4 ms·

Kumamoto is barely finished rebuilding from the last quake, you can still see cracks in structures as you drive down the road. This is really horrible; not to m

Kumamoto is barely finished rebuilding from the last quake, you can still see cracks in structures as you drive down the road. This is really horrible; not to mention the city is already beginning to depopulate as the youth move north to Fukuoka.

spike021 2mo ago
I wouldn't let this get in the way of going there though. Kumamoto is a very nice prefecture to see. They will rebuild (again) and it'll continue to be a great place.
- DiscourseFan 2mo ago
  No I mean of course, I thought Kumamoto was very nice and I especially enjoyed visiting Mt Aso, I was lucky enough to see into the crater and hike around the peaks
  - spike021 2mo ago
    I get it. Same here. Aso is probably one of my favorite places in Kyushu. Also, the michi-no-eki at the bottom is fantastic.
walrus01 2mo ago
It's my understanding that small to medium sized cities (and rural areas) depopulating is going on now throughout almost all of Japan. One of the things that really surprised me recently is how low the cost of real estate is for an older, normal middle class home in some sparsely populated areas of Japan. Apparently the declining population and younger people not wanting to live in their parents' rural countryside home is having a significant effect on property values.
- epolanski 2mo ago
  > One of the things that really surprised me recently is how low the cost of real estate is for an older, normal middle class home in some sparsely populated areas of Japan. If you're willing to move to depopulating areas houses cost a little kinda everywhere. In Puglia, Italy, in my in laws village (8'000 people), you can buy a freshly renovated, rather huge house for 50k, and you can likely find livable ones, not renovated at the 10-15k. In US, in many rural areas you can buy a whole home in good conditions at the 50k mark. Japan follows the same trend, and yes, I've traveled Japan some, there's plenty of almost-ghost towns nowadays where you can buy real estate for pennies as well.

spike021 2mo ago

I wouldn't let this get in the way of going there though. Kumamoto is a very nice prefecture to see. They will rebuild (again) and it'll continue to be a great place.

DiscourseFan 2mo ago
No I mean of course, I thought Kumamoto was very nice and I especially enjoyed visiting Mt Aso, I was lucky enough to see into the crater and hike around the peaks
- spike021 2mo ago
  I get it. Same here. Aso is probably one of my favorite places in Kyushu. Also, the michi-no-eki at the bottom is fantastic.

walrus01 2mo ago

It's my understanding that small to medium sized cities (and rural areas) depopulating is going on now throughout almost all of Japan. One of the things that really surprised me recently is how low the cost of real estate is for an older, normal middle class home in some sparsely populated areas of Japan. Apparently the declining population and younger people not wanting to live in their parents' rural countryside home is having a significant effect on property values.

epolanski 2mo ago
> One of the things that really surprised me recently is how low the cost of real estate is for an older, normal middle class home in some sparsely populated areas of Japan. If you're willing to move to depopulating areas houses cost a little kinda everywhere. In Puglia, Italy, in my in laws village (8'000 people), you can buy a freshly renovated, rather huge house for 50k, and you can likely find livable ones, not renovated at the 10-15k. In US, in many rural areas you can buy a whole home in good conditions at the 50k mark. Japan follows the same trend, and yes, I've traveled Japan some, there's plenty of almost-ghost towns nowadays where you can buy real estate for pennies as well.