According to CNBC, "Japan has an increasing number of vacant homes - a problem that's set to persist because of the aging and shrinking population that has left many towns and villages empty".
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/22/japan-free-homes-empty-houses-given-away-and-sold-cheap.html
There are some websites such as this https://inakanoseikatsu.com/ that show several homes for free, but obviously they need some serious work.
The article goes on to say, "across Japan, the number of vacant homes stood at 8.196 million in 2013, representing around 13.52 percent of the country's total housing stock". That actually sounds incredible, but true!
Would you consider buying a cheap property or even taking over a free one in a rural area? Certainly something to think about with the over-crowding that happens in the bigger centers, like Tokyo.
What does persist mean?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/persist
What does shrinking mean?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/shrinking
What does vacant mean?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/vacant?q=vacant+
What does rural mean?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/rural