Special Topics

Controversial argument: Where are the places you don’t want to live in Tokyo ?

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(Machida)

Moving into a new place can be an exciting yet expensive decision.

It is essential that you view the property in person as the photos may (or may not) do the property justice.

You may be able to identify issues that are not present in the photos, which may not be up to date.

Visiting the property gives you a feel for the location and the neighbourhood.

In any cities, there are some neighbourhoods where you don’t walk in the middle of night alone.

In fact, in Tokyo there is almost none.

Maybe you may feel weird if you walk on the street early in the morning in Shinjuku Kabukicho but you won’t feel

extreme insecurity.

I recently read a book written by a guy called ‘Masayoshi Osaka’. The book is called ‘Where are the places you don’t

want to live in greater Tokyo ?’  It is highly controversial and full of prejudice such as race, income and business.

He is a reasonably well-known blogger, originally from Osaka.

He is running a media company “Tokyo Deep Guide” , which is the extreme biased media.

The media shines light not on the positive side of the cities/towns in Tokyo but on the negative side.

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Testimonials by Malinda and Lee from USA 　(お客様の声,米国）

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Here is the latest testimonials by American investors.

Malinda and Lee are running a manufacturing company in LA, USA
which produces the content related products.
They are looking for a property (to buy) to start the new business venture in Tokyo.

They are looking for a property in Tokyo with some work space for their manufacturing and also 

usual home rooms/facility to live while they stay in Tokyo on the trip.

We took them to a property in Adachi ward, Tokyo which is northern part of Tokyo.

Where is Adachi ward ?

Let’s find out what they think of the property.

We wish them a good luck.

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Want to get Japan’s green card by the real estate investment ? (YouTube)

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(cherry blossom in Tokyo)

Remarkable new visa system effective from April 1, 2019.

My latest YouTube video clip.

Japan real estate investment for foreign investors.

‘Japan’s green card by the real estate investment ?’

Japanese government dramatically relaxed the green card system for the high skilled foreign professionals

as well as the visa for blue-collar workers

The government expects to grant specified skills visas to around 340,000 blue-collar

workers over the next five years.

 

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Want to enjoy onsen 24/7 ? : Here is what you should do Villa in Hakone (YouTube video)

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(Mt. Fuji and Lake Ashinoko, Hakone)

When was the last time you stretch your legs in your onsen tub ?

I recently visited Hakone for my client who resides in USA.

He asked me to search a villa in Hakone with onsen (hot springs)

Just a short trip from Tokyo, Hakone has great hot springs at the foot of Mount Fuji.

If you travel on the Odakyu Limited Express Romancecar(which I normally take),

Hakone is inly about 90 minutes from Shinjuku station.

For more than 400 years, Hakone has flourished as a favorite onsen destination.
In Hakone, there are many onsen hotels and locations with magnificent views of Mount Fuji.

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YouTube Channel launched !: ‘Japan Real Estate Investment for Foreign Investors’

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Dear readers,

We have recently launched our own YouTube Channel.

It is called ‘Japan Real Estate Investment for Foreign Investors’

The channel will post various useful information and property information for foreign people.

We hope you enjoy our videos.

If you have a question or topics you want us to pick,  please let us know.

YouTube link ↓ 

Japan Real Estate Investment for Foreign Investors

 

Toshihiko Yamamoto
Real estate investing consultant and author.
Founder of Yamamoto Property Advisory in Tokyo.
International property Investment consultant and licensed
real estate broker (Japan).
He serves the foreign companies and individuals to buy and sell
the real estates in Japan as well as own homes.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from
Osaka Prefecture University in Japan
and an MBA from Bond University in Australia

Toshihiko’s book, “The Savvy Foreign Investor’s Guide to Japanese Properties: How to Expertly Buy, Manage and Sell Real Estate in Japan”is now out on Amazon, iBooks (iTunes, Apple) and Google Play.
About the book 
Amazon.com Link

 

 

 

 

 

 

Controversial Japanese Government’s new immigration policy: PM Abe uses the acute labor shortage to push for relaxing the immigration law

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（A view from Japanese kominka house, folk house)

Japan is facing the serious shortage of workforce and ageing problem.
How should this country cope with a serious population decline and sustain the vitality of its society and economy?
According to Yomiuri shimbun, the overall shortage is estimated to be 580,000 at present, and was projected to reach 1.45 million five years from now. After subtracting from these figures increases in the number of elderly and women workers and the like, a maximum of 47,000 foreign workers will be accepted in the fiscal year when the planned revisions of the immigration control law take effect, and up to 345,000 over the five years from the revisions.
The government and the ruling camp, led by the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP), will now shift their focus to a key bill to revise the immigration control law and create new residence status in order to allow Japan to accept more foreign workers.Time employed under new visas won’t count toward working period requirement for permanent residency.
The Justice Ministry does not intend to count time spent employed under one of two new visas set to be introduced spring 2018 when checking whether those who apply for permanent residency status meet requirements.One of the prerequisites for permanent residency in Japan is having five years of work experience in the country. But according to the sources, those working under the new proposed visa status — which will be available to individuals with considerable knowledge or experience in areas where human resources are lacking in the nation – will not be able to cite time spent under this status as working time when they apply for permanent residency.
The new visa, along with another type intended for individuals with more seasoned skills in areas similar to those under the first type, is aimed at making up for labor shortages in certain job categories, and will open the door to more foreign blue-collar workers.
In the meantime, the ministry is still considering how to handle time spent working in Japan under the second type of visa.

(Hakuba, Nagano prefecture)

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The best buy places to own a new condo unit in Japan

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（Kashiwa station, Chiba)

Do you want to know the best buy places to own a condo unit in Japan ?

Toyokeizai, one of the renowned business magazines in Japan
recently featured the unique real estate (condo unit for home) information in Japan.

The magazine picked up some best buy railways stations in greater Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to own for your home.

The ranking is based on unique method of PER (Price Earning Ratio).
This particular PER is used to calculate the length (years) to pay back the property price
(new 3 bed room unit with 70 m2) if you rent out.

For example, Read more

You want to get Japan’s green card by the real estate investment ? : Here is what you practically should do

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Here is an idea worth considering. Imagine being able to get Japan’s new green card only in a year.
Japan needs more skilled foreign workers.
To attract more foreign workers, Japanese government relaxed requirements for permanent residency (so-called green card) last April (2018)
Before relaxing the requirement, high skilled professional (HSP) workers had to stay in Japan for at least five years before applying for green card, but now just one year is required.
In fact, it is the fastest green card system in the developed countries.
Some pundits are saying relaxed law will bring more foreign high skilled workers but whether it will be a game-changer remains to be seen.
Japan is also said to be a tough country for foreign workers to live due to the very unique traditions such as corporate culture and seniority system, which is another hurdle to clear even after obtaining the green card.
In 2012, Japan introduced a point system for skilled workers. The points are given based on individual backgrounds, including business experience, income, Japanese-language fluency and academic degrees. The system is intended to give preferential status to such skilled workers, including a shortened path for permanent residency.  When the system was enacted, those who had 70 points or more could apply for green card after five years. Normally, it takes 10 years to apply for the status.

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Fast track for permanent residency for highly skilled foreigners :Japan’s Groundbreaking New Green Card system

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Japan dramatically relaxed Green Card system !
Bold new opportunity to obtain Japan’s new Green Card.
Are you interested in Japanese Green Card with Japan’s social security and universal healthcare service ?
Here is what you should do. 
Invest in the property here and get the ‘business manager’ status.
Japan is facing the acute shortage of workforce.
To address the issue, Prime Minister Abe has been drastically relaxing the immigration control for both low skilled workers and high skilled professionals.
Japan needs both low skilled workers as well as advanced skilled managers.
There is a new visa category called Highly-Skilled Professionals (HSP).This new category was relaxed dramatically last year and now Japanese government is offering preferential treatment for the category, which makes applicants much easier to apply for the so-called
‘GREEN CARD’.

In this relaxed category, HSP can apply for ‘GREEN CARD’ earliest within ONE YEAR (subject to your points) after you
get status of HSP. The Green Card application procedure is based on the points-based system.
The new approach follows the government’s introduction of a point system for highly skilled professionals in 2012.
Under this system, people are scored according to factors such as academic background, career background and annual salary, and are categorized under the field of “academic research,” “technical activities,” or “business management.”Read more

How do you eat ramen ? -Japanese multicultural management –

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I am a licensed property broker but occasionally offered the work for the trainer who teaches the multicultural management in large Japanese corporations.
I do enjoy working as a trainer because interaction with students (workers at large corporations) is always inspiring.
Today I am going to depart from the real estate and write a light note about one of my favorite TV shows in Japan and try to give you kind of funny way of multicultural management tactics in Japan.
First of all, I don’t usually watch TV.
Why ?
1. Don’t have time to watch.
2. don’t want to spend my precious time on silly programs.
3. Generally speaking, quality of TV programs in Japan has been deteriorating significantly over years and there is not many program worth watching. (Maybe I am just getting old ?)
And yet, I do like one documentary show called ‘Youは何しに日本へ？’　(Why did you come to Japan ?) broadcasted by TV Tokyo every Monday from 6:55 pm.
(Please check your local station which is affiliated with TV Tokyo if you live
outside Tokyo)
In this show, TV Tokyo crews interview foreigners at the airport where most visitors first arrive in Japan, with no appointments. Not just at the airport, sometimes at sea ports or events, everywhere crews go there are on-the-spot interviews with no appointments (so they say anyway)
And they often find a treasure trove of funny and interesting foreigners.
It is a new type of TV document variety show with many unexpected things.
They asked tourists for the interview on the spot. It could be half-staged but looks pretty real.
Dozens of foreign tourists are interviewed and eventually a couple of persons or group are picked up
for detailed interview.
Selected tourists for in depth interviews are usually Otaku (geeks) type of people and not usual tourists.
They come to Japan for variety and yet very intriguing reasons such as eating okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza), seeing host family in Japan, learning ‘No’ play (traditional masked dance-drama)
4-day training camp of “Kenbu Tenshin-Ryu” (traditional martial arts), kimono gigs, Japanese swords fan etc etc. One episode is about a woman from America and she’s a big fan “Sailormoon” and has come to Japan to become a voice actress.Read more