The purchase price is the smallest of the numbers. Add fees and taxes to any Japanese property purchase, and the realistic total is the purchase price plus 7-10% of it. For akiya at the cheap end, the fees can exceed the listing price — a ¥100,000 house can become a ¥600,000 transaction. Here is what every line item is, and why.

One-off costs at purchase

These are paid at or around closing.

  • Stamp duty (inshi-zei) — sliding scale, ¥5,000 to ¥60,000 for most akiya, paid on the sale agreement.
  • Registration tax (toroku menkyo zei) — 2% of assessed value for the ownership transfer; 0.4% if you take out a mortgage and register the lien.
  • Judicial scrivener (shiho-shoshi) — ¥80,000-¥200,000 to handle the title-transfer registration.
  • Agent commission — if you bought through a licensed agent, 3% + ¥60,000 + consumption tax, paid by the buyer. (Municipal akiya bank listings: usually no agent, no commission.)
  • Real-estate acquisition tax (fudosan shutoku zei) — 3% of assessed value for residential. Billed 4-12 weeks after closing.

Ongoing annual taxes

  • Fixed-asset tax (kotei shisan zei) — 1.4% of assessed value, annually, paid in four instalments. For most akiya, ¥30,000-¥100,000 per year.
  • Urban planning tax (toshi keikaku zei) — up to 0.3% of assessed value, only in designated urban areas. Most rural akiya are exempt.
  • Resident tax (juminzei) — flat ¥5,000-¥15,000 per year if you're a juminhyo-registered resident. Not a property tax, but it follows from registration.

Assessed vs purchase value — the key idea

Japanese taxes are calculated on the assessed value (hyojun kazei hyoka-gaku), not the purchase price. Assessed value is set by municipal officials every three years and is reliably lower than market price — usually 50-80% of it for akiya, sometimes much less. This is why the 3% acquisition tax on a ¥3M house often comes to ¥30,000-¥60,000, not ¥90,000.

Practical implication: get the assessed value from the seller or municipality before you sign anything. It is on the kotei-shisan zei statement — ask for a copy.

The fee that surprises everyone

It's the renovation grant clawback that catches people, not the upfront costs. Most municipal akiya-bank grants come with a "stay 5 years or repay" clause. Sell early, or relocate, and you'll owe a pro-rated portion back to the city. Read the fine print on every grant before accepting it.

A worked example

A ¥3M akiya purchased through the Iiyama akiya bank in 2025, by a foreign buyer with permanent residency:

  • Purchase price: ¥3,000,000
  • Stamp duty: ¥10,000
  • Registration tax (2% of ¥1.8M assessed): ¥36,000
  • Judicial scrivener: ¥120,000
  • Inspection (optional, recommended): ¥180,000
  • Acquisition tax (3% of ¥1.8M, billed 6 weeks later): ¥54,000
  • Total transaction cost: ¥3,400,000 — about 13% over headline price.

Plus ¥25,000 per year fixed-asset tax going forward. Plus heating, insurance, maintenance — but those are house costs, not transaction costs.