Courtesy of Take Kurosawa.
- Japan has more than 8 million abandoned homes, with no restrictions on foreign buyers.
- Foreigners have bought and renovated them cheaply, freeing them from pricey real estate elsewhere.
- Homeownership in Japan isn't the same path to financial freedom as in other countries.
Take Kurosawa spent summers in Japan as a kid, and always dreamed of owning property there. He found a kindred spirit in Joey Stockermans.
They spent $42,000 on a rural, abandoned home — known in Japan as an akiya — with plans to renovate the space and use it as an Airbnb and personal getaway.