A Hawaii family buys an oceanfront home in Japan for $16,000 and it has a surf break out front, a bike path, and ski resorts 40 minutes away. This is how they did it.

In this episode, host Take Kurosawa sits down with Chris Rose, a former Army veteran, longtime Hawaii resident, and Buying a House in Japan direct program customer, at the Hotel Malasada Botanical Gardens on Oahu's east side. Chris shares his full journey: from falling down the Instagram rabbit hole of cheap Japanese homes to closing on a stunning two-story oceanfront property in Itoigawa, Niigata for just ¥2.5 million (~$16,000 USD).

What You'll Learn

• How Chris went from browsing Instagram to owning an oceanfront home in Japan in under two months
• The one filter trick on the Buying a House in Japan website that helped him find the perfect property the day it was listed
• Why he passed on a more popular (and pricier) Myoko ski town property
• The "checklist method" Chris used to evaluate every listing, and the boxes his Itoigawa home checked that nothing else did
• What it's really like to arrive at your new Japanese home in February with snow on the beach
• How they set up the house before arriving: Amazon JP deliveries, heaters staged by their coordinator Eric, and a professional deep clean
• Tips for meeting your Japanese neighbors the right way (hint: bring macadamia nut chocolates from Hawaii)
• How Chris's son Luke practiced with a Japanese water polo team, including a former Olympian coach, during their trip
• Why Chris recommends buying in Japan for the right reasons, not just because it's cheap
• The logistics of getting from Honolulu to a small coastal town in Niigata, and how they're still refining their travel system

About Chris Rose

Chris Rose is a former U.S. Army veteran and 25-year Hawaii resident who spent two years living in Okinawa while working a government position at Pearl Harbor. A surfer, skier, and homeschooling dad of three, Chris purchased his Japan vacation home through the Buying a House in Japan direct program in late 2025. His property is located in Itoigawa, Niigata; oceanfront, with a 20-mile coastal bike path behind it, a surf break out front, and ski resorts 40 minutes away.

Resources & Links Mentioned

• Buying a House in Japan website: browse 500,000+ English-friendly listings at https://www.akiya-mart.com/
• Amazon Japan (amazon.co.jp): for pre-arrival furniture and bedding delivery
• Hard Off / Book Off: secondhand shops in Japan for gear, surfboards, and more
• Myoko, Niigata: popular ski town and nearby reference point
• Joetsu City: the nearest major city to Chris's property, with Shinkansen access
• Toyama: alternative arrival city with a Costco, ~2 hours from Itoigawa

Key Takeaways

• Set your search filters to "listed within the last day" and check daily, the best properties go fast
• Write a personal letter with your offer explaining who you are and how you'll use the home as it matters to sellers
• Budget for a deep professional clean ($500–$1,000) before your first stay, which is worth every yen
• Bring gifts for neighbors immediately; macadamia nut chocolates from Hawaii were a hit
• Hawaii residents have a geographic advantage; you're already halfway to Japan

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This week Take is running solo, joined again by Ryan, head of Japan operations for AkiyaMart and a certified financial planner to walk through how Japanese inheritance tax could apply to foreign-owned property. It's an important but sometimes overlooked conversation when it comes to buying foreign real estate and this conversation can be a good starting point as you plan your Japan home purchase.

Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

First time subscriber? Use promo code V4BABY for $50 off AkiyaMart Pro annual.

Want a free 1:1 consult with Take & Joey, recorded as an episode? Apply: https://0oopfg486ij.typeform.com/to/bTKUZmqy

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube

Questions? Email [email protected]

Hosts are Take Kurosawa  and Joey Stockermans. The AkiyaMart Production Team   is Carlos  Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail, and Lukas Fotty.

Three years ago we built a tool so we could buy a cheap house in Japan. Then, we started helping other people buy cheap houses in Japan and soon we were helping folks from all over the world buy their dream home in Japan at any price or condition. For a while now, AkiyaMart has become a platform serving a large variety of homebuyers and we're changing our brand to reflect that.

Listen to learn how we got here and what's next for the platform.

Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

First time subscriber? Use promo code V4BABY for $50 off AkiyaMart Pro annual.

Want a free 1:1 consult with Take & Joey, recorded as an episode? Apply: https://0oopfg486ij.typeform.com/to/bTKUZmqy

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube

Questions? Email [email protected]

Hosts  are Take Kurosawa  and Joey Stockermans. The AkiyaMart Production Team  is Carlos  Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail, and Lukas Fotty.

Buying a house in Japan used to mean combing through sometimes dozens of multiple listings just to get an accurate picture of a property. With AkiyaMart v4, we solved that problem. Let us tell you how we did it.

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Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

First time subscriber? Use promo code V4BABY for $50 off AkiyaMart Pro annual.

Want a free 1:1 consult with Take & Joey, recorded as an episode? Apply: https://0oopfg486ij.typeform.com/to/bTKUZmqy

Follow us on Instagram and YouTubeQuestions? Email [email protected]

Hosts are Take Kurosawa  and Joey Stockermans. The AkiyaMart Production Team is Carlos  Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail, and Lukas Fotty.

This week, Take and Joey run through the ten most frequently asked questions from AkiyaMart consultation calls. After three years and thousands of consultations, they identified your top questions and hope this episode can help you prep for your Japan home buying journey.

They cover whether foreigners can buy property in Japan, how the buying process actually works end to end, why loans are not available in almost all cases, what Airbnb zoning looks like and where to check eligibility, how property taxes are assessed, what renovation realistically costs, and why reaching out to a seller's agent before working with a buyer's agent can complicate a deal significantly.

Want free 1:1 coaching with Take & Joey, recorded as an episode? Apply: https://0oopfg486ij.typeform.com/to/bTKUZmqy

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube!

Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

Questions? Email [email protected]

Hosts are Take Kurosawa and Joey Stockermans. The AkiyaMart Production Team is Carlos Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail, and Lukas Fotty.

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Want free 1:1 coaching with Take & Joey, recorded as an episode? Apply: https://0oopfg486ij.typeform.com/to/bTKUZmqy

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube!

Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

Questions? Email [email protected]

Hosts are Take Kurosawa and Joey Stockermans. The AkiyaMart Production Team is Carlos Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail, and Lukas Fotty.

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This episode covers moving to Japan with kids, international schools vs. the Japanese public school track, raising a multilingual child in Japan, and what daily life looks like for a foreign family outside central Tokyo.

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube!

Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

Questions? Email [email protected]

Hosts  are Take Kurosawa and Joey Stockermans. The AkiyaMart Production Team  is Carlos Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail, and Lukas Fotty.

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Are you considering moving to Japan to study Japanese? This is the episode for you.

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube!

Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

Questions? Email [email protected]

Hosts are Take Kurosawa and Joey Stockermans. The AkiyaMart Production Team is Carlos Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail, and Lukas Fotty.

In this episode, Take and Joey sit down in Fukuoka with Carlos, who  recently relocated from Los Angeles on a Business Manager Visa. He  breaks down the full process: which visa to apply for, why Fukuoka's  immigration bureau is faster than Tokyo, how to find an apartment as a  foreigner when 80% of landlords say no, and what the first couple months  on the ground actually look like.  If you're thinking about moving to Japan, this is the episode for you.  

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube!

Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

Questions? Email [email protected]

Hosts  are Take Kurosawa and Joey Stockermans.

The AkiyaMart Production Team is Carlos Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail,  and Lukas Fotty.

This week, Take and Joey sit down with Tomoa, a Japanese friend, to  answer a question we get all the time: "why didn't a Japanese person buy  this akiya first?"  

Tomoa breaks down how kegare shapes Japanese attitudes toward used  homes, why rural properties rarely appeal to Japanese buyers, and what  foreign buyers need to understand about owning property responsibly in  Japan. 

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube!

Buying a House in Japan is a production of AkiyaMart. Find your Japan dream home at akiya-mart.com.

Questions? Email [email protected]  

Hosts  are Take Kurosawa and Joey Stockermans.   

The AkiyaMart Production Team is Carlos Gutierrez, Devin Silvernail,  and Lukas Fotty.