A home says more about its owner than almost anything else they buy. The chairs someone chooses, the wood they pick for the floor, the artwork on the wall — none of it is incidental. A home is one of the few purchases people will use, every day, for years. Working with Axios Management on the purchase and OneDesigns on the interior, buyers in Tokyo can get a space built around them, without having to manage the process themselves.
Why furnishing a new property in Tokyo is rarely straightforward
A newly purchased property in Tokyo, whether it’s meant for personal use, resale or rental, usually comes close to bare. Basic fittings are provided. Sometimes a previous owner leaves behind a light fixture or a piece of furniture as part of the sale. But a luxury purchase is really a blank canvas — the real work starts after the keys change hands.
That work isn’t limited to furniture. Flooring, skirting boards and other structural finishes often need replacing outright, or simply don’t match what the new owner has in mind. Getting a contractor to lay hardwood, install custom carpeting or hang artisanal wallpaper sounds simple until you try to arrange it in Japan.
Language is its own obstacle. Coordinating anything beyond the basics means understanding how business gets done in Japan — booking showroom visits, liaising with individual artisans, arranging transport for large or fragile furniture and keeping every part of the process at a high-end standard throughout. Without fluent Japanese, or a working knowledge of local quirks like getting a delivery truck down a narrow suburban street, even a small upgrade can turn into a logistical headache.
Without fluent Japanese, or a working knowledge of local quirks like getting a delivery truck down a narrow suburban street, even a small upgrade can turn into a logistical headache.
Then there’s the question of who you actually hire. Some firms will furnish an entire property, but the materials they use are usually chosen for cost and speed rather than how long they’ll last or how they’ll look in five years.
Go the other direction, toward independent craftsmen, and you get quality — but each one tends to work in a narrow specialty. That leaves the buyer stitching together several separate relationships and hoping the finished result actually matches what they pictured, on top of everything else involved in buying a home in Japan.
What would actually solve this is a single service that carries a buyer’s vision the whole way through — understanding what they want, sourcing the furniture, and managing every stage of the renovation down to the final coat of paint.
That’s the niche OneDesigns fits, perfectly.
The Axios and OneDesigns partnership, explained
Most property agents step back once a sale closes. A few will point clients toward a contractor or a furniture brand and leave it there. Buy through Axios, though, and OneDesigns is already built into the process. Every client gets a free initial consultation to talk through the general direction of the project and get a rough sense of cost before committing to anything. Once the purchase is complete, OneDesigns follows up with detailed layout plans and formal proposals — and none of it requires the client to be in Japan in person.
The result is a purchase process that’s less stressful from the outset, and a property that functions as a home from the day it’s handed over, not months later.
Once the purchase is complete, OneDesigns follows up with detailed layout plans and formal proposals — and none of it requires the client to be in Japan in person.
What OneDesigns actually does, from first call to final delivery
Instead of leaving buyers to sort through the full range of domestic and international options on their own, OneDesigns runs a bespoke service built around what their clients envision. Their approach draws on years spent working within Japanese renovation, paired with a design sensibility that isn’t limited to local convention. Nothing is templated — the same care goes into the first phone call as into the final walkthrough.
The process opens with a consultation where the client lays out their ideas for the space, along with their timeline, intentions and how they plan to live in it. From there, OneDesigns uses that input to draft a layout that breaks from Japan’s tendency toward standardized building design, shaping the space around what the client specifically needs. It’s a principle the company sums up simply: “Timeless design that enhances everyday living.”
Once a design is signed off, the renovation itself runs through OneDesigns’ network of contractors, using whatever materials the client has chosen. For furniture, they draw on relationships with luxury manufacturers both in Japan and abroad, sourcing pieces built to last and designed with intent. Among the brands they work with:
OneDesigns handles the contracts, the legal requirements and the invoicing directly, so the client isn’t the one chasing any of it down. That holds whether the client is based overseas or has never dealt with a renovation in Japan before — the process is designed to run smoothly regardless.
FAQs
Do I need to speak Japanese to deal with the contractors myself?
No. OneDesigns runs the entire project in English, acting as the single point of contact between the client and their network of artisans and contractors. All on-site communication and oversight is handled on the client's behalf.
What happens if the project starts running over budget or past the deadline?
Renovations occasionally hit something unexpected — that's true of any bespoke project. OneDesigns' focus is on protecting the client's time and money if that happens, laying out clear options as soon as an issue comes up so the client stays in control without having to manage the daily details themselves.
What if I know roughly what I want but haven't worked out the details yet?
That's where the process is designed to help the most. OneDesigns starts with an in-depth consultation, then puts together a design concept and a set of refined options, working with the client until the direction feels right.
Who this is for
Buying property in Japan means balancing what an international buyer expects with how things actually get done locally, and that gap is exactly what the Axios and OneDesigns partnership is built to close.
Working within this system gives buyers access to experienced project oversight and a level of service that doesn’t cut corners. OneDesigns takes a property from a completed purchase to a finished home, without asking the client to compromise on either the outcome or their own time.
To get started, get in touch with Axios Management directly.
Tsuyoshi Hikichi
Managing Director of Axios Management and IREA, with over 22 years of experience advising international investors on acquiring, managing, and optimizing real estate assets in Japan.
