Why Australians crippled by the country's housing crisis are buying MUCH ... trends now
Australians crippled by the country's housing crisis have found a new alternative - moving to Japan.
The Asian country has recently become more popular with Aussies looking for a sea change and an escape from skyrocketing rent and property prices.
Unlike many other countries, Japan has no restrictions on foreigners buying properties, meaning Australians can snap up a home or apartment even if they don't have a visa or residency.
Jaya Thursfield is one Australian who's made the move with his Japanese-born wife and their two sons.
The family decided to purchase an akiya - an abandoned or vacant house - in the country village of Ibaraki, about an hour northeast of Tokyo, and his wife's hometown.
He bought the three-bedroom traditional Japanese-style home on a 1,800 square metre block of land in 2019 for the equivalent of $35,000.
But because the house had been abandoned for five years, it was left 'filled with junk' and nearly completely covered by overgrown bamboo and vines.
Tractors and cars had also been left behind.
The house needed a lot of work - $250,000 to be exact - with Mr Thursfield still adding finishing touches to the home to this day.
Jaya Thursfield is one Australian who's made the move to Japan with his Japanese-born wife and their two sons. He bought an abandoned home and spent four years doing it up
All along the father-of-two has been documenting the purchase and renovation process, regularly posting videos and pictures to his YouTube and Instagram accounts where he has more than 230,000 subscribers.
'We decided to come to Japan mainly because the house prices in Melbourne were way beyond our budget,' Mr Thursfield told SBS Dateline in September last year.
About 14 per cent of homes in Japan are akiya, mostly because the majority of residents have opted for an urban lifestyle in major cities.
The situation has gotten so dire that last year the Japanese government started offering the equivalent of $10,000 per child to families who relocated from Tokyo to the countryside.
Some local governments are also offering subsidies for renovation costs.
In a YouTube video describing the process of buying an akiya, Mr Thursfield said he wanted somewhere that had a backyard and was big enough for friends and family to visit.
Mr Thursfield bought the three-bedroom traditional Japanese-style home on a 1,800 square metre block of land in February, 2019 for the equivalent of $35,000
Mr Thursfield has gained a mass following on his social media accounts, regularly updating his fans on the progress of his house
'I grew up in Australia and have fond memories playing cricket and footy in the backyard with my brothers and cousins and wanted the same for my boys,' he said.
'Price was a factor of course but it wasn't the most important thing.'
It wasn't easy for Mr Thursfield to find the 'perfect' home. Farmhouses required the buyer to be a registered farmer, while other properties were too expensive or didn't have a garden.
A friend eventually passed on an ad for an akiya that they'd seen in the local paper, which would later become the family's forever home.
Mr Thursfield said that they had to bid on their akiya at an auction, and in order to do so prospective buyers had to put down 10 per cent of the minimum bid as a refundable deposit.
'You get one bid and at the end of the time period, whoever has the highest bid is the winner of the auction,' he said.
'In our case we took part in the auction at the tax office itself. The auction was held over one hour.
'It was a bit nerve-wracking as there were quite a lot of people because they
