The number of empty homes in Japan, which is struggling with an ever-shrinking population, has climbed to a record nine million. This would be more than enough for all the residents of New York, for example. CNN writes about the growing number of empty houses in the East Asian country.
Tokyo
12:43 p.m May 9, 2024
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Abandoned houses are called “akija” in Japan (illustrative photo) | Source: Unsplash | License Unsplash, ©
Abandoned houses are called “akija” in Japan. Here, the term usually refers to abandoned houses in the countryside, but they are also increasingly common in large cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto. According to official data, even 14% of all residential properties in Japan are currently uninhabited. The country is already struggling with an aging population and an alarming decline in the number of children born each year.
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Houses are often passed down from generation to generation. However, with Japan’s declining birthrate, many people have no heirs to pass them on to. Abandoned houses make it difficult to restore rural communities and thus hinder efforts to attract younger people interested in an alternative lifestyle. They also become a potential hazard due to lack of maintenance, increasing the risk to rescuers in times of disaster in a country prone to earthquakes and tsunamis.
Juki Akiyama, a professor at Tokyo City University’s Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, said that “when there is an earthquake or tsunami, there is a possibility that empty houses will block evacuation routes.” After an earthquake, authorities also have trouble deciding which damaged properties they can remove. It is often not clear who it belongs to.
Professor Akiyama has created an artificial intelligence program that predicts the areas most at risk of empty houses. He emphasized that this problem is not only in Japan – they are also facing it in the USA and some European countries. According to him, however, the situation in Japan is particularly difficult due to its architectural history and culture. “Houses in Japan don’t have historical value,” he said. “Unlike in the West, people usually don’t appreciate living in old buildings. In Japan, the newer the house, the higher its price,” he added.
Tamara Kocourková
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