We built our dream home for the family we thought we'd have. Then we started over in rural Japan.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Sia and Mikael Lilja, who moved from Sweden to Japan, wherever they bought and are restoring an aged house. It's been edited for magnitude and clarity.

We've been together for 12 years and joined for the past 4.

In 2020, we bought a portion of onshore successful a mini municipality astir 15 minutes extracurricular Malmö successful Sweden, and started building our dream home. We were readying for our semipermanent future: person kids and unrecorded adjacent to family.

By the extremity of 2023, we were capable to move in, though location were still projects — including an upstairs bath — that we'd return our clip to complete.

However, by then, our plans had already begun to change.

We joined the waiting database for IVF successful 2021, but the process was delayed because of the pandemic. We had a batch of difficult conversations astir the early we'd imagined for ourselves. By the clip it was yet our move to statesman IVF, we'd already decided it wasn't the way we wanted.

The location felt excessively large for conscionable the 2 of america and our dog. The life we'd planned astir it nary longer existed, truthful we started reasoning astir what other we could do.

A alteration of plans

Back successful 2019, we'd spent six months traveling astir Asia and fell successful emotion pinch the region. We'd ever imagined that if we ever moved abroad, it would beryllium location for illustration Bali aliases South Korea. However, arsenic we looked into some places much seriously, neither felt rather right.

As we explored different possibilities, we came crossed a podcast astir buying a location successful Japan. We'd been wanting to sojourn Japan for years, truthful we booked a travel for the extremity of 2025.

Even though we'd ne'er group ft successful Japan, it already felt for illustration the correct spot to statesman our adjacent chapter. Before our trip, we started browsing Japanese spot listings online and began trading our location successful Sweden.

By the clip we arrived successful Japan for our 3-week travel successful November 2025, our location successful Sweden had already been sold, though we still had until May 2026 to manus complete the keys.

The travel was our chance to make judge Japan really was the correct spot for america earlier buying a location there, and it did precisely that. Over the adjacent 3 weeks, we explored different parts of Japan, including the Kansai region, to determine wherever we wanted to settle. We yet narrowed it down to places wrong a 90-minute thrust of Kyoto.

When we returned to Sweden, we stepped up our location hunt. We hired a buyer's supplier and group up alerts for akiya — old, vacant homes — that matched our criteria.

We wanted a accepted location pinch earthy light, a wraparound veranda, and a agrarian mounting while still being adjacent to a train position and different amenities.

In January, we yet sewage the alert we'd been waiting for.

Our supplier quickly arranged a viewing. Since we were still successful Sweden, he walked america done the location complete a video call. When we saw it, we knew it was precisely what we were looking for, truthful we made an connection immediately.

Our connection was accepted, and the acquisition value was 8 cardinal yen, aliases astir $49,000, earlier taxes and different fees.

The commencement of a caller chapter

We decided to look astatine this clip arsenic a gap twelvemonth for adults, truthful we some near our jobs.

With that, we turned our attraction to wrapping up our lives in Sweden. In May 2026, we handed complete the keys and flew to Japan.

When we saw the location successful personification for the first time, we were pleasantly surprised; it had been incredibly well-maintained.

The room looked almost marque new, and the bath was overmuch nicer than we'd expected. It almost feels unusual calling it an akiya because it's thing for illustration the old, half-ruined homes group often imagine.

Everything is successful Japanese, truthful we're perpetually translating labels pinch an app. We spent almost 2 weeks eating convenience shop nutrient earlier we'd bought a fridge and could yet navigator our ain meals.

Thankfully, our neighbors — mostly older Japanese residents — person been welcoming. Our location sits connected the separator of a mini colony surrounded by fields and bamboo forest, and they've already shown america really to weed the spot and look aft the bamboo shoots.

We spent astir a period settling in, cleaning the house, and buying elemental furnishings and appliances. We ordered caller tatami mats, had the tile inspected, and started readying the activity we'd tackle earlier returning to Europe.

We're backmost successful Europe for a fewer months, visiting family while we hold for our dog's vaccination paperwork to beryllium finalized. We're aiming to officially move to Japan successful September.

Once we're back, we'll commencement renovating. Unlike our location successful Sweden, we don't want this task to return complete our full lives. Instead, we want to recreation astir Japan and renovate the location small by little. There are plentifulness of places we'd for illustration to sojourn pinch our dog.

We're looking guardant to starting this caller chapter.