To check a house in Japan before buying, work through public records in a fixed order before you pay any application fee or deposit (手付金, tetsukekin): hazard map, zoning, road access, construction year, the registry certificate, water and sewage type, disclosures, nearby sold prices, and finally the Important Matters Explanation (重要事項説明). Most of this can be done from your desk with free official tools. Whether it is safe to buy an akiya (空き家, an empty house) depends on what those checks return, and a cheap house in Japan is often cheap for a reason. An abandoned house with an unclear owner, a lot that cannot be rebuilt, or a mudslide zone behind it is a different purchase from the same-looking house on solid ground. The steps below are ordered so that the cheapest, fastest checks come first and can end the deal early.
Japan publishes a lot of property-relevant data for free. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (国土地理院) runs the Hazard Map Portal Site (重ねるハザードマップ), which overlays flood, landslide, and tsunami information on a single map. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) runs the Real Estate Information Library (不動産情報ライブラリ), which shows land-use zoning, disaster-risk layers, and actual transaction prices. What none of it shows is the condition of the building's interior, the neighbors, or what the seller knows. That is why the order below ends with documents you get from the agent rather than from a map.
Do this first because it costs nothing and can rule a property out in five minutes. Enter the address into the Hazard Map Portal and toggle the flood (洪水), landslide (土砂災害), and tsunami (津波) layers. Note the depth or warning-zone category, not just whether the pin is colored. A house can be safe from rivers and still sit in a sediment-disaster warning zone. Our guide to reading Japan's hazard map before buying an akiya explains how to read each layer.
Japan's City Planning Act divides land into urbanization promotion areas and urbanization control areas (市街化調整区域), where new building is generally restricted. Look up the zoning layer in the Real Estate Information Library, or ask the municipality's city-planning section. MLIT explains the system on its urbanization control area page. A house inside a control area may be hard to rebuild, hard to finance, and hard to resell. See what an urbanization control area means for a Japanese house for the listing terms to watch for.
Under Article 43 of the Building Standards Act, a building site generally must touch a qualifying road for at least 2 meters, as shown in the official English translation on Japanese Law Translation. A lot that fails this test is called saikenchiku fuka (再建築不可): you can usually live in the existing house, but you may not be able to build a new one if it is demolished. Ask the agent for the road width, the frontage width, and whether the road is public or private (私道). Our guide to saikenchiku fuka lists the phrases used in listings.
Japan's current seismic standard (新耐震基準) took effect on June 1, 1981. Buildings that received their building confirmation before that date fall under the old standard (旧耐震). The registry certificate (Step 5) shows the construction date, so cross-check it against the listing. MLIT publishes information on seismic retrofitting on its housing seismic page. Many cheap houses in Japan are pre-1981, which affects insurance, loans, and repair budgets. Details are in our guide to the pre-1981 seismic standard.
The registry certificate (登記事項証明書, often called the 全部事項証明書 or toki) is the legal record of who owns the land and building, when the building was built, its floor area, and whether there are mortgages or other claims. Legal Affairs Bureaus accept requests at the counter, by mail, through an exchange service at another bureau, or online where available, as described on a Legal Affairs Bureau request-methods page. The Registry Information Provision Service (登記情報提供サービス) also lets you view registry information online. You will need the lot number (地番) and building number (家屋番号), which the agent can provide. Check that the seller named in the listing matches the registered owner. If the owner is a deceased relative, read how inheritance registration works for an akiya, since unregistered inheritance can stall a sale.
Many rural houses are not on public sewer. They use a septic tank (浄化槽, jokaso) or, in older cases, a pit toilet, and may use propane (LP) gas and a well. Ask which system serves the house, when the tank was last inspected, and who holds the maintenance record. The Ministry of the Environment publishes background on johkasou systems. Replacement and connection can be a significant cost, covered in our guide to septic tank costs for a Japanese house.
Sellers and agents must disclose certain matters that may affect a buyer's decision, including some past incidents on the property. MLIT publishes guidelines on disclosure for such matters. Ask in writing whether there is anything to disclose and keep the answer. Look for terms such as 告知事項あり, 心理的瑕疵, or 現況有姿 (sold as-is). See our guide to kokuchi jiko disclosure matters for what each phrase can mean.
Asking prices are not sale prices. The Real Estate Information Library lists actual transaction prices by area, which lets you see whether the house is cheap relative to its neighbors or only cheap because it has a defect. A discount well beyond nearby sales is a prompt to look harder at Steps 1 to 7, not a bargain by itself. Also budget for the taxes and fees on top of the price; our guide to fixed asset tax and acquisition costs shows what to include.
Before sending any deposit or application, run the listing text through a red-flag pass. Terms such as 再建築不可, 市街化調整区域, 借地権, and 現況渡し each change the deal. Use our guide to akiya listing red flags in kanji and send the agent questions about anything unclear. If the land is leased rather than owned, see the leasehold (shakuchiken) guide.
Under Article 35 of the Real Estate Brokerage Act (宅地建物取引業法, text on e-Gov Law Search), a licensed agent must explain important matters to the buyer and hand over the 重要事項説明書 before the sales contract is concluded. The practical point is timing: ask to receive the document, ideally with an English or machine translation, a few days before the contract meeting so that you can compare it against Steps 1 to 9. If it conflicts with what you found on the registry or hazard map, resolve that before you sign or pay a deposit. Deposit-related terms, including whether it is refundable, are in the contract, so read those clauses closely.
For a printable version, get the free 12-point akiya checklist. If you already have one listing in mind, a $49 risk report pulls the hazard, zoning, and transaction data for that exact lot and drafts the questions to send the agent.
Is it safe to buy an akiya in Japan? It can be, but the low price often reflects risks not visible in the listing, such as flood exposure, no rebuild rights, an old seismic standard, or unclear ownership. Checks done before the deposit are what matter. Confirm each item with the agent and licensed professionals.
What should I check before paying a deposit? Follow the ten steps above in order, and read the Important Matters Explanation before signing rather than at signing.
Can I get the registry myself? Generally yes, at a Legal Affairs Bureau counter, by mail, through an exchange service, or online where available. You need the lot and building numbers from the agent.
New to buying in Japan? See can foreigners buy an akiya in Japan? and akiya bank conditions for foreigners, or browse all guides.
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.