They depreciate like they are cars because Japan focuses on the new. You don't buy a house, you buy the land, knock down the existing house, and build a new one

They depreciate like they are cars because Japan focuses on the new. You don't buy a house, you buy the land, knock down the existing house, and build a new one. You don't buy a used car, you buy a new one unless you're broke. There's precious little used market for anything, which can be a boon to those of us who want to buy nice used film cameras from Japanese ebay sellers.