Short answer: if you are looking at one specific listing and want a plain-English verdict within a day, Akiya Check is built for that. If you are researching many properties over months — as an agent, investor, or team — a map-and-database subscription like Japan Property Research is built for that instead. This page compares them factually, using Japan Property Research's own public pricing and feature pages (checked September 2026). We are not affiliated with Japan Property Research; if anything here is out of date, their pricing page is the source of truth.
Japan Property Research is a self-serve web platform: you log in, search a lot number or address, and view map layers — zoning, official hazard designations, land price history, and a registry (touki) lookup — across a claimed 1.2M+ listings and 102M+ lots nationwide. Paid tiers add "Market Watch," "Market Comp," exports, alerts, and short-term rental analytics. Plans are billed monthly with a 7-day free trial, and the Business tier is explicitly built for teams ("3 seats," "shared workspace").
Akiya Check is a done-for-you report: you send one listing URL (or paste the listing text), and within 24 hours you receive an English PDF that combines the same category of official government data (zoning, hazards, population trend, nearby transactions) with something a map cannot do — a reading of the actual listing text for Japan-specific risk facts (rebuild restrictions, septic vs. sewer, leasehold, disclosure matters, akiya-bank conditions), scored and ranked by severity, plus a ready-to-send bilingual question list for the agent.
| Format | Japan Property Research: self-serve map & database, browser tool Akiya Check: one PDF report per listing, delivered by email |
|---|---|
| Pricing | JPR: Free / ¥1,900 per month (Personal) / ¥24,800 per month (Business) / custom (Enterprise) Akiya Check: $49 per listing (Single Report), $99 for three (Compare 3) — no subscription |
| Reads the listing text itself | JPR: not part of the published feature set Akiya Check: yes — this is the core function |
| Akiya-bank conditions (residency, age, renovation obligations) | JPR: not published Akiya Check: checked against a growing municipality database |
| Bilingual question list for the agent | JPR: not published Akiya Check: generated automatically for every unknown item |
| Account required | JPR: yes (sign-up, trial, then billing) Akiya Check: no — pay and send the listing, nothing to log into |
| Refund policy | JPR: not published on the pricing page Akiya Check: full refund if a stated fact turns out to be wrong |
| Breadth of data | JPR: much broader — nationwide lot search, market comps, registry ordering, alerts Akiya Check: narrower by design — one property, analyzed in depth |
| Built for | JPR: agents, investors and teams evaluating many properties on an ongoing basis Akiya Check: a first-time or occasional buyer deciding on one house |
Some buyers reasonably use both: a map tool to shortlist candidate properties across a region, then a one-time report for the specific listing they are about to commit to. Get the free 12-point checklist first if you are not sure yet which stage you are at.
Have one listing you are deciding on right now? Get the official zoning, hazard and transaction data for that exact lot, plus a reading of what the listing itself says — in one PDF.
Get a $49 risk report Free 12-point checklistIs Akiya Check a competitor or an alternative to Japan Property Research?
They solve different problems. Japan Property Research is a self-serve map and database subscription for browsing zoning, hazard and price layers yourself. Akiya Check is a done-for-you report for one specific listing you are already considering. Many buyers could reasonably use both, or neither, depending on how many properties they are evaluating.
Which one is cheaper?
For a single property, Akiya Check's one-time $49 fee is normally cheaper than a Japan Property Research monthly subscription, since the subscription keeps billing until you cancel. For someone evaluating dozens of properties over months, a subscription may work out cheaper per look.
Does Japan Property Research read the actual listing text?
Based on its published features, Japan Property Research's core product is map layers (lot boundaries, zoning, hazards, land price, registry lookup) plus market analytics. We did not find a feature that parses an individual listing's text for facts such as rebuild restrictions, septic tanks, leasehold status, or disclosure matters — that is the core of what an Akiya Check report does.
Pricing and feature details for Japan Property Research were current as of September 2026, taken from their public pricing and feature pages, and may have changed since. This page is a factual comparison, not an endorsement or criticism of either service; if you find something here inaccurate, please let us know by replying to any Akiya Check email.