At 18, she dreamed about moving to Japan. When she turned 50, she quit her job and bought an abandoned home near Osaka.

• Chani had been emotion stuck successful a rut, moving 10-hour days arsenic a Japanese connection coach successful Australia.
• With her 50th day astir nan corner, she decided to discontinue her occupation and move to Japan alone.
• She bought an abandoned house, aliases akiya, for astir $13,400, and says she "manifested" her dream life.

Last year, correct earlier her 50th birthday, Chani decided thing successful her life had to change.

She had been moving arsenic a Japanese language teacher successful a schoolhouse successful Brisbane, Australia, for six years, and her 10-hour workdays were starting to deterioration connected her.

In summation to teaching, she managed six unit members and was successful complaint of astir 300 teenage students. To protect her students' privacy, she asked to beryllium identified only by her first name.

"You're ever connected a knife's separator pinch what's going to hap nan adjacent day. Young teenage kids tin beryllium a small spot unpredictable," Chani, now 51, told Business Insider. "I was ever rather worried astir nan students, and past taking location a batch of affectional baggage that came pinch that job."

There was besides nan significance of hitting 50, which felt for illustration a large milestone.

"You consciousness for illustration you've reached that midpoint successful your life, and you're like, ohio my gosh, I've only sewage half left," Chani said. "I conscionable can't support going connected this treadmill. I've sewage to alteration something."

All she could deliberation astir was moving to Japan, wherever she'd ever felt nan happiest.

"I had been taking students to Japan arsenic portion of their connection people each 2 years, and each clip I was there, this bid washed complete me," Chani said. "The smell, nan sounds, nan people, everything conscionable benignant of felt right."

With her 2 children now adults, location was nary amended clip for her to return nan leap. In April past year, Chani packed up her bags, said goodbye to her family, and left for Japan.

A lifelong fascination pinch Japan

Chani's emotion matter pinch Japan started years agone erstwhile she was successful college. She did a homestay pinch a section family successful Shikoku, nan smallest of Japan's awesome islands.

Every play that summer, her homestay family would return her connected agelong drives done nan countryside.

"I utilized to look astatine nan houses and nan group tending to their gardens," she said. "I ever thought, 'One day, I'm going to unrecorded successful a Japanese location successful nan countryside, and that'll beryllium me, outside, tending to my garden.'"

Her clip successful Japan had specified an effect connected her that she decided to study nan connection formally aft returning to Australia. In university, she specialized successful school Japanese — and that's what she did for nan adjacent 2 decades.

Now, Chani is an English coach successful a Japanese schoolhouse successful Wakayama, a municipality astir 45 minutes from Osaka. She besides runs an online Japanese connection people connected nan side.

"I decided to beryllium present based connected really quickly I could get home, because I person parents who are successful their seventies, and I've sewage 2 kids," she said. "I wanted to beryllium capable to jump connected a level nan adjacent time if I needed to and not person a agelong trek to an world airport."

Brisbane is astir 9 hours distant from Osaka by plane. Many Australians, who person to alert complete double nan hours to get to Europe aliases nan US, would see this close.

The first mates of months into her time successful Japan, Chani lived successful a two-bedroom rental apartment.

Her clip location made her recognize that she wasn't suited to flat surviving astatine all. Back successful Australia, she had ever lived successful a house, and she wanted to beryllium capable to person a yard. She besides wasn't utilized to having neighbors each around.

"Probably wrong a period of surviving successful nan apartment, my adjacent extremity was to bargain a location quickly and get retired of there," Chani said.

Turning an akiya into a home

With a fund of 50,000 Australian dollars, aliases astir $33,600, Chani decided to bargain and renovate an akiya to support her costs low.

Japan has astir 8.5 cardinal akiya, aliases abandoned homes, successful nan countryside. The nation's shrinking population and soul migration from nan countryside to nan cities person resulted successful millions of unoccupied houses successful agrarian areas.

Local governments are listing immoderate of these akiya for waste for arsenic debased arsenic $500 in a bid to lure caller residents to these "ghost towns."

Due to a deficiency of restrictions connected foreigners purchasing spot successful Japan, an expanding number of foreigners are choosing to bargain and revitalize these aged homes.

"I didn't want to make nan correction of buying successful nan incorrect area, truthful I asked rather a fewer locals who were very candid pinch maine astir nan various 'no-go zones,'" she said.

Once she decided connected nan wide vicinity that she wanted to unrecorded in, she started doing drive-bys and walk-bys of various listings earlier narrowing down her choices.

With nan thief of a real-estate agent, she recovered nan cleanable akiya to telephone home.

It was a two-story house, pinch 3 bedrooms upstairs and a surviving area, a eating room, and a room downstairs.

Although nan spot had been sitting quiet for astir 6 years, it was well-maintained by nan family of nan erstwhile owners.

"When I walked done it, it was still beautiful dirty; It was evident it hadn't been lived successful for a agelong time, but it wasn't falling down," Chani said.

The main point that drew her to this peculiar spot was its immense beforehand room.

"I person a car, and each of nan different akiya that I looked astatine had nary parking," Chani said.

Her full extremity was to unrecorded rent-free — prevention for her monthly inferior bills — and having to rent a abstracted parking spot location successful nan neighborhood didn't make sense.

"It was conscionable different measure that I had to salary that I was trying to avoid. This 1 had nan opportunity to person nan beforehand room into nan garage, which is what I ended up doing," she added.

Moreover, nan location had a modern flushing toilet, which meant that Chani wouldn't person to switch nan full septic system.

In August 2023, she bought nan spot for 2 cardinal Japanese yen, aliases astir $13,400.

Location-wise, it's nan champion of some worlds.

On 1 hand, she's surrounded by nature; There are mountains successful nan backmost and moreover a formation astir a 15-minute thrust away.

"If I get successful my car and thrust for, say, 5 aliases six minutes, I'm successful nan countryside. I'm virtually successful fields of rice," she said.

But that doesn't mean that it's difficult for her to get astir either.

"I've sewage 5 convenience stores wrapped astir me. The supermarket is simply a five-minute walk, while nan closest train position is an eight-minute walk, she said, adding that she tin moreover locomotion to her agency successful 18 minutes.

'Manifested' her dream life

Chani has besides been documenting her akiya travel and her life successful Japan connected YouTube.

While location are galore foreigners who are moving akin channels dedicated to renovating akiya, Chani said she couldn't subordinate to their experiences.

Lawrence Covian, a US Army vet, and his woman antecedently told BI they bought an akiya successful Iwakuni for $35,000. His occupation pinch nan US authorities had brought him to Japan, and now he has nary plans to return. Eric McAskill, a Canadian millennial, told BI he bought an aliya because restoring a location successful nan Japanese countryside was his lifelong dream.

"There was nary female my age," Chani said. "Where are nan women who are successful their mediate property who are buying houses? There was nary 1 that I could travel to get guidance."

That encouraged her to stock her ain travel online.

"I thought location mightiness beryllium personification for illustration maine who wanted to do this but didn't person anyone that they could look astatine and get accusation from, she added.

She has a portion of proposal for others who are besides willing successful moving abroad: Don't unreserved into nan decision.

"For me, it was each astir having that agelong relationship pinch Japan and knowing what I was getting myself into," Chani said.

That said, a batch of problems tin beryllium solved, and there's nary request to fto fearfulness guidelines successful nan measurement of a caller escapade — particularly if it's a lifelong dream, she added.

Looking backmost connected her journey, Chani says she's gladsome she recovered nan courageousness to return nan leap and build nan life she'd ever dreamed of.

"I'm really, really happy pinch life present successful Japan, and I've gradually formed caller friendships," she said.

Of course, she wishes her family were here, too, but that's OK because they enactment connected via video calls and are readying to visit, she said.

"I benignant of manifested it erstwhile I was 18, but past life sewage successful nan way," she said. "But I conjecture it was ever successful nan backmost of my mind. I do want to unrecorded retired that dream life that I saw erstwhile I was 18, and I want to do that for myself."

Have you precocious relocated to a caller state and recovered your dream home? If you've sewage a communicative to share, get successful touch pinch maine astatine agoh@businessinsider.com.