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A Singaporean man, Lee Xian Jie, 33, bought a home in rural Japan for S$30,000.

His story has been documented in various chats, interviews, and most recently, hashed out in more detail in The Straits Times.

His journey to rural Japan

Together with two Singaporean friends, the farmer and entrepreneur, who used to be a documentary production assistant in Singapore, bought a 120 sq m guesthouse in 2022 in the rural village of Ryujinmura in Wakayama prefecture.

The compound is called Ryunohara.

Surrounding the property is 18,000 sq m of land, mountains and the Hidakawa River.

Ryujinmura has about 3,000 residents, and an area of 255 sq km, about one-third the size of Singapore.

What has he done

Lee is a bachelor.

He has been a Japan resident since 11 years ago when he went there to study political science at Waseda University in Tokyo in 2012.

After his studies, Lee wanted to remain in Japan.

He said in The Travel Intern video: "Japan was way too interesting to leave. So, I decided to stay here."

He moved to Kyoto and started a company that offers tours there.

It performed very well during its first few years.

But the pandemic struck.

During that global health crisis, his business took a hit.

But that was when Lee had a chance meeting with a 71-year-old Japanese chef, Moriguchi Shu, who served tea from Ryujinmura.

The chef took Lee to the Japanese countryside.

He also introduced Lee to the landlady who was looking to rent out her akiya (literally "empty house").

So far, Lee has helped three other friends buy old property in the area he is in.

One of the houses will then be restored and run as a guesthouse for digital nomads in June 2023.

Besides the guesthouse, there are two other buildings available for guests at Ryunohara.

These two properties are rented from the landlady for a few hundred dollars each month.

He has received permission to remake them.

Lee transformed these two akiya into a a co-working space and a cafe that opened in 2022 and is operational only on Fridays and weekends.

He said in The Travel Intern video: "The idea of starting a guesthouse came up but there's nowhere to eat because the nearest place is like 15 minutes away."

"Online tours helped to pay for a lot of the renovations here. And we got the subsidy from the Japanese government for the cafe."

Lee then discussed the matter with Shu, who said he would help with the restaurant.

Lee said the result has been "gratifying".

Each akiya is about 120 sq m.

After he gets his operational licences in June, he intends to rent out the guesthouse for about S$360 a night.

It can accommodate six people.

It will be listed as Ryunohara Hatago on Airbnb.

Hatago means "inn".

Ryunohara Hatago will also serve as a teahouse.

Renovation was tedious

However, the S$30,000 guesthouse alone required S$120,000 worth of renovations, which Lee saw to many parts of it himself.

He broke out the tools and built and assembled what was needed.

The Ryunohara properties have since been restored with traditional features, such as paper screen doors.

Local Japanese villagers are supportive of the project, Lee said, given that he has brought the house back to a condition that can accommodate people.

Lee added, when asked for his advice for others who are thinking of moving overseas:

"So the advice for anyone who wants to move overseas actually live in the place that you want to live in first. See if there are jobs that may interest you. Or if you can create any jobs that would interest you there. And see how plausible it is before you jump into it. You may see that the grass is greener on the other side, like in the movies. So it really depends on the time in your life you're moving to a place. Also, financially, does it work for you? All those questions you have to answer for yourself. Probably start small first, go to the place you want to be. Don't go as a general tourist because then you'll only see the good things, right?"

What is 'akiya'?

Akiya is literally “empty houses”.

Japan is littered with these properties as the country's population continues ageing and dwindling.

There are several million properties like these there, which can be found in the countryside, after the owners have passed away.

Some go for tens of thousands of dollars, while others can even be given away for free with conditions attached to their use.

All photos via Lee Xian Jie