{
  "id": 15408071,
  "title": "I'm a 31-year-old Canadian who bought an $11,000 house in rural Japan. Here's why I don't see it as an investment.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/im-a-31-year-old-canadian-who-bought-an-11-000-house-in-rural-japan",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-18T11:56:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/buy-cheap-house-rural-japan-wont-make-money-short-term-rentals-2026-10"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Andrew Koller, a 31-year-old Canadian freelance camera operator, recently purchased an akiya (abandoned house) in Yamagata, Japan, for $15,000 CAD. Koller, who had always been interested in real estate since his youth, decided to buy the property after falling in love with Japan during his first visit in 2023. The renovation cost him over the purchase price, totaling around $18,000 CAD, but he plans to use the house as a vacation home and occasionally rent it out. Koller believes that real estate in Japan does not hold its value like it does in Canada, and that the property is more of a cultural experience than a financial asset.",
  "summary": "Andrew Koller visited Japan for the first time in 2023. Three years later he bought a home there and plans to use it for vacationing and rentals.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}