Japan's Free House Giveaway

Steph Smith shares a story about how Japan's aging population has led to millions of free houses being given away.

"In Japan, because they hit the silver tsunami earlier than other countries, they have this interesting thing where they're giving away free houses or super cheap houses called 'akiyas'. I was in Japan this summer and we did a walking tour. They took us around and showed us these houses. They were like 'see this house' - it was in the middle of Osaka, a little rundown for sure - but they said 'this house is free.'

There are social aspects to the akiyas too. Japanese people really care about status, so if they grew up in a poor neighborhood and their parents passed away, and then they've moved into a different social strata, they don't want to claim the house because they don't want to be associated with that neighborhood.

There are over 8 million akiyas that are being given away by the government or sometimes for very cheap."