Kansai — Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama, and Shiga — holds some of Japan’s sharpest contrasts in the akiya story. One prefecture ties for the highest vacancy rate in the entire country, while two others are actually improving. Here’s what the 2023 Housing and Land Survey shows.
Kansai by the numbers
The region’s six prefectures held 1.548 million vacant homes in 2023, up about 41,000 from 2018.
| Prefecture | Vacant homes | Vacancy rate | Change vs. 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wakayama | 105,300 | 21.25% (tied #1 nationally) | +0.97 pt |
| Nara | ~145,000 | 14.64% | rising |
| Osaka | 701,900 | 14.24% | −0.92 pt (improving) |
| Hyogo | 386,900 | 13.83% | +26,700 homes |
| Kyoto | 180,400 | 13.15% | roughly flat |
| Shiga | — | ~12.9% | −0.9 pt (improving) |
The standout is Wakayama, tied with Tokushima for the highest vacancy rate in Japan. Population outflow to Osaka and Kyoto, combined with an aging population, has pushed its rate up nearly a full point in five years. At the other end, Osaka and Shiga are the only Kansai prefectures where vacancy rates actually fell — both benefited from strong new-housing construction that outpaced the growth in empty homes. Shiga’s total housing stock grew 5.9% between 2018–2023, among the fastest in the country.
Top 5 areas with the fastest-growing akiya problem
Zooming into individual cities and towns reveals where the problem is most acute:
- Shirahama, Wakayama — 43.2% overall vacancy. This beach and hot-spring resort town has Kansai’s single highest rate, though much of it is seasonal vacation-home vacancy rather than abandonment — a reminder that even “top of the list” numbers need context.
- Miyazu, Kyoto — 34.5% overall vacancy. A former castle town facing steady population drift toward Maizuru and Fukuchiyama; 18.7% of its housing falls into the “no designated use” abandoned category specifically.
- Sayo, Hyogo — 31.4% overall vacancy. A rural, aging municipality in western Hyogo with limited housing demand.
- Yabu, Hyogo — 21.0% abandoned-home rate, the highest “no designated use” rate in the prefecture, concentrated in mountain districts with declining population.
- Katsuragi, Wakayama — 18.7% abandoned-home rate, the highest genuine-abandonment rate in Wakayama outside the resort towns.
Notably, this isn’t purely a rural phenomenon. Kobe’s Hyogo Ward posts a 24.7% vacancy rate — higher than any municipality in the prefecture outside — showing that even major cities have pockets of serious akiya concentration in older urban neighborhoods.
Why the pattern looks the way it does
- Coastal/resort towns (Shirahama) skew high because of seasonal second-home ownership, not decay.
- Inland, aging municipalities (Sayo, Yabu, Katsuragi, Miyazu) show the “classic” akiya pattern: inherited homes, no succession plan, declining local population.
- Metro-adjacent prefectures (Osaka, Shiga) are bucking the trend thanks to continued housing demand and net in-migration.
The bottom line
Kansai’s akiya problem isn’t uniform — it’s really two separate stories. Coastal Wakayama and inland pockets of Hyogo and Kyoto are seeing real, structural vacancy growth tied to depopulation, while Osaka and Shiga’s urban gravity is currently offsetting the trend. For anyone evaluating property in the region — whether for investment, relocation, or akiya-bank shopping — the prefecture-level rate tells you far less than the municipality-level number and the type of vacancy behind it.
If you have a home in Kansai while living abroad, reach out to us at Property Management Kyoto for a free consultation on how to support your home.