It's Obon, so let's talk as a family: 'What will happen to this family home in the future?'

It's Obon, isn't it? Many of you are likely visiting your family homes for the first time in a while. Putting your hands together in prayer at the family altar, catching up with your parents, and walking down the streets where you played as a child. Those are precious moments.

I also just visited my mother at my family home with my own family.

So, today I want to write about something I'd like you to think about just a little bit during this Obon season.
The theme is simply: 'What will happen to this family home in the future?'

It might sound like a heavy topic, but you don't need to be so guarded about it.
In fact, the point is that it's important to talk about it before you feel the need to be guarded.

There was more of a response than I expected to that story about the housing complex.

At the end of last year, I wrote about the Asahigaoka housing complex in Hiroshima City.

About 60% of households responded that there was no one to inherit the home. It was estimated that within about 50 years of the start of occupancy, there would be over 100 vacant houses left with household goods still inside.

This article received more of a response than I expected.
I think for many people, it didn't sound like a story that was 'only about the Asahigaoka housing complex.'

And now that it's Obon, I wanted to write about it again.
This time, the perspective isn't 'what to do once it becomes a vacant house,' but 'what to talk about before it becomes one.'

In that housing complex, 'discussions' have since begun.

After my previous article, there were developments at the Asahigaoka housing complex as well.

It has been reported that in March 2026, the joint neighborhood association distributed flyers on vacant house countermeasures to all households and planned consultation sessions inviting experts.
The flyers reportedly included items that can be confirmed while the owners are still alive, such as whether they know where important documents are kept and whether they have talked to their children about organizing household goods.

I think this movement is extremely important.
The vacant house problem tends to focus onwhat happens after the house becomes vacant, such as 'selling, renting, or demolishing.'
But in reality, there is a stage before that.
If you know that no one will inherit the home, talk about it while you are still living there.
Just doing this changes the options available later on significantly.

There are already 9 million vacant houses nationwide.

Looking at the country as a whole, the 2023 Housing and Land Survey shows there are 9 million vacant houses, a vacancy rate of 13.8%. Both are record highs.
Of those, there are 3.85 million vacant houses excluding those for rent, for sale, or vacation homes.

In other words, the problem isn't just that 'there are vacant houses.'
There are no plans to sell, no plans to rent, and no plans for how to use them.
It means there are a massive number of such houses across the country.
And in housing complexes, there is a possibility that this will happen in a more concentrated way over a shorter period.

In housing complexes, 'everyone gets old at the same time.'

Detached housing complexes have characteristics that are different from ordinary residential areas.
They were developed at the same time, people of similar ages moved in, and the houses get old around the same time.
In short,the houses and the people grow old together.

People who bought homes in their 30s during the period of high economic growth are now in their 80s, 50 years later.
The houses are also 50 years old, and the roofs and plumbing need repairs.
But the owners are elderly and hesitant about whether to undertake major repairs.
Their children live far away.

And so, time just passes without them ever talking about 'what will happen to this house in the future?'

If it's just one house, it's a family problem.
But when the same thing happens to 100 or 200 houses at once, it becomes a neighborhood problem.
This is the slightly scary part about the issue of vacant homes in housing complexes.

Because it's Obon, I want you to talk about 'What will we do with this house?'

That said, if you go home for the first time in a while and the first thing you say is, 'What will we do with this house when you die?', it would ruin the homecoming.
Even I would find that hard to bring up.

So, you don't have to start with such a heavy topic.
If it were me, I would start by checking these things casually.

Is there anyone who wants to live in this house in the future?
When our parents move into a facility, who will come to check on the house?
Does the family know where the household assets, titles, and important documents are?
When no one lives there anymore, are we thinking about selling, renting, managing, or demolishing it?

You don't have to decide everything.
'I don't know yet' is fine. The important thing is to bring it up at least once.

The 'when parents move into a facility' stage is a turning point.

This is what concerns me most when I look at the situation on the ground.
Even when elderly parents move into a facility, families don't immediately think of it as a 'vacant house'.
'They might come back,' 'There are still belongings there,' 'For now, it's fine as it is.' This is how a house stays in a state like an unoccupied home for several years.

An unoccupied home... to put it very simply, it's not yet a vacant house, but effectively, no one is living there anymore.

And before you know it, the garden is overgrown with weeds, the roof starts leaking, mail piles up, and the neighbors start to worry.
That's why I've long believed that the 'day it stopped being lived in' is more important than the 'day it became a vacant house'.

In 2026, the government also began moving toward the revitalization of 'entire housing complexes'.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is promoting the 'Housing Complex Revitalization Promotion Model Project' for fiscal year 2026.

This supports the investigation and study of housing complex revitalization and the renovation of existing homes, including support that fully subsidizes activity costs, and a second round of recruitment began in June 2026.

This is quite symbolic.
Until now, vacant house measures have focused on the idea of individual units, such as 'what to do with Mr. A's house'.
But in housing complexes, that alone isn't enough.
Managing the entire area and thinking about the future.
That kind of mechanism is becoming necessary.

'Collective management of housing complexes' will become more realistic, I think.

I believe that vacant house management on a housing complex scale will become an important mechanism in the future.

If there is a housing complex with 30 vacant houses, instead of looking for management companies separately, the area can be monitored collectively.
Check for abnormalities in plants, mailboxes, and buildings once a month, and check after typhoons as well.

Even if a job is hard to make profitable for a single house, it has the potential to become a viable business on an area-wide basis.
For businesses in real estate, construction, security, cleaning, and renovation, this could be a new entry point.
And above all, it can reduce the number of 'houses no one is watching' in the community. It's a story that leads to local peace of mind, whether in terms of crime prevention or disaster preparedness.

You don't have to decide during Obon. But I want you to talk about it.

If you returned to your hometown for the first time in a while this Obon, please take a walk around the neighborhood.
As you walk down the streets where many children used to play, you might notice, 'No one lives in that house anymore, either.'

At that moment, I want you to think for just a second, 'This house might end up the same way someday.'
And even while you're eating, try asking, 'By the way, what are we going to do with this house in the future?'

You don't need to reach a conclusion this Obon.
But there is one thing I want you to decide on now.
Decide 'who will be the one to think about this house.'

It is the smallest step you can take, even as early as tomorrow.
First, just one person in the family needs to take ownership of it. That alone will completely change how things move forward.

The issue of vacant houses doesn't begin the moment a house becomes empty.
I believe it actually begins quietly the moment the whole family starts putting it off, thinking, 'That's a problem for the future.'

So, this Obon.
If your family has gathered after a long time, along with sharing old memories, please try talking just a little bit about 'what this house will be like in five years.'

▼ Thank you for reading until the end.
If you liked this article even a little, please 'like,' 'comment,' or 'follow' me.

▼How to start a 'Regional Happy Business' with a weekend side job and a weekday side hustle
'Your business might just save the region.'
When people hear 'vacant house management,' they tend to think of real estate or construction professionals.
But in reality, it pairs well with many different industries.
In this series, I introduce 'different industries' that create surprising chemical reactions with vacant house management.
You should be able to find something that sparks an idea within you in 'Different Industry x Vacant House Business.'
Why not start with 'I'm a little curious'? Your intuition might be the first step in changing the region.

▼ Click here for the association website where you can read various topics related to vacant houses every day↓↓
https://www.akiyakanrishi.org/
▼ You can also see entries from the 'Vacant House Photo Contest' on Instagram↓↓
https:、/www.instagram.com/akiyakanrishi/
▼ Akiyakanrisha is looking for business partners nationwide↓↓
https://www.akiyakanrisha.net/
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https://www.youtube.com/@user-ve5wl5gv7k/podcasts
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