Courtesy of Ned Watson.
- Ned Watson bought a home in Japan that had been abandoned for two years for less than $50,000.
- Watson said that with the favorable exchange rate, he can get by on just $1,000 a month.
- Watson enjoys the peacefulness and nature of his area but still loves its proximity to the city.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ned Watson about his experience living in a once-abandoned home, called an akiya, in Shisui, a 20,000-person town in Japan's Chiba Prefecture. Watson, a 44-year-old former web developer, was born in Australia and grew up in the US state of Georgia. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.
I started studying Japanese in 1994. I always liked it and figured it was a place that I probably would end up living in.