Know if daily life
actually works there
Before you commit to a property, find out what's nearby. The Neighbourhood Score Tool checks the services you'll need every week — and tells you honestly how well they're covered on foot, by car, and overall.
Search. Score. Decide.
Three steps between an address and a clear picture of what daily life looks like.
Type a Japanese address, neighbourhood, or city name. Or paste coordinates directly if you have a specific plot in mind.
An overall liveability score (0–100), a walkability score, and a short-drive access score — each one telling you something different about the location.
Each essential is checked individually — distance, coverage, redundancy. A live map shows everything found nearby. Warnings flag gaps before they surprise you later.
The 7 daily essentials
A location can't score high if critical services are missing — no matter what else is nearby.
The most heavily weighted essential. Supermarkets and food shops within walking distance.
Train stations score higher than bus-only access. Connectivity matters as much as proximity.
Medical access is distance-sensitive. Penalties apply beyond 3 km for on-foot scoring.
Strictly checked. A general drugstore won't substitute — a licensed pharmacy is required.
Critical in car-dependent areas. The penalty is automatically reduced for walkable urban locations.
ATMs and bank branches. A redundancy bonus applies when more than one is nearby.
Post offices and administrative service points — more relevant in Japan than most expect.
The max score is set by how many essentials are present. Amenities can't compensate for missing basics.
A score for every
way of getting around
Life in a rural town with a car is completely different from life in a walkable city neighbourhood. The tool gives you three separate scores so you can see both realities.
Overall daily life score — weighted by essential coverage, service diversity, and redundancy. Hard cap applied based on essentials present.
How well the location holds up without a car — based on walking-distance coverage of grocery, pharmacy, transport, and bank.
What's reachable within a short drive — clinic, grocery, fuel, post office. Relevant for areas where owning a car is the norm.
Choose your plan.
The Neighbourhood Score is part of the full Akiya Labs toolkit — alongside 6 other research tools, the Property Hazard Score, and the weekly newsletter. Four plans to fit your pace.
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I was looking at a property in a small town in Yamaguchi. The photos looked fine, the price was right. I ran it through this tool and the nearest clinic was 18 km away. That changed the conversation completely.
A few things people ask
Can I search any location in Japan?
Yes — any address, city name, or neighbourhood. You can also paste coordinates directly if you have a specific parcel in mind.
Why does a location sometimes score very low?
A low score means few essentials were found nearby. This is a real signal — it reflects what's actually available in that area. The tool shows a confidence indicator alongside results so you can weigh them appropriately.
Why is fuel included as an essential?
In most akiya locations — smaller towns, rural areas — owning a car is normal or necessary. Fuel access matters. The tool reduces the fuel penalty automatically for dense, walkable urban addresses where it's less relevant.
Which plans include the Neighbourhood Score?
The Neighbourhood Score is included in Quarterly ($74/3 months), Premium ($149/year), and Lifetime ($349). It's not included in the Trial plan. If you already have one of these subscriptions, you have access.
Can I run it more than once?
As many times as you like. Run it on every property you're considering — the scores become more meaningful the more you compare.