Cat Foreheads & Rabbit Hutches

The problem of rental properties for the elderly has been widespread for many years, but as the predicted aging of Japanese society has progressed apace, the problem has become a full-blown crisis.

Modern life prioritizes convenience to the point where we take progress in terms of service for granted and forget to realize that convenience often comes at a price—to someone else.

MUFG Bank On September 5, Sankei Shimbun ran a story that’s gotten a lot of attention.

Data center under construction in Inzai The Japan Times ran a very good article last June that we found particularly interesting because it focused on the construction of data centers in the Chiba Prefecture city of Inzai, where we happen to live.

Section of tunnel that goes through Shizuoka Prefecture After years of delays, the Shizuoka section of the ambitious Chuo Shinkansen project, better known in Japanese as the “linear motorcar” and in English as the maglev, which will be able to shuttle pas…

Harumi Flag As we’ve written here numerous times, the cost of a new condominium in Tokyo has risen beyond the reach of most middle class households and even quite a few upper middle class ones.

A kyosho jutaku in its typical urban setting The title of this blog refers to two old cliches about Japanese housing that address size.

UR apartment in Tokyo It says something that the big economic buzz word in Trumpworld—affordability—has entered the Japanese lexicon as a katakana term, though it seems to be restricted to real estate in Tokyo, which, as we’ve mentioned so many times, is…

An image of the residence described in the Asahi article located in the Koishikawa area of Tokyo Though home prices in Tokyo occasionally drop temporarily, in general they now remain pretty much out of reach for most sentient humans, which isn’t to say th…

On Jan. 15, two people were stabbed in front of a rental apartment in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward allegedly by the man who lived in the apartment.

January 17 marked the 31st anniversary of the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people and destroyed about 250,000 homes.

What’s it worth to you?

Where it’s buried Japan has one of the most extensive and sophisticated sewerage systems in the world.