Hey guys, we’re trying something new and I hope you can join us :)
We’re hosting aFREE live webinar on Thursday, November 19th at 8pm EST. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Who should (and who SHOULDN’T) buy a house in Japan
The most common problems people run into when buying their house, and how to solve them
A breakdown of a home tour we just did for a client
A Q &A at the end, where we’ll answer as many of your questions as we can
I’m super excited to talk to you guys live and give you more insight into this amazing journey of buying a home in Japan.
Sign up here. Drop your questions in when you register, mark your calendar, and come join us for an hour of chin-wagging (shoutout to my Brits).
Japan just crossed 100,000 centenarians for the first time in history. Per capita that’s around 87 per 100,000 people. In the US it’s about 30. So its safe to say Japan is really good at keeping people healthy into triple digits.
I’m sure its a complex mix of multiple factors. Diet, exercise, genetics, and a hundred other things nobody’s fully fleshed out.
But I can tell you what I’ve been staring at for three weeks. Something you would rarely see in the US.
We’ve been staying for three weeks in a small town in Miyazaki called Uchiumi. It’s maybe 40 homes in various states of disrepair, and we’ve seen exactly one person under the age of 30 since we got here.
The entire main commerce street, which is maybe seven stores, is roller shutters the whole way down (maybe we open a coffee shop here). I haven’t seen one thing open besides a barber shop, which we’ll get back to later.
This is clearly an aging, depopulating town facing the same crisis towns all over Japan are facing. But after a few days I stared to notice something.
Wooden Benches.
I’ve counted at least eight, placed out in public on the street for neighbors to sit and talk.
And sit and talk they do.
It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, you’ll see ojichans and obachans chatting it up on these benches. Our neighbor seems to be quite a chatty one, I’ve counted her on three different benches, with a different person every single time.
I remember reading a while back that micro-interactions, those small conversations you have with neighbors, store clerks, bus drivers, really boost well-being and life satisfaction.
With the proliferation of smartphones and AirPods, these micro-interactions are becoming less and less common, so I’ve made it a point to try and have them, even here, where I’m working with a rolodex of about 25 words.
It’s something you don’t see as much in the US, or at least not on an informal level like this.
My grandma plays canasta at the library every Tuesday, which is great, a strategic game that keeps your mind sharp while also being social with friends.
But it’s only one day a week, and it’s at the library. It’s not a bench ten feet from your front door with another local comrade.
I’ve walked around this whole neighborhood, Its only like 4 square blocks and takes a total of 15 minutes, and the benches are placed so that you’re never far from one to sit and chat.
Then there’s the goats.
There are two of them, a black and white one and a gray one. One is significantly bigger than the other, she must be the shachō (boss). They’re both tied to a long leash.
At first I thought they were one person’s goats, used to trim the lawn, get some milk maybe. But after seeing them on three different lawns on three different days, the same two goats, I realized what they were.
They’re community goats.
Passed around to handle the burden of lawn mowing. Miyazaki is wet, things grow extremely fast here, its borderline a jungle. And for an elderly community like Uchiumi that could become a real burden.
But luckily they’ve got the goat team to call in whenever they need to handle any weeds or grass. The goats get to graze, the elderly community isn’t breaking their backs, and everyone is cared for.
It’s nice to see situations like this, where everyone involved, including the animals, is seemingly better off for it.
And that brings me back to the barber.
I don’t know this for certain, but after seeing how this community operates, I’m sure that barber is only open to give people a place to get their hair cut, likely discounted or even free, and a place to hang out and have a conversation.
This place is remote with a small population; I don’t think anyone outside of Uchiumi is coming here for a haircut. Though I could absolutely be wrong, like so much of Japan, this could be the most dialed in barber on earth.
Japan loves to surprise you like that.
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This content is for informational and educational purposes only and reflects my personal opinions and experience. I am not a licensed financial advisor, tax advisor, or attorney. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any investment decisions.