What happened to the city ranked No. 1 in the Tokyo metropolitan area in the “Best Country to Live in?

Five houses sued in a town with a population of 30,000.

The dream of living in the countryside had an unexpected pitfall: “My house was not inspected and sold.

My house has no inspection certificate, so I can’t sell it, and I can’t change the use of the house to accommodations. I have no choice but to live in a defective house in a new place where I have no parents or relatives, and continue to pay my mortgage under stress. ……

This is the lament of Ms. A, 56, a housewife who moved to Isumi City, Chiba Prefecture, nine years ago. She decided to move to Isumi City, Chiba Prefecture, in April 2017 as a place for semi-retirement after 30 years of hard work in Tokyo, saying, “I want to spend my time relaxing, working on a new business, and playing golf.

Facing the magnificent Pacific Ocean, Isumi City has a mild climate with no snowfall in winter and is blessed with seafood. The city was ranked “No. 1” in the Tokyo metropolitan area in the “2025 Best Countryside to Live in, General Category” by “The Book of Country Life” (Takarajima-sha). The city of Isumi also promotes migration from the city center, and the entire city welcomes newcomers.

Initially, the design and construction of the new house to be built in Isumi was commissioned to a major house builder. However, Mr. A was enthusiastically sold on the idea by then-President B of X, a local construction company that was in charge of replacing the cloth and wood deck in the used house he had purchased prior to his emigration.

Mr. A was sold on the idea that “I am a member of the city council of Isumi, so I can help you for the rest of your life,” and that “house builders tend to just build what they want to build, but a local company will give you peace of mind.

In April 2022, a 49 million yen home, including land and building, was completed. At the same time, the company was also commissioned to build a new building for a new business, but “we found defects and code violations in all of the buildings,“ lamented Mr. A. “For example, the blueprints showed a 20 cm difference in height and a 20 cm difference in width.

For example, the blueprints showed 20 cm of fill, but the actual fill was only 4 cm, and every time it rained heavily, we had to prepare for flooding from the neighboring rice paddies. We also found several places where there was no insulation, which should have been there. This is probably why my house is hot in summer and cold in winter. We also found areas where fireproof plasterboard had not been installed.

When a first-class architect was asked to conduct an on-site inspection of the new house, he pointed out problems such as incomplete completion inspections, violations of fire safety certification, and inconsistencies with the drawings. Mr. A looked down :“I heard that a bellows duct, which is prohibited by city ordinance, had been installed, and when the architect checked with the administration,it was a violation of the fire prevention ordinance.

In March 2025, Ms. A established the “Association of Victims of Illegal Construction and Defective Housing. On January 16 of this year, three members of the “Association of Victims” filed a lawsuit in the Chiba District Court against Company X and City Council Member B, seeking a total of approximately 39 million yen in damages, alleging, among other things, that they were forced to build a property in violation of laws and regulations and with structural defects. The lawsuit brought the total number of plaintiffs to five, including Mr. A, four others, and one corporation.

This is not a mere construction dispute between individuals,” said Mr. A. “There are multiple victims. There are multiple victims, and we believe that this is a serious social problem that is deeply related to the safety of the community and the state of local autonomy. Some people are anxious to speak out in a small town with a population of 30,000 and are crying themselves to sleep because they feel that if they make a big deal out of it, it will make their lives more difficult.

In the case of my house, the one-year inspection that is supposed to be done after the handover was not done, and we found defects and problems by investigating on our own. After receiving the results of the survey, Company X explained to us in June 2024 that they would “properly fix” the defects, but after that, despite our repeated requests for on-site inspections and consultations, Mr. B was not satisfied with the results of the inspections. However, despite repeated requests for on-site inspections and consultations, Mr. B never came to inspect the site, and no discussions or consultations took place. Even after contacting him through his lawyer, there was no response for a long period of time.

In December, we had no choice but to go directly to the architect in charge of the survey to discuss the situation, but he turned us away, saying, “I can’t talk to you because my lawyer is in the room. Please leave. After that, I was offered a settlement of 240,000 yen, In April 2025, Company X filed a claim for confirmation of non-existence of obligation against me, but withdrew it when I counterclaimed. My dream of living in the countryside turned into a nightmarish life of litigation.

Lawyers for the litigants say, “The attitude of the administration is also questionable.”

The biggest problem for Mr. A is, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, the fact that he has not obtained an inspection certificate. An inspection certificate is a document that certifies that the building does not violate the Building Standard Law. If normal procedures are followed, an inspection certificate should be issued at the time of handover, but Mr. A’s house does not have one.

Mr. A’s house is not in possession of an inspection certificate. “Due to a deficiency in the building administration, the inspection certificate is not issued after the time of handover, and cannot be reissued later due to the legal system. If this happens, the building is considered to be in violation and cannot be resold or changed in use. Mr. A’s home without an inspection certificate is a noncompliant building, so he cannot do any additions, renovations, large-scale remodeling, or renovations.

Mr. Kenichi Iwayama, a first-class architect and head of the Japan Building Inspection Institute, points out. Mr. Iwayama, an expert in home inspections who has been inspecting defective homes for a quarter of a century, has reviewed all of the drawings, inspection certificates, and contracts for the five households involved in the class action lawsuit, and has actually inspected the properties. Mr. Iwayama is outraged.

He found that the plasterboard in the back of the ceilings had not been installed, which is something similar to the intentional cutting of corners that was seen in the Showa period (1926-1989). The president (at the time), who is also an incumbent city council member, violated fire prevention certification and the fire prevention ordinance, and lacked the spirit of law-abiding citizens. I must say that this was a terrible construction job.”

Mr. Tadanori Onizuka, a lawyer for the lawsuit team, continued.

The city of Isumi, which encourages new immigrants from the city center to move to the city, is also concerned that allowing such a case to go unchecked will hinder the city’s development and damage its reputation. It is a problem that also affects the credibility of Isumi City, so the attitude of the administration is also called into question.”

Are Ms. A’s claims and the points made by Mr. Iwayama and others true? How do you accept the fact that a class action lawsuit was filed against you by your customers? Mr. B, the defendant, responded as follows.

Mr. B, the defendant, answered, “The three people who filed the lawsuit are people who built the house eight years ago. Other than that, we have not received any other complaints. Normally, if there is a problem, we first contact the parties involved and try to resolve it through discussion. If the matter still breaks down, a lawsuit is filed.

But this time, without any notice, we suddenly received a complaint and a press conference (for filing a lawsuit). So, for our part, we can’t talk about it. We feel that this is not a solution to a problem, but a different objective. We are perplexed.”

There are suggestions that you “cut corners” in the construction process.

I can’t answer that question because I have a lawyer in the room.

Mr. B’s attorney, Takuo Akino, responded in writing to Friday Digital’s interview.

As for the three newly filed lawsuits, we have not received the complaint yet, so we cannot give our opinion,” he replied, adding , “We recognize that none of the points pointed out in the lawsuit against Mr. A do not fall under defects, and we are making a claim to that effect.

For example, he denied that the ducts used in Mr . A’s house were in violation of the Fire Prevention Ordinance, saying, “We believe that this is in violation of the interpretation of the ordinance and is not acceptable. The reason for this is due to the circumstances on the part of Mr. A.” (Mr. A’s actual name is used in the document).

(Mr. A’s real name is used in the document.) The two sides’ claims were in direct conflict. At the end of the interview, Mr. A muttered, “I just wanted to live quietly in the countryside.

I just wanted to live quietly in the countryside. Not a day goes by that I don’t wonder if it was a good decision to move to this town.

How do these words resonate with Mr. A and other immigrants to Isumi?