喜貓在唱歌

很心動、很美妙嗎？但有些條件的： 年紀需在40歲以下，或是夫妻其中一人50歲以下，至少帶著一個孩子，18歲以下。而且空屋申請人，必須承諾永久住在這個城鎮(不離不棄的意思)。有搭配銀行計畫，會有些裝修的補助。

在一個實例中，雖然45歲的直子在奧多摩找到她安身立命的所在，但她的大女兒說：「迫不及待地想離開家，搬到都市租一個屬於自己的地方，」

https://edition.cnn.com/…/japan-vacant-akiya-gh…/index.html…

編者註：關於日本人口危機的系列報導，得到普立茲的支持。本系列報導如果沒有CNN和普立茲中心的事先同意，不得改造重編複製。

日本奧多摩（CNN）－四年前，直子與井田貴之得到一棟房子。免費的。

是一棟寬敞的兩層樓住宅，坐落在東京小鎮叫奧多摩，隱藏在蜿蜒的鄉間小路的樹林間。搬家前，這對夫妻跟他們的小孩 - 兩個青少年跟一個五歲的孩子與直子的父母同住。

「我們必須做很多重整的工作(在新家)，但我們一直想住在鄉下，有一個大花園，」Naoko說，45歲。

免費的房子住聽起來像詐騙。但日本面臨不尋常的房產問題：它擁有的住房多過人口數。

根據日本政策論壇，2013年有6100萬個房屋和5200萬個家庭。情況可能更嚴峻。

根據國家人口和社會保障研究所的數據，預計到2065年日本的人口將從1.27億減少到8800萬，代表需要住房的人數更少。隨著年輕人離開郊區到城市工作，日本的鄉村空出好多閒置空屋『鬼屋』，日文稱為『akiya』。

預測到2040年，日本有將近900個城鎮和村莊不復存在。奧多摩就是其中之一。在這種情況下，把房屋送出去是為了生存。

「在2014年，我們發現奧多摩是東京預計到2040年會消失的三個小鎮之一，」奧多摩年輕化新生部門的官員新島和隆Kazutaka Niijima說道，是政府成立要振興該小鎮的一個單位。

空屋銀行貸款計劃

從東京充滿霓虹燈的中心向西兩小時的車程就可到達奧多摩。

1960年代，人口超過13,000人，當地人做木材貿易生意興隆。但在進口自由化以及對木材需求減少之後，大多數的年輕人離開這個城市。今天，奧多摩的居民只剩5,200人。

2014年，成立了『空屋銀行』、或空屋計劃，試圖將潛在買主與年紀大的屋主配對。雖然空屋銀行現在在日本各地很普遍，但每個城鎮設定自己的條件。

例如，奧多摩補助給搬進空屋的新住民房屋整修，並鼓勵空屋的屋主業放棄閒置的空屋，以每100平方公尺補助高達8,820美元的方式。

#申請人資格設限

不過，這有規定要年紀在40歲以下，或是夫妻帶著至少一個小孩，在18歲以下，一個伴侶在50歲以下；才能申請這樣的空屋計劃跟裝修協助。而且空屋申請人必須承諾永久住在這個城鎮，並投資升級二手的房子。
 

但對於一個人們喜歡新房的國家，把空屋給出去是很不簡單的。
 

#二手房

新島帶大家進到一個像盒子狀的房屋裡，屋頂是藍色，牆壁是白色，33年前蓋的。雖然外在很堅實，但走到裏頭有發霉的味道很明顯十年沒人住。廚房需要重新打造，榻榻米地板也都褪色。

「適合喜歡自己動作改造的人，」新島咧嘴笑著說。

奧多摩有3,000個房屋，大約有400間房屋閒置 - 其中有一半有救。其他的要么不是太破舊，就是在滑坡風險區。

20世紀，日本經歷過兩次人口飆升：第一次在二戰後，第二次在1980年代經濟的爆發成長。兩者造成住房短缺，導致一堆廉價的房屋，大規模並迅速蓋在人口密集的城鎮。

富士通研究所的高級研究員Hidetaka Yoneyama表示，很多房產品質都很差。 結果，大約85％的人還是會選擇買新房子。

日本的法律無助於現況。

2015年，政府通過一項法律，旨在懲罰那些閒置房屋的人，鼓勵他們拆除房屋或翻新房屋。據房地產專家山本俊彥(Toshihiko Yamamoto)稱，空屋所有人的空地地價稅繳得比空屋房屋稅還多。這阻礙了空屋清空。

東京東洋大學建築系教授野沢千絵Chie Nozawa表示，日本的城市計畫的法規也很弱，代表開發商可以一直蓋房子，不管有那麼多的空屋。

讓郊區吸引人

在奧多摩，振興官員新島到目前為止，為9個閒置房屋找到入住的家庭。他們來自紐約跟中國等地，空屋計劃不只限於日本公民。

菲裔日籍夫妻羅莎莉Rosalie和今林敏之Toshiuki Imabayashi，住東京市中心，有六個孩子，將在2019年初搬到這個城鎮。

羅莎莉說：「在東京對我們來說太過局促，我們喜歡奧多摩在同一個建築物，被大自然包圍。」

但對於大多數新搬進來的人，免費入住空房還不夠。像奧多摩這樣人口變少的地區，需要一個持續的經濟發展計劃，以及活動中心，聯繫本地人與新移民，如果他們要茁壯成長的話。

華盛頓大學的建築學教授傑弗瑞侯說：「如果人們能夠找到一些有產值的經濟活動養活自己，他們就會來郊區並且待下來。」

日本南部城鎮神山市，在資訊業公司移入設立衛星辦公室後，增加的人數比2011年所流失的人數更多，吸引熱衷逃離城市生活的上班族。

新居民的聰明才智，也是沒落城鎮的福音。

拿有老年照護執照的Idas知道他們將在奧多摩找到工作機會。然而，在2017年9月，他們嘗試一項新的事業，買了二手的kominka（一家百年歷史的日本房屋）改造成路邊咖啡館，迎合登山者與自行車手。

「這個地方的美麗，在於重造置入已有的東西，」直子在舒適的咖啡館裡說著，這裡有復古的物品和當地的工藝品。「有些人喜歡這種文化，喜歡懷舊的東西，但他們對於住在郊區是猶豫不決的。」

在安靜的街道上，還有另一棟空屋以及一個老婦人的房子。在Idas來之前，野猴持續偷吃這婦人的菜園。現在這地方變熱鬧，動物比較不來。

雖然直子在奧多摩找到自己安身立命的所在，但當被問到她的孩子是否看到未來時，她搖了搖頭。

「實際上，我的大女兒說她迫不及待地想離開家，在都市租一個屬於自己的地方，」她說。

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/05/asia/japan-vacant-akiya-ghost-homes/index.html?utm_source=fbbusiness&utm_term=link&utm_content=2018-12-24T09%3A07%3A05&utm_medium=social

Japan has so many vacant homes its giving them away

Editors Note: The series on Japans demographic reckoning is supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. None of the material in this series may be reproduced without an explicit credit to CNN and the Pulitzer Center.

Okutama, Japan (CNN) — Four years ago, Naoko and Takayuki Ida were given a house. For free.

Its a spacious, two-story home nestled amid trees on a winding country road in the small town of Okutama, in Tokyo prefecture. Before moving, the couple and their children -- two teenagers and a five-year-old -- were all living with Naokos parents.

"We had to do a lot of repair work (on our new home), but wed always wanted to live in the countryside and have a big garden," said Naoko, 45.

A free house may sound like a scam. But Japan faces an unusual property problem: it has more homes than people to live in them.

In 2013, there were 61 million houses and 52 million households, according to the Japan Policy Forum. And the situation is poised to get worse.

Japans population is expected to decline from 127 million to about 88 million by 2065, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security, meaning even fewer people will need houses. As young people leave rural areas for city jobs, Japans countryside has become haunted by deserted "ghost" houses, known as "akiya."

Its predicted that by 2040, nearly 900 towns and villages across Japan will no longer exist -- and Okutama is one of them. In that context, giving away property is a bid for survival.

"In 2014, we discovered that Okutama was one of three Tokyo (prefecture) towns expected to vanish by 2040," says Kazutaka Niijima, an official with the Okutama Youth Revitalization (OYR) department, a government body set up to repopulate the town.

Akiya bank plans

Okutama is a two-hour train ride west from Tokyo prefectures dense, neon-soaked center.

In the 1960s, it boasted a population of more than 13,000, as well as a profitable timber trade. But after the liberalization of imports and falling demand for timber in the 1990s, most young people left for the city. Today, Okutama has just 5,200 residents.

In 2014, it established an "akiya bank" -- or vacant house plans -- which matches prospective buyers with aging homeowners and empty properties. While akiya banks are now common across Japan, each town sets its own conditions.

For example, Okutama subsidizes home repairs for new akiya residents, and encourages akiya owners to relinquish their vacant properties by offering up to $8,820 per 100 square meters (1,076 sq feet).

However, it stipulates that those who receive a free home or renovation assistance must be aged under 40, or be in a couple with at least one child under 18-years-old and one partner aged under 50. Akiya applicants must also commit to settling in the town permanently and invest in upgrading second-hand homes.

But even giving away homes is tough in a country where people prefer new builds.

Second-hand homes

Niijima leads the way into a vacant, box-like house with a blue roof and white walls that was built 33 years ago. Though sturdy on the outside, the musty smell inside hints at the decade it has sat empty. The kitchen is in need of a makeover, and the tatami floor is faded.

"It will suit someone who likes DIY," Niijima said with a grin.

There are 3,000 homes in Okutama, and about 400 are vacant -- only half of which are believed to be salvageable. The rest are either too dilapidated or were built in areas at risk of landslides.

In the 20th century, Japan experienced two major population spikes: the first after World War II and the second during the economic explosion of the 1980s. Both created housing shortages which led to cheap, mass-produced homes that were quickly erected in densely populated towns and cities.

Many of those properties were poor quality, said Hidetaka Yoneyama, a senior researcher at the Fujitsu Research Institute. As a result, about 85% of people opt to buy new homes.

Japanese laws also dont help things.

In 2015, the government passed a law designed to penalize those who leave houses empty, in a bid to encourage them to either demolish or refurbish their properties. However, akiya owners are taxed more for empty plots of land than for having an empty property, according to real estate expert Toshihiko Yamamoto. This is a deterrent to razing a vacant home.

Urban planning regulations are also weak in Japan, said Chie Nozawa, a professor of architecture at Toyo University in Tokyo, meaning developers can keep building houses despite the glaring surplus.

Making rural areas alluring

In Okutama, revitalization official Niijima has found families for nine vacant houses so far. Theyve come from places including New York and China -- the akiya plan is not limited to Japanese citizens.

Filipino-Japanese couple Rosalie and Toshiuki Imabayashi, who live in central Tokyo with their six children, will move to the town in early 2019.

"It was getting too cramped for us in Tokyo and we liked that Okutama was within the same prefecture but surrounded by nature," Rosalie said.

For most newcomers, though, free homes are not enough. Depopulated areas like Okutama also need a sustainable economic development plan -- and community-building activities between locals and newcomers -- if they are to thrive.

"If people can find a way of engaging in productive economic activities and supporting themselves, they will come and stay in rural areas," said Jeffrey Hou, an architecture professor at Washington University.

Kamiyama, a town in southern Japan, added more people than it lost in 2011 after IT companies set up satellite offices there, attracting workers keen to escape city life.

The ingenuity of new residents is also a boon for fading towns.

Certified as caregivers for the elderly, the Idas knew they would have job opportunities in Okutama. However, in September 2017 they tried a new venture, buying and converting a second-hand "kominka" -- a Japanese house more than 100-years-old -- into a roadside cafe catering to roving hikers and bikers.

"The beauty of this place lies in retrofitting something that already exists," said Naoko, inside the cozy cafe, which brims with vintage objects and local craft work. "Some people like this culture and really like old things but they hesitate about committing to rural life."

On their quiet street, there is another empty house and the home of an elderly woman. Before the Idas came, wild monkeys kept eating the womans vegetable patch -- now the area is busier, the animals keep their distance.

Yet while Naoko has found a permanent home for herself in Okutama, she shakes her head when asked whether her children see a future there.

"Actually, my eldest daughter says she cant wait to leave home and rent a place of her own in the city," she said.