Hello folks,
I live in rural Japan for just over a year now, and circumstances are looking like me and my partner will settle down here and start a family.
We live in an apartment, and with no elevator on the 4th floor, plus it being small, we know sooner or later we will have to make a move.
Funds wise I’m not loaded, but I have some savings and both my family and my partners family would support us. Still, building a new house is not in the cards at the moment. So naturally, I started to look at Akiyas in my area here, and unsurprisingly there are quite a few to chose from. I had a new viewings, and some seemed quite nice, especially some that are really „traditional Japanese“, quite large, and superficially at least don’t require too much work. I’m quite handy, at least with carpentry, and my brother in law is an electrician.
Yet, I have a few naysayers around me, some of which bought akiyas themselves and told me their horror stories, as well as the local American guy who I had to get to know in the Izakaya, who condescendingly mocked me as a naive foreigner for thinking that buying an Akiya could set me up with a family home…
Well, maybe I am stupid for even considering it! What are your experiences? any horror stories to share? or did you find a diamond in the rough?
by Yonda_00