Columns
Resort Hot Spots: Fuji Five Lakes, Yamanashi By JPL
Life in the shadow of Mt. Fuji Work ★★★ Play ★★★★ Live ★★★★ Located less than two hours from Tokyo, the Fuji Five Lakes area has long been a favorite place for weeken...
Resort Hot Spots: Minakami, Gunma By JPL
Life in the ‘Queenstown of Honshu’ Work ★★★ Play ★★★★★ Live ★★★ Minakami has fast become the adventure capital of Honshu. The hot ...
Resort Hot Spots: Hakuba, Nagano By JPL
Living under the “Roof of Japan” Work ★★ Play ★★★★★ Live ★★★★ With more than a dozen quality ski resorts up and down the valley, Hakuba has long been one of...
Resort Hot Spots: Niseko, Hokkaido By JPL
Life up North Work ★★★ Play ★★★★★ Live ★★★★ Niseko’s goal has long been to become the Aspen of the East, and with what many consider the best powder in the wo...
The property path less traveled By JPL
If your plans for buying property in Japan have been put on hold because of the recent economic downturn, don’t abandon your dream of owning a piece of Japan just yet. There is a little-known route to acquiring property in Japan at unbelievab...
Financing your property By Ernie Olsen
Obtaining a loan to finance your dream house has become easier over the past few years. Despite the market turmoil, several lenders are willing to make loans available to creditworthy individuals, even i...
Getting Started By Shawn Clankie
Buying real estate in Japan need not be much more difficult than it would be in one’s own country. Here we’ll take you through the process step-by-step from start to finish, so you know what to expect. Step 1: Get educat...
Is now the right time to buy? By Shawn Clankie
With economic uncertainty throughout the market, blood pressures running high and Japan and much of the world mired in a recession, could now be the time to buy? Or is waiting out this storm a better option? “The year 2009 offers a buying opp...
Resort Real Estate: Fact or Fiction By JPL
There are plenty of myths floating around about purchasing property in Japan. To separate the fiction from the fact, we went to the experts to help us sort it all out. As a foreigner, you can’t own land outright. “Unlike some...
Living the Lifestyle By Shawn Clankie
Whether it’s the resort lifestyle, the simple life, or you simply want a little place to put your hands in the soil, there are many reasons and motivations for wanting to buy resort property in Japan. At a time when many villages are disappearin...
Eco-architecture in the Shadow of Mt. Fuji By Noah Graham
Living Style Eco-architecture in the shadow of Mt. Fuji Ancient Japan was a noble land; a kingdom directly descended from Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun. Dignified castles sheltered refined villages with majestic tree-lined temples and organic farm...
Going off the grid in Niseko By Jeff Roberts
Going off the grid in Niseko Japanese concrete buildings constructed in the 1980s and apartment blocks built on ski resorts – two of the least likely settings, you might think, for eco-friendly construction. Yet these are the key ingredients ...
Moving On Up By Jonathan Nacht
Urban grind or mountain chalet? In truth, most of us want the best of both worlds. Yet while many Japan residents dream of finding a quiet place to live surrounded by nature, would they trade their city conveniences to have a home with foxes scamperin...
