Is it safe?Key moment
“No, there's no catch”
The exact question every buyer is too polite to ask out loud.
0:44
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A real buyer journey
We loved returning to Japan. We just didn't know whether owning a home there was actually realistic.
Hear it straight from Michelle, a mum from coastal Queensland who now owns a home across the road from a ski field in Yubari, Hokkaido. Until three years ago her husband had never seen snow; the family found the house in February and inspected it by April, mostly from Australia. Below are fifteen honest, unscripted pieces of our conversation with her, each about a minute. Pick whichever topics you are curious about.
Not a property success story with the difficult bits removed. This is how one family tested whether a Japanese home could fit their real life.
Michelle, Yeppoon, central QueenslandSecond home in Yubari, Hokkaido
Michelle and Elliot at the front door of the Yubari house, on the inspection trip.
Chapter 05“This is not for you”
Chapter 10Our first white Christmas together
Her story, in fifteen pieces
What are you wondering?
Every card is Michelle’s own voice, about a minute, cut where Kaz marked it. Press play on whatever you are wondering, or start from the top. The words appear as she says them.
15 chapters
- Is it safe?Key moment
The agent told me the truth
Why Japanese real estate felt more honest than Australian real estate.
1:14 - What it's really likeKey moment
Feb to Jun 2026: search to living in 5 months
How fast this can actually move once you commit.
1:00 - What it's really like
Yes, you can own a car
A myth almost every Australian buyer believes, and it's wrong.
1:05 - What it's really like
“This is not for you”
The honest answer she gives friends who ask about moving there.
1:19 - What it's really like
We already know the mayor
How two hours in a coffee shop turned into an introduction nobody planned.
0:47 - Why we chose foreverKey moment
“I think I found the one”
The moment a listing photo turned into a decision.
0:42 - Why we chose foreverKey moment
“A second home. For me, that's the attraction”
Why she wants families who'll keep it, not flip it.
1:12 - Why we chose foreverKey moment
“It's not a vacation home you go to without us”
Why she'll never Airbnb it, and what that means for family and friends.
0:54 - Why we chose foreverKey moment
Our first white Christmas together
What a second home actually looks like once family starts using it.
1:07 - Why we chose foreverKey moment
The land nobody marketed
The bonus that turned a two-year break-even into a family legacy.
1:17 - Making it work
“I need to find a better way and a cheaper way”
The frustration that started the whole search.
1:18 - Making it workKey moment
Buying from Australia: what we did
The dream becomes a sequence of manageable steps.
0:47 - Making it work
Little logistic things to think about when owning remotely
How she's solving the one real problem: living 6,500km away.
0:59 - Making it workKey moment
“What if my Japanese isn't good?”
The hesitation almost every Australian buyer has, answered honestly.
0:33
How the decision unfolded
Michelle did not begin with a shortlist or a perfect plan.
One family. Not a formula.
Michelle’s experience shows what may be possible. It does not mean:
- every inexpensive Japanese home is a bargain
- every remote purchase is straightforward
- ownership will always cost less than accommodation
- Yubari, or Hokkaido, will suit every Australian family
- maintenance from overseas takes care of itself
The useful question is not:
“Can an Australian buy a home in Japan?”
It is:
“Would this home, town and ownership model suit your life?”
Your next step
You don’t need to start with a property.
Start by working out what the home would need to support. JapanoMa won’t tell you to buy. We’ll help you find out, honestly, whether a second home in regional Japan fits your family. Your first conversation with us costs nothing; if you want to go further, our decision-aid products, from $300, pick up from there.
Michelle's story and photographs are shared with her permission, as part of JapanoMa's series with families who have made this move. Her experience reflects her family's circumstances and is not a general financial or property outcome.