Couple points that are often overlooked with regard to Japanese housing: 1. Mortgage rates are far lower in Japan than in America. My U.S. credit union is offe

Couple points that are often overlooked with regard to Japanese housing: 1. Mortgage rates are far lower in Japan than in America. My U.S. credit union is offering 3.6% 30-year fixed-rate loans; the average for Japan is around 1.3% for a standard loan, plus it's fairly easy (for a typical Japanese person) to get that knocked down a bit for various reasons. 1a. Even this is understating things a bit because, again, Japanese houses depreciate in value so the bank doesn't have the same collateral against the loan that a U.S. bank has. In essence, the Japanese mortgage should really be compared against a 30-year, $300-600k car loan (which of course, doesn't exist). 2. Japanese buyers have much more freedom in the design of the house than American buyers. The average person can really get their "dream house" built (within limits: you still have to build on the small, ~1000-square-foot) without worrying about resale value or angry neighbors and HOAs. Wanna build a house out of concrete with one tiny window in the front? Wanna put a lawn on your roof? 3-story house with a small balcony on the fourth floor to catch a peek at Mt.Fuji? Go for it! All of these are within a 3-minute walk in my thoroughly ordinary Japanese neighborhood.