Buying for now rather than forever: never say never?

[Jansen]

Apart from housing, this sounds a little towards the to-good-to-be-true side of what I read about japan--where is this magical place?

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The area we are in now has kids again. It had some when we moved here, then it seemed everyone was old (older than us), and now there's been some rebuilding and younger families are around again. But that cycle has taken 30 years.

I met a few people over the summer who were looking for property in Karuizawa because of commutability to Tokyo. I'm sure there're a few more resort/bessou towns in similar areas. Other friends in Kansai have moved to Awajishima and also Kusatsu.

Ones I've personally looked at are Atami, south Izu, Sagamihara and Nasu. Mostly dilapidated onsen towns looking for a second wind.

[kuma]

We were looking at a handful of towns in central Hokkaido. Some growing as minor ski resorts. Some selling themselves as 'slow life' places and getting lots of migrants from cities. Hit and miss though; some towns are depopulating; others are growing. My wife hails from that area so has local knowledge.

However, we've decided to put the brakes on househunting for now.

[grimpeur]

Just for future reference, but I don't think you can lump somewhere like Furano in with standard inaka that is full of old people and akiya. Ski resorts have demand from non-locals, non-Japanese included of course, and that makes their real estate markets much less likely to depreciate. Anyone who has bought in Niseko, Karuizawa, Kamakura/Shonan, Hakuba, .... in the last twenty years won't have come out in a bad way compared to renting, even with transaction costs factored in. In Niseko's case, they will have made a lot of money. As you say, the alternative of renting may just confine you to a poor house, and that can seriously diminish the experience of where you are living. It is much easier to put up with the niggles of daily life, here life in a foreign country, if you have a comfortable pad that lets you do the things you want to do.