Snow Country House, Kijima
Oaza Kijima, Joetsu City, Niigata, Japan
Why We Selected It
This is the kind of house that only exists in Japan right now: a full family home, properly built in the traditional idiom — deep tiled eaves, a formal tatami room with shoji opening to the south, a genkan you could hold a party in — for less than the cost of a small car. Kijima sits on the flat land between Joetsu's coast and the mountains, quiet, agricultural, with sky in every direction. What makes it work is the position: shinkansen to Tokyo from Joetsu-Myoko, and the Myoko Kogen snow within a comfortable drive. It is a big, honest house that has been looked after, waiting for someone to bring it forward.
The Home
Detached two-storey timber house, freehold · Lived-in, original condition — updating recommended
A 45-year-old two-storey timber house of about 180 m² at Oaza Kijima, on the open farmland edge of Joetsu City in Niigata — five rooms, a tiled entrance hall, tatami reception room and generous parking, with the Myoko Kogen ski mountains half an hour inland. Asking €31,000.
- About 180 m² across two floors, built roughly 45 years ago in timber with a tiled hipped roof and traditional eaves.
- Five rooms, including a formal tatami reception room with shoji screens, tokonoma alcove and full-height glazing to the south.
- A wide tiled entrance hall with open timber staircase and built-in storage — the traditional genkan, kept intact.
- Kitchen and dining room together, with a window over the sink onto the garden; a modern unit bathroom with deep soaking tub and separate WC.
- Mains water and mains sewerage connected; heating and cooking on individual LP gas.
- Open forecourt with parking for several cars, plus an attached store and shuttered garage bay.
- The plot sits within a regulated zone, so any new building or major structural work requires permission — something we handle as part of the acquisition.
Life Here
Stations
Joetsu-Myoko station is the local shinkansen stop — Tokyo in around two hours, Kanazawa in under an hour — with Naoetsu and the Shin'etsu line for coastal journeys.
Skiing
Myoko Kogen — Akakura, Suginohara, Ikenotaira — is roughly 30 minutes inland: some of the deepest, most reliable snow in Japan, and still far quieter than Hakuba or Niseko.
Summer
Rice country and open sky: the Sea of Japan beaches at Naoetsu in twenty minutes, river valleys and onsen towards Myoko, and local festivals through the warm months.
Everyday
Joetsu City covers supermarkets, hospitals, schools and hardware stores within a short drive — a working city, not a resort, which is why prices stay where they are.
Our Perspective
Why it works
A large, traditionally built family house with parking and land, thirty minutes from world-class snow and a shinkansen ride from Tokyo, at a price that removes almost all financial risk from the decision.
Ownership case
Best understood as a base rather than an investment: a winter house for the Myoko season, a family retreat, or a long renovation project. Letting is possible but the case here is use.
What makes it special
A full 180 m² traditional home — formal tatami room, deep tiled eaves, a genkan you could hold a party in — with parking for several cars, the Myoko Kogen snow thirty minutes inland and a shinkansen to Tokyo from Joetsu-Myoko.
Best suited for
Buyers who want space, snow and a traditional Japanese house, and who see a long, unhurried renovation as part of the pleasure.
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