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Showing posts from September, 2016

Proud comes before a fall

Why do Japanese buy expensive new apartments when property prices have stagnated since the '90s? One popular opinion is that Japanese families superficially insist on new homes, because their traditionally flimsy houses are treated as consumables rather than investments. Ignoring that the bubble refuted the notion (at least, between 1955 and 1995), this theory really plays on the supposed exoticism and exceptional motivations of Japanese culture.