We saw better ways to approach life, coliving, community events, and popup cities. We bought properties in rural Japan near Tokyo to test it. This is what happened.
Kiba runs the operations — finding properties, negotiating with local governments, managing renovations, keeping the lights on. Not a visionary, just someone who got tired of paying rent to people who don't care and decided to do something about it.
We're based in Komoro, a quaint city in Nagano about an hour from Tokyo by shinkansen.
From 0 to 4 properties in 1 year: how ZuCity is building a vertically-integrated community-owned neighborhood in rural Japan by replacing vibes with equity.
Zuzalu proved that if you put interesting people in the same place for long enough, interesting things happen. We took that idea and asked: what if we just… stayed? What if the popup never popped down?
We're not selling a lifestyle product. We're figuring out how to live together — sharing meals, making decisions, fixing things that break. Every house is an experiment. Most of the experiments fail. The ones that don't become the culture.
ZuCity's first Zuzalu popup city in rural Japan generated ¥480,000 in revenue while converting 26% directly into community assets like vehicles and furniture.
We pool money, buy cheap rural properties, and own them collectively. No landlords extracting rent. No investors demanding returns. Just people with skin in the game building something that belongs to them.
When you own where you live, you stop asking permission. Our houses become studios, workshops, libraries, labs — whatever the people living there need them to be. The culture comes from the constraints, not the branding.
We decide how things work here. Not a DAO with token voting — just people who live together getting shit done. Iterating everyday to be our best selves, together. That's ZuCity.
If you want to see what's actually available, the app has rooms, events, and community listings.
Traditional family houses with gardens going for $2k–$30k with access to some of the best transportation, agriculture, and healthcare systems in the world
¥900 ramen. Fresh vegetables from local farms. Obachans perfecting their miso recipe for 60 years. By default, you eat healthy and delicious food every meal without even trying.
Mountains, rivers, hot springs, forests — all walkable from town. Nature isn't a weekend trip here. It's Tuesday.
Neighbors who bring you vegetables they grew. Shopkeepers who remember your name. Saying 'Hi!' from across the street. Genuine warmth that doesn't come with fulfilled life.
Japanese culture and people are founded on a deep spiritual faith. Living in Japan is more than just learning the language or rules, its a new way of understanding life.
Walk anywhere, anytime. Leave your bike unlocked. Let your kids roam. It's genuinely safe in a way that's hard to explain until you experience it.
We're not running a retreat center isolated from the world. We shop at the same grocery store as everyone else. We go to the matsuri. We help clear snow. Our neighbors know our names, and we know theirs. That's not a marketing angle — it's just what happens when you actually stay somewhere long enough to belong.
A glimpse into daily life at ZuCity Japan — community gatherings, shared meals, and the coliving experience in rural Nagano.