Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
As property prices soar, 'death tainted' homes find buyers in Japan
Bangkok Post Group
Follow
2 days ago
In Japan it used to be hard to find takers for homes where a death had occurred. But as property prices soar, more buyers are finding that discounted prices make up for a fear of restless spirits. - REUTERS
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Kazutoshi Kodama is a real estate expert with a difference.
00:05
He's also a ghost hunter.
00:07
And he's investigating a property that saw a suicide and later another death.
00:14
I spend eight hours at a location from 10pm to 6am
00:18
carrying out a full survey of video, sound, electromagnetic waves,
00:22
temperature and humidity, atmospheric pressure and using a thermal camera
00:27
in order to be able to certify that there's nothing present at the property.
00:35
Once he's satisfied, he'll sign the house off as unhaunted
00:39
because this home in Chiba, near Tokyo, is a jikobuken,
00:44
a property stigmatized by association with a death.
00:48
And such homes would once have struggled to find a new owner or occupant in Japan.
00:54
In the country's native Shinto religion, when a person dies with regrets,
00:58
their spirit often lingers at the sight, becoming a ghost with a grudge.
01:03
But as Japanese property prices saw,
01:06
some home hunters are finding that a discount helps overcome the fear of restless spirits.
01:13
Akira Okuma is a real estate agent specializing in homes with difficult histories.
01:18
In the case of this house, it's priced at around a 20% discount
01:28
because it's a stigmatized property.
01:30
It'll be renovated before it's handed over to the new owner,
01:33
which I think makes it very attractive to prospective buyers.
01:36
Home prices have jumped in Japan as the cost of building materials and labor soars.
01:48
The cheap yen has also lured a flood of overseas buyers.
01:52
That has seen the average price for a second-hand condo in Tokyo
01:56
jump by around a third over the past year.
01:59
Now one expert estimates tainted homes can typically be rented for 7% to 8% less than usual.
02:06
There are also hot buys for investors who don't have to live there.
02:11
And the new popularity is creating demand for some specialized services.
02:16
The smell used to stick in my throat, says Tatsumasa Morikagi,
02:24
but he reckons he's getting used to it.
02:26
He's cleaning up the last remains of an elderly man who died here
02:30
and whose body wasn't found for over six months.
02:34
But physical cleaning won't be enough for some potential occupants.
02:39
Many need their home to have a more spiritual cleansing too.
02:46
That's where Buddhist monk Enku Watanabe comes in.
02:50
Sometimes people who died alone don't realize they're dead, he says.
02:55
His job is to tell the spirits it's time to move on to paradise,
03:00
leaving this home free for its new and more earthly residents.
03:04
.
Recommended
0:23
|
Up next
Red Mini Cooper hits motorcycle, killing one and injuring another
Bangkok Post Group
3 days ago
0:36
Homeowners Looking to Sell Face Tough Reality as Housing Market Prices Decline. Sun Belt States See 30% Price Cuts and Rise in Inventory.
Benzinga
7/18/2024
0:59
Japan is handing out abandoned houses for free
TomoNews US
12/6/2018
1:00
House prices: Areas where property costs are rising despite national average fall revealed
National World - LocalTV
11/14/2023
1:05
A fifth of prospective home buyers put an offer in after just 20 minutes
National World - LocalTV
8/13/2024
1:23
House prices rise just 0.1 per cent in weakest result since January 2023, CoreLogic data shows
ABC NEWS (Australia)
12/2/2024
1:00
Historic home prices
Brut America
12/7/2022
0:38
New Homes in High Demand as Existing Home Sales Decline
Benzinga
8/25/2023
2:11
Home values in Canberra are declining but high interest rates and cost-of-living pressures are still make buying hard
ABC NEWS (Australia)
11/9/2024
1:40
Canberra house prices slowly returning to their peak
ABC NEWS (Australia)
12/2/2023
0:33
Two More KMT Lawmakers to Face Recall Vote
TaiwanPlus News
yesterday
1:31
EU Commissioner for Climate Wopke Hoekstra defends carbon credits
euronews (in English)
yesterday
2:11
More red alert heat warnings issued as mercury continues to rise across Europe
euronews (in English)
yesterday
8:00
Cyprus: a never ending partition?
euronews (in English)
yesterday
0:37
Squat Toilets Facing the Flush as Taiwan Plans Upgrade
TaiwanPlus News
2 days ago
0:35
Thai Constitutional Court Suspends Prime Minister
TaiwanPlus News
2 days ago
1:46
Cuba trans community sees glimmer of hope in proposed legislation
Bangkok Post Group
2 days ago
0:50
Dalai Lama set to make a 'framework' around his succession
Bangkok Post Group
2 days ago
1:52
Thai protesters call for premier's resignation over border dispute
Bangkok Post Group
4 days ago
1:55
Cyclist swerves to avoid friend, hit by pickup and flung off road
Bangkok Post Group
4 days ago
0:50
Trump hails 'monumental victory' after SCOTUS limits judges' power
Bangkok Post Group
5 days ago
1:47
Santiago nightlife suffers as crime curbs Chile's economy
Bangkok Post Group
5 days ago
0:46
Villagers flee as wildfires rage for second day on Greece's Chios
Bangkok Post Group
6/24/2025
0:30
Crowds celebrate the sunrise at Stonehenge for summer solstice
Bangkok Post Group
6/22/2025
0:34
Tech tycoon Lynch's doomed Bayesian yacht lifted from sea off Sicily
Bangkok Post Group
6/22/2025