Due to an aging population, flight to Tokyo, superstitions regarding abandoned houses, and natural disasters, Japan is tackling its vacant housing stock by giving away houses. Terms and conditions apply, but it seems to be primarily that you live there, pay taxes, etc.
I'm from Baltimore, Maryland, which is surpassed only by Detroit in the amount of vacant urban housing. The situation isn't strictly analogous to Japan--eminent domain rules are different, Japan doesn't have a legacy of segregation, poverty, and crime, etc. But I'm curious how policy proposals meant to reduce abandoned housing stock play out.
NB: I received a subsidy to move into a rehabbed, formerly vacant house in a marginal neighborhood in Baltimore. So I'm more than just intellectually curious. I can't provide any help moving to Japan, but if you're relatively young, want to make a big move to East Asia, and buy a house, I can provide some encouragement.