'I live with a ghost': Japan's haunted homes attract bargain hunters
Properties where someone has died in tragic circumstances can have big reductions in price.
By BBC News
Properties linked to tragic deaths in Japan are attracting tenants and buyers prepared to accept a difficult history in return for large discounts.
Known as jiko bukken, or “incident” properties, these homes can be associated with suicide, murder, death by fire or a body not being discovered for an extended period.
Government guidance issued in 2021 requires Japanese estate agents to disclose certain deaths to prospective tenants and buyers.
Ryua, an entertainer who has not disclosed her surname, rents a 25 sq m bedsit in Tokyo’s Setagaya ward. She was told that a man had died by suicide in the flat.
The history of the property reduced her monthly rent to 45,000 yen, compared with an expected 62,000 yen — an almost 30% discount. Ryua says she shares the apartment with a ghost.
In rural Kagoshima, in south-west Japan, Diane Tincher bought a three-bedroom house for 20 million yen. Similar properties in the area can sell for up to 45 million yen.
The estate agent told Tincher that an elderly woman had died alone in the house, which affected its value. Tincher found the property through Oshimaland, a website listing jiko bukken homes and details of the incidents connected to them.
A 2025 survey found that more than half of Japanese people would consider renting one of the properties if the price was low enough.
Rising house prices and wider living costs have made the discounts more attractive to some prospective tenants and buyers.