Japan is one of the fastest ageing nations in the world due to the extended lifespan and decline in the birth rate. The population has begun to decline gradually since 2011. On the other hand, the ratio of vacant houses reached 13.6% in 2018. Though 8.5 million out of 62.4 million houses are unoccupied, about 1 million houses are still built every year. Vacant houses are increasing not only in rural areas but in cities. It causes several problems to the surrounding environment. Therefore, various attempts are made to reduce vacant houses and to use them effectively. One of such attempts is converting those houses into welfare facilities. It is also effective from the viewpoint of users and facility operators because users will be able to feel easy as if they were visiting their friend’s houses and operators can reduce construction costs. This presentation will show some successful conversion cases in Japan.
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