Own Your Own Japanese Castle for $100,000

Aussies can buy an (almost) authentic Japanese castle for only about $100,000, it has been revealed recently on social media.

Century21 Japan is selling the 6-story castle (with a restaurant on the second floor) in Akabira, Hokkaido, at a price unimaginable to potential home buyers Down Under.

Of course, at that price, there’s bound to be a few catches, but perhaps not as many as some may think, especially considering it comes with a huge garden (over 5,000 m2), a working elevator, restaurant, more than 40 parking spaces and connection to sewage and water mains. Located in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island and home to the cashed-up bogan paradise of Niseko, the castle is even not too far from Furano just 50 km away, so it even offers the prospect of a taste of Japow!

First of the catches is that you’re looking at an annual property tax of 1.2 million yen (About $12,000). And even the estate agent reckons it’d cost about $80,000 to replace missing tiles on the castle roof. And despite being authentic, it’s only real in the sense that it’s a castle that’s in Japan. It dates all the way back to that ancient age of 1991.

Still, for a driver, it’s not that far away, I guess. It’s just 95 km from Sapporo, Hokkaido’s prefectural capital, and 108 km from New Chitose Airport, a gateway to global skies. And there’s a Lawson convenience store almost right next-door.

The more I write about it, the better it’s starting to look….if only I could do some sort of deal to get rid of the property tax. Based on chats on Facebook and the like, the agent, Stephen Underwood, looks like a pretty decent bloke, too.