Thieves in Japan have been finding unique new targets lately. Exhibit A: Cabbage. Exhibit B: abandoned homes, which thieves – including foreign crime groups – are targeting and stripping at an accelerated rate, causing more damage than ever.
As Japan’s population continues to age, the number of abandoned homes (空き家; akiya) has skyrocketed along with it. Reports say that, as of October 2023, there were nine million unoccupied homes, accounting for 13.8% of total properties.
These homes are hard to sell. The home itself almost always requires significant work – sometimes, a complete demolition and rebuild. Reducing the house to vacant land usually carries significant tax penalties.
As a result, the properties are increasingly the target of thieves who are stripping them down with whatever they contain. This can be a lot, as sometimes families won’t live in a home but use it as an ersatz storage facility. Thieves may also strip them for their metals, selling the piping and fixtures for profit.
According to Yomiuri Shimbun, in 2024, the number of properties burglarized was 8,192. That’s a 10% increase YoY. However, the damage done – some 1.1 billion yen (USD $7M) – increased by 300 million yen. Compared to 2020, damages caused by thefts of abandoned homes have increased by 3.7 times.
Thieves say they use smartphone map applications to determine which areas might have abandoned houses. They then visit homes and look for signs the property is abandoned — such as overgrown lawns and the status of water meters.
Criminals believe that the risk of apprehension is lower when targeting abandoned properties. And for the most part, they’re right. But not always. One group of thieves from Vietnam was apprehended last year. Authorities believe they were behind 420 separate break-ins.
To prevent theft and the ensuing economic damage, police are calling on owners of the abandoned houses to take security precautions. These include putting lights on a timer or sensor, not letting mail accumulate, and keeping lawns mowed.
This stripping of metals isn’t limited to abandoned houses. In Katsushika City and other areas in Toyko, NHK says, thieves last year stripped faucets and pipes from public toilets to sell them for cash. Asahi Shimbun reported a similar string of thefts this month in Aichi prefecture.
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