Why We Moved Twice in Five Years: Lessons in Retirement Housing in Japan
In 2021, my husband and I selected an apartment in Japan. We had settled our housing needs for the long term.
Fast forward to 2026, and we were packing moving boxes all over again.
When planning for retirement in Japan, many expats focus on two things: location andpurchase price.
Both matter, but they may not be enough.
Quick Summary
Think beyond location and price: Choose a home that can accommodate changing mobility, healthcare, and family needs as you age.
Assess six key risks: Car dependence, medical access, building accessibility, layout, housing commitments, and future maintenance costs.
Practical Risk Framework: Balance a mortgage free retirement, a JPY 6M gross annual income baseline, liquid financial reserves, and a recovery plan for unexpected expenses or changing circumstances.
Table of Contents
1. Our Housing Decision: From Renovation to Moving
2. Six Housing Risks That Force Late Relocations
3. How Your Finances Fit In
4. Q&A
5. Wrap Up
1. Our Housing Decision: From Renovation to Moving
When my husband moved from the U.S. to Japan, we bought an apartment in Kanagawa with excellent access to Tokyo and everyday necessities.
Just as importantly, we found a community where we could build friendships. That sense of belonging has been a major benefit.
The shift in living space, however, was substantial. My husband went from a 279 m² (3,000 sq ft) Chicago townhouse—complete with a living and dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a basement—to a 72 m² Japanese 3LDK apartment.
In 2026, we considered a complete renovation of our 27-year-old apartment, including a new layout, a larger living area, and replacement of some pipes.
But the quotes came to approximately JPY 15 million (!!), including temporary accommodation during the renovation, without adding any floor space.
As it happened, a larger, fully renovated corner apartment unit in the same community was on the market.
Before deciding to move, we carefully weighed the financial implications against the improvements in our daily lives. The new apartment offered several benefits, but it also came with trade-offs. Here is what we gained—and what we gave up.
What We Gained (Life Quality)
- Dedicated Space: A room for my husband’s photography and video editing.
- Family Space: More room for family to stay over comfortably.
- Prioritizing Daily Life Over Travel: Rather than taking long trips and leaving our aging dog, Jager, behind, we chose to invest in a comfortable home.
- Lower Floor: Easier evacuation with Jager and no elevator maintenance anxiety.
- Peace of Mind: Elimination of high-floor height anxiety (my 2021 compromise).
What We Gave Up (The Trade-offs)
- Higher Upfront Capital Commitment: Reallocated capital to purchase a larger, pre-renovated unit rather than sinking JPY 15M+ into a constrained layout.
- Higher HOA Fees & Property Tax: Increased monthly building maintenance and repair reserve costs, and property taxes for larger square footage.
- More Maintenance: More floor area to clean and lower-level exposure to bugs/noise.
- Views & Ventilation: Sweeping 9th-floor skyline views and high-altitude breeze.
This experience taught us that choosing a home for the long term is not just about location and purchase price. It is about how well the home can adapt as our needs change.
2. Six Housing Risks That Force Late Relocations
While individual housing priorities vary wildly from person to person, certain structural friction points tend to affect almost every senior expat in Japan.
Run any potential property against these six risk factors:
| Risk Category | What to Check Before Buying/Renting | Warning Signs & Red Flags |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Car Dependence | Walking routes to groceries, clinics, pharmacies, & transit (under 10 mins). | Daily errands require driving—a major liability as driving requirements tighten with age. |
| 2. Medical Access | Direct, flat routes to hospitals and specialists. Test the walk & transit connections. | Routine doctor visits require multiple bus transfers, steep hills, or costly taxis. |
| 3. Vertical Barriers | Entrance steps (Dansa), elevator capacity/dimensions, and outage protocols. | Total reliance on a single small elevator or managing steep internal stairs. |
| 4. Layout & Space | Room flow, zero-step bathrooms, storage, hobby space, & room for overnight guests. | Cramped entryways (Genkan) or rigid layouts that restrict hobbies & visiting family. |
| 5. Natural Disasters | Municipal hazard maps (flood/landslide) and building seismic standards (Shin-Taishin). | High flood/landslide risk zone or unverified earthquake resistance in older structures. |
| 6. Aging Building Costs | Long-term repair plan (Chouki Shuuzen Keikaku) & reserve fund health. | Low current fees in 30+ year RC buildings—unfunded pipe/elevator maintenance will trigger sudden hikes. |
Note on Building Longevity & Maintenance:
Exceeding the statutory tax life (47 years for commercial / 70 years for residential RC buildings) does not mean a structure is unsafe or uninhabitable. Statutory life is strictly for tax depreciation; the actual physical lifespan of reinforced concrete spans 68 to 100+ years.
With routine major renovations every 12–15 years, an RC building remains safe well beyond 47 years.
However, critical infrastructure—such as plumbing, water pipes, and elevators—will age and require ongoing inspections and well-funded maintenance reserves.
3. Our Financial Reality: How We Calculated the Risk
Making our second move meant re-testing every financial assumption we had built. Taking the leap to purchase a renovated 3rd-floor unit just five years later felt like a massive jump—and frankly, intimidating.
Our decision rested on how three financial layers worked together in real life:
Debt-Free Entry: Paying off your mortgage before retirement reduces fixed expenses
The JPY 6M Pension Engine: My article, How Much to Retire in Japan as an Expat: 2026 Costs, Visas, and Realistic Budgets, explains my view of the JPY 6 million in gross annual household income covers typical living expenses for a senior couple in Japan—assuming zero mortgage debt and no dependent children.
If your income clears this baseline, a standard lifestyle can be maintained, absorbing routine monthly expenses, healthcare, and tax obligations without forcing you to draw down on your core savings buffer.
Retaining Financial Reserves: We avoided touching our core investment portfolio altogether. Leaving that capital buffer fully intact gives it the time and room over a 10+ year horizon to compound (at an illustrative 3%–5% annually), helping offset future inflation and housing maintenance hikes
Because investment returns fluctuate and are never guaranteed, it is essential to model several financial scenarios with varying market conditions, tax implications, and fee structures.
Market Surprises & Practical Backups
Even careful planning cannot eliminate surprises. Two factors helped us:
An Unexpected Gain on Resale: Contrary to the common perception that Japanese homes always lose value, we sold our original apartment unit for more than we paid in 2021.
Its convenient location—with a major medical center, supermarkets, home centers, clinics, and our veterinarian all within flat walking distance—may have helped its resale appeal, despite not being next to the station.
A Practical Backup Plan: If our monthly housing costs become uncomfortable, we could sell our car. Eliminating parking, insurance, vehicle taxes, maintenance, and fuel costs would free up cash flow. With car rental options nearby, we could still drive when needed.
4. Q&A
Q1: Is it better to renovate an existing home or buy a pre-renovated unit in Japan?
A1: Depends. With recent Japanese material hikes and skilled labor shortages, custom gut-renovations often exceed budgets. Pre-renovated units offered by major developers leverage bulk material pricing, often giving you more square footage and modern barrier-free specs for a lower net cost.
Q2: What is the most overlooked physical feature in Japanese apartments?
A2: Thermal insulation and double-glazed windows. Older Japanese apartments suffer from severe winter draftiness and humidity condensation, which directly impacts joint health and respiratory comfort as you age.
Many local municipalities in Japan offer generous subsidies for installing double-glazed secondary windows.
We took advantage of our city’s subsidy program to upgrade ours, which stabilized our indoor temperature year-round and drastically reduced outside noise—a critical benefit for us, as we live near a hospital emergency center with frequent ambulance traffic.
5. Wrap-Up: Living with Uncertainty, Moving Forward with Purpose
Housing decisions are never easy, especially as we step into our senior years. We ran our financial calculations over and over again until we felt confident enough to take the calculated risk.
Then, we made the choice to buy.
Does that eliminate all uncertainty? Of course not—unforeseen risks, shifting needs, and market changes are simply part of life.
But by approaching our move as a conscious exercise in risk management rather than a search for a "forever dream home," we created a lifestyle that works for us today and protects us tomorrow.
We hope our journey gives you some idea and the framework to make your own retirement housing decisions in Japan.
Aki | Japanese | Former Head of HR in Global Finance
I believe building a long-term life in Japan requires seeing the bigger picture. By understanding how visa, healthcare, taxes, retirement, senior care, inheritance, and family decisions fit together, you can make informed decisions and take calculated risks!
