We have long sung the praises of investing in Japan for a number of reasons:
1. Lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle - Japan's conveniences and services make it one of the best places to live.
2. Japanese property outside cities is cheap. If you are not bound by job restrictions, rural areas are surprisingly appealing and not so remote. Foreclosed property gets far cheaper in these areas because there is simply no buyers.
3. Attractive yields of 12% make this an appealing place, though you do need to acknowledge that homes do depreciation, and earthquakes can accentuate depreciation rates. Of course the key is to identify the appealing locations.
4. Regional strategy - There is a tendency to treat Japan as a 'single market' but its really a number of cities surrounded by rural areas that don't really matter to the nation's economy. Basically few people live there and they are 'subsistence based' retirees. They will keep doing that until they die. The point is that these areas are depopulating. The people of Niigata and Aichi, etc are however not moving so much to the city centre of Tokyo and Osaka, but mostly to the 'fringes' of these cities. This is one reason why I bought in Hanno City. In the last 8 years, this town continues to grow in population. There is a new Cainz Home Centre, a new library, a shopping centre under construction. There is a university at Motokaji (nearby), the road up the Naguri River Valley has been upgraded. In other regional centres like Masashi Ranzen, the growth is not as strong because it is 1.5 hours from Tokyo on the Tobu-Tojo Line. Hanno is just 36minutes from Ikebukuro, on Tokyo's Yamanote (green) line, and its recently been linked to the Shibuya through its connection to the Fukutoshin Line, with good connections to Shinjuku and Yokohama.
The important fact is that whilst the population in Japan might be falling, the major cities are actually growing, and the dynamics of rail development is shaping where people migrate to. The implication is - investing in Tokyo and other cities is about realising where train services will be built, and how lifestyle values are shaping those moves.
But this story is not 'good bye' to Japan, but hello to opportunities in the Philippines. Why do you need to live in one place. So many of us have the flexibility to do otherwise, or otherwise to buy investment property.
Asian property markets outperforming Japan Foreclosed Guide Philippines Property Guide
Profit from mining with Global Mining Investing eBook
1. Lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle - Japan's conveniences and services make it one of the best places to live.
2. Japanese property outside cities is cheap. If you are not bound by job restrictions, rural areas are surprisingly appealing and not so remote. Foreclosed property gets far cheaper in these areas because there is simply no buyers.
3. Attractive yields of 12% make this an appealing place, though you do need to acknowledge that homes do depreciation, and earthquakes can accentuate depreciation rates. Of course the key is to identify the appealing locations.
4. Regional strategy - There is a tendency to treat Japan as a 'single market' but its really a number of cities surrounded by rural areas that don't really matter to the nation's economy. Basically few people live there and they are 'subsistence based' retirees. They will keep doing that until they die. The point is that these areas are depopulating. The people of Niigata and Aichi, etc are however not moving so much to the city centre of Tokyo and Osaka, but mostly to the 'fringes' of these cities. This is one reason why I bought in Hanno City. In the last 8 years, this town continues to grow in population. There is a new Cainz Home Centre, a new library, a shopping centre under construction. There is a university at Motokaji (nearby), the road up the Naguri River Valley has been upgraded. In other regional centres like Masashi Ranzen, the growth is not as strong because it is 1.5 hours from Tokyo on the Tobu-Tojo Line. Hanno is just 36minutes from Ikebukuro, on Tokyo's Yamanote (green) line, and its recently been linked to the Shibuya through its connection to the Fukutoshin Line, with good connections to Shinjuku and Yokohama.
The important fact is that whilst the population in Japan might be falling, the major cities are actually growing, and the dynamics of rail development is shaping where people migrate to. The implication is - investing in Tokyo and other cities is about realising where train services will be built, and how lifestyle values are shaping those moves.
But this story is not 'good bye' to Japan, but hello to opportunities in the Philippines. Why do you need to live in one place. So many of us have the flexibility to do otherwise, or otherwise to buy investment property.
Asian property markets outperforming Japan Foreclosed Guide Philippines Property Guide
Profit from mining with Global Mining Investing eBook
