Why and how we buy properties in Japan, design our spaces, and are creating our own hub for creativity and experimenting.
Tokyo is getting too big and expensive so creatives are moving into cheap areas closeby. Digital nomads are always looking for places to stay and build their startups. Black Americans and Japan have two of the strongest cultures in the world. <br /> What would it look like if we created a place that brough these 3 groups to meet, live, exchange ideas, and cocreate together?
Why start ZuCity in Japan? Theres a lot of reasons. We also love Komoro where we are based in Nagano Prefecture — 90 minutes from Tokyo by shinkansen.
Three houses and one event venue, all <5min walking from each other. Every property is near Komoro Station and the Shinkansen, under 90 minutes from Tokyo.
Browse our spaces and upcoming events on the app.
🔴 is our central community space. ⚪ are rooms in our community-owned houses within minutes on foot. This is ZuCity's neighborhood.
| Property | Distance | Walk |
|---|---|---|
| ZuCity Artist & Builder Residency | 0.1 km | 1 min walk |
| ZuCity Balcony Bedroom #1 | 0.1 km | 1 min walk |
| ZuCity Balcony Bedroom #2 | 0.1 km | 1 min walk |
| ZuCity Lounge - Nakamandem | 0.1 km | 1 min walk |
| ZuCity Secluded Backyard Flat | 0.1 km | 1 min walk |
| ZuCity Office Bedroom and Mountain View | 0.2 km | 2 min walk |
| ZuCity Master Bedroom | 0.3 km | 4 min walk |
| ZuCity Traditional Tatami Bedroom | 0.3 km | 4 min walk |
The map is not a brochure — it is the access list. Houses, venue, workshops, and gear are all bookable, and the day pass is the key that fits all of them.
Every dot on the map above is somewhere you can actually be. A $21 day pass opens all of it for 24 hours:
Community breakfast at the commons; coffee that turns into introductions.
A desk upstairs in The Grocery Store — whiteboards, fiber, and people mid-project.
Dinner at the long table, then whatever the basement venue is hosting: a talk, a screening, a rave.
The onsen is a short walk away. Fall asleep in a bed booked in the same app.
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.
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.
The community, the philosophy, the origin story. How this all started.
The volcano, the soba, the neighbors, the economics of living here.
Why we buy what the market abandoned — the full argument.
Split an akiya with friends and keep a bed on this street.