The ACTUAL challenges of renovating akiya in Japan episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 7, 2026 · 1H 19M

The ACTUAL challenges of renovating akiya in Japan

from Unpacking Japan · host Produced by ZenStudio

Today we sit down again with Anton Wormann, an akiya renovation specialist and content creator based in Japan. He sits down to talk to us about his renovation projects, the legal regulations about renovations in Japan, the failure and abandonment of his Chiba farm project, and the lessons he's learned along the way.--0:00 Intro0:49 Meet Anton1:38 First commercial project7:41 Documenting the work9:43 The Chiba farmhouse13:26 The dream waterfall house16:05 Chiba farmhouse failure21:38 Lessons learned25:22 What you should know about akiya30:45 How to buy akiya responsibly33:52 How the tax system creates akiya36:38 Tokyo's anti-renovation legislation40:18 Anton's Japandi company43:16 Getting a real estate license48:56 Renovating the waterfall house1:01:34 How much did it cost?1:06:00 Next steps1:09:39 The power of social media1:13:04 Looking back--Follow Anton: @ANTONINJAPAN https://www.instagram.com/anton.injapanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@antoninjapanhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091063962376-https://www.antoninjapan.comhttps://www.japandihouses.comhttps://www.japandirealestate.com-Follow us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapanSubscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

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