Akiya market downplays money pits and empty-house backstory

Take Kurosawa and Joseph Stockermans established AkiyaMart, now Mokomoko, in 2023. | Ariana King

Nov 12, 2026

AkiyaMart rebranded earlier this year, as the word akiya can have a negative connotation in Japan and doesn’t quite match the market the property site is serving.

“It brings up images in people’s minds of social decay, economic downturns,” said Joseph Stockermans, one of the site’s co-founders, comparing empty houses in Japan to abandoned buildings in Detroit.

Akiya means “empty house” in Japanese and refers to the millions of unoccupied properties in the country. They are sometimes sold for next to nothing and have become a sensation globally.

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