This study is a basic investigation of the contents and services relevant to the domestic vacation house business. In which, the trade scale, types of housing, and environmental conditions of various property locations were analyzed. The characteristics of properties listed on the Japanese website that conducts the greatest volume of vacation house trade in Japan were examined, and the following results were obtained: Villa areas, villas, and resort condos (resort mansions) are the three basic types of properties handled in the vacation house trade. In this market, sales per unit in villa areas and per spaces in resort condos accounted for the highest volume of trade, followed by that of villas (individual houses). In terms of land area, floor area, and sales price per house type, the relatively cheaper small and medium-sized vacation houses are more frequently traded, than expensive large-scale villas. In particular, small multi-family type villas (such as in resort condos) are the most popular. Land and floor area, and sales prices all show considerable variation depending on the type of property considered. Therefore, a business initiative to provide a more detailed classification of properties is required. In terms of the environment of vacation properties, most are located on coasts, plateaus, or inland mountains, and are generally within three-hours’ traveling distance of large cities.

1. Introduction
  Abstract
 2. Materials and Methods
  2.1. The vacation house as business and its handling
  2.2. Study methods
 3. Results
  3.1. Types of vacation house and scale of trade
  3.2. Forms of vacation house trade
  3.3. Environmental conditions at the villa arealocations
  3.4. Discussion
 4. Conclusions
 REFERENCES

• Byung-Chuel Shin(Department of Environmental Landscape Architecture, Joongbu University) Corresponding author
• Gu-Won Park(Department of Tourism Management, Cheongju University)