori timber by builders based in the prefecture, with up to ¥500,000 for renovation. It does not mention akiya or used-house purchase, so confirm with the prefecture before counting on it.
The M6.6 earthquake of 21 October 2016 reached intensity 6-weak in Kurayoshi. The prefecture reports 18 houses completely destroyed, 312 half destroyed and 15,078 partially damaged, with no deaths including related deaths, 8 serious injuries and 17 minor injuries.
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.