I moved to an abandoned house in Japan's countryside. I learned that homeownership in Japan is not the same ticket towards long-term stability as it is in the US.

• Bethany "Bitsii" Nakamura moved from the US to Japan for an English-teaching job in October 2021.
• In 2022 she acquired a free abandoned house on Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands.
• She doesn't think it's smart for foreigners to jump into homeownership in the Japanese countryside.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bethany "Bitsii" Nakamura, 35, about her experience moving to Japan and living in a formerly abandoned home. Nakamura has since moved in with her husband elsewhere on Shikoku. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I chose to leave the US in 2019, at a moment when I needed to do some soul searching.