buyjapanproperty.com was founded by Dan Neil, an Australian who has lived in Japan for over 24 years, and Yoko Neil, a Japanese national from a Kanagawa family real estate business that has been operating since the 1960s. We built this platform to give foreign buyers the same quality of information that Japanese buyers have always had access to.
I moved to Japan in 2002. What was supposed to be a year or two turned into 24 and counting. I've built a career across occupational hygiene and forensic science — work that trained me to be analytical, detail-oriented, and skeptical of surface-level information.
I married Yoko, who is from Kanagawa. Her family has been in real estate since the 1960s. When I started looking at the Japanese property market through the lens of a foreign buyer, I was stunned by the gap. Japanese buyers have access to detailed legal disclosures, zoning classifications, and municipal grant programs. Foreign buyers get a translated title and a price.
I built buyjapanproperty.com to close that gap. Every listing on this platform is automatically checked against 11 legal flag categories. Every qualifying property is matched with government grants worth up to 7.4 million yen. The information was always there — it just wasn't in English.
Yoko grew up in a real estate family. Her mother is the current CEO of the family agency in Kanagawa — a business that has been operating continuously for over 60 years. Yoko didn't just learn real estate from textbooks. She grew up negotiating with contractors over the dinner table.
Our Japanese real estate licence is held through japanre.jp, making us a fully licensed 宅建業者 (takkengyosha) — a licensed real estate transaction business recognised by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). This means we can legally represent buyers in Japanese property transactions, conduct due diligence, and execute the formal 重要事項説明 (important matters explanation) that Japanese law requires before any property purchase.
Many English-language platforms charge thousands of dollars just to introduce you to an agent. We are the agent. Three generations of family expertise, one licensed agency, direct to you.
Every week, we see foreign buyers fall in love with a cheap Japanese house — only to discover after the fact that it sits on agricultural land they cannot legally use, or that it carries a non-rebuildable designation meaning they can never tear it down and start fresh.
Platforms like CheapHousesJapan and others show listings with beautiful photos and low prices. What they do not show are the legal flags that Japanese buyers see on every listing by default. A 500,000 yen house sounds incredible until you learn it is in a 市街化調整区域 (urban control zone) where new construction is effectively prohibited.
We built 11 legal flag categories to protect buyers from these hidden risks. We built a government grant finder because there are municipalities offering up to 7.4 million yen in combined relocation, renovation, and family support grants — and most platforms never mention them. The information exists. It is public. It just was not available in English until now.
Non-rebuildable status, agricultural zones, fixed-term leases, flood risk, and 7 more categories — checked automatically and explained in plain English before you fall in love with the photos.
Japanese municipalities offer relocation grants, renovation subsidies, and family support payments worth up to 7.4 million yen combined. We flag eligibility on every qualifying listing.
We hold a 宅建業者 licence through japanre.jp. We are the agent — not a referral service, not an introducer. Direct representation backed by a Kanagawa family business since the 1960s.
No investors, no growth-at-all-costs pressure. We are a family business focused on doing right by every buyer — because our reputation is our family name.
Search properties with legal flag analysis and government grant matching, or book a consultation to talk through your goals with our team.