For sale: Japanese castle, 15 years old, good as new

From the Mainichi Daily News:

For anybody who's ever believed that a home should be a castle, there's now a Japanese real estate agency that can literally make that dream come true, according to Cyzo (May).

On sale in a rustic little village in sleepy Toyama Prefecture on the Sea of Japan side of the country is a traditional-style Japanese castle.

At first glance, the castle sitting atop a hill in the village of Yatsuo is little different to those citadels that dotted the landscape during Japan's feudal era, while the interior also retains the flavor of times long past.

But the castle has all the mod-cons, which shouldn't really be surprising because it was only built a mere 15 years ago.

"The president of a construction company built it. He was apparently going to use it as a place where he could hold big parties," a real estate agent identified only as Iijima-san from Shimada Jutaku real estate agency tells Cyzo. "But the company's finances went awry and the president had to put the castle up for auction. Our company bought the property and decided to put it up for sale."

The castle is three-stories high. The president waited until changes in the Construction Standards Law changed in 1987 and permitted the erection of wooden buildings higher than three flights before he built it.

Surprisingly, the castle is comparatively cheap...at 41 million yen, it costs about the same as the average apartment in outer suburban Tokyo, but also comes with some 600 square meters of land and the 144 square meters of the interior is still more spacious than a typical home in the capital.

Inside the castle, it's like taking a trip back to Japan of yore.

"Every room is decked out in traditional Japanese style, with tatami mats," Iijima tells Cyzo. "Except for the smallest room in the house. The toilet is a (far more comfortable) Western-style job."

It's pretty rare to live in a castle. Shimada Jutaku put the fortress on the market in June last year and is still looking for a buyer. Whoever does pick it up will also earn the knowledge that they are one of the few individuals in Japan to own their own castle.

"There are a few cases where rich people living in the countryside have built their own castles, but I'd hardly say that this is a fashion," the editor of a trendy architectural magazine tells Cyzo. "Maybe we should do a big write-up on residential castles!"

For about 400 grand, you could do worse.