Foreign students to fill the halls
Japanese universities look abroad in hopes of upping their sagging enrollments
Rie Yoshinaga had a wide range of colleges to choose from.
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| Globalization: Of the 6,000 students at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Kyushu, nearly half come from abroad, as does the faculty. Classes are taught both in English and Japanese. TOMOKO OTAKE PHOTOS |
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Having studied at a high school in Canada for 10 months, Yoshinaga, an 18-year-old native of Oita Prefecture in the northeast of Kyushu region, is perhaps more globally minded than many of her peers. She says she seriously considered applying for Australian universities — one of the closest English-speaking countries to Oita — until she realized there was an international university right in her hometown.
Yoshinaga is now a freshman at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), whose 99,000-sq.-meter hilltop campus commands a panoramic view of Beppu Bay, and where nearly half of the 6,000 students come from abroad, representing 87 countries. Half of the faculty are foreigners, and classes are taught both in English and Japanese. Proficiency in Japanese is not required for international students seeking admission, but once they get in, international and domestic students undergo intensive language training in the two languages, so that when they graduate, they should all have perfect bilingual — or trilingual, depending on their native tongue — capabilities.
“I found this university attractive because, while it is located in Japan, it is international,” Yoshinaga said, noting that she had no interest at all in other Japanese universities. “I thought that, if I studied here, I could study Japan and its relations with other countries, including the rest of Asia, whereas if I went to Australia, I would be looking at Asia from an Australian perspective.”
In the eight years since its establishment, APU has built a solid reputation for providing a multicultural and multilingual learning environment for all its students — a rare example among Japanese universities, where foreign students are a tiny minority and often segregated into their own programs separate from local students. APU has also breathed new life into a dying onsen (hot-spring) town, by providing a yearly inflow of 6,000 young students who spend their cash locally, and through joint research projects with local governments and industries. (さらに…)
A step-by-step guide to owning a home in Japan
Dream homes can come true if you know all the right things
So you are ready to be king of your own castle in Japan. Adios to the days when you, a mere rent-paying tenant of a grotty apartment, worried about landlords taking you to the cleaners for spilling tea on the carpet or making minuscule holes in the walls to pin up framed pics.
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| Dream home: Be it a log house in the mountains or a condominium in a high-rise, buying a home in Japan requires lots of time, research . . . and money. JAPAN TIMES ILLUSTRATION |
Proud homeowners can drill holes willy-nilly and spill coffee or beer to their hearts’ content! Of course, there are other sound reasons for owning your own property, too — that warm sense of “owning,” the often poor condition of rental properties, freedom to park a car, freedom from the invidious “key money” system here . . . and the low interest rates in Japan that almost always ensure that your monthly mortgage payments will be lower than your rent.
But how to go about getting a mortgage, whether for a new or preowned place in the sun?
Here’s our rough point-by-point guide to buying a residential property in Japan, with insight into some of the head- spinning legal and technical terms that homeowners-to-be must wrestle with. All Web sites referred to are in Japanese only unless otherwise specified.
Have cash ready
Unless you are awash with dearly departed daddy’s dosh, or have just won the lottery, you’ll likely be looking to buy your property through a mortgage. Generally, it’s best to pay 25 to 30 percent of the purchase price in cash (including taxes and other fees), though some lenders offer virtually deposit-free loans. Before they’ll grant you a mortgage, many banks insist your annual earnings are at least ¥3 million to ¥5.5 million.
Tales of experience from foreign homeowners
The following are the experiences of four foreigners who have ventured into property purchase in Japan.
Jim (American; 45 years old; 17 years in Japan) House for a family of two in Yokohama purchased in September 2008 for ¥65 million.
“I thought it would be difficult to find a rental where I could park a car and a couple of motorcycles, as well as keep a couple of pets. Also, I thought it would be better to invest in property rather than rent. I’m not sure how long I’ll stay in Japan — but I’ve been saying that all along!
“The house is very well constructed, it looks like a ‘house’ (there are some strange designs here), and there is a decent amount of space between it and the surrounding properties.
“I bought it together with my wife. We split a 35-year loan we took out through a bank that the real-estate company introduced. We plan to pay it off sooner.
“The process went very smoothly, no doubt helped by the fact that I’m a permanent resident and we qualified financially. Of course, decreasing property values are a concern, but when you rent you’re spending money that will never return. To help ensure the property value remains high, I chose a location that’s quiet as well as convenient for commuters going to Tokyo or Yokohama. I also think the garage will make the property attractive as it’s a rare feature and will be a big sales point.
“At the end of the day, even if I never turn a profit I’ll be doing quite well if I can live in a nice place for a number of years and get most of my investment back.”
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Rab (Scottish; 8.5 years in Japan) Land in Saitama Prefecture purchased for ¥14.5 million, and a log house for a family of six being built for ¥30 million.
“We realized that paying money every month in rent would leave us owning nothing when we retired, yet the mortgage payments every month (about the same as the rent) would result in us owning a house and land.
“It had to be a house and land, as we have two kids and wanted space for them to play in and also to fully incorporate some eco concepts into the residence. Having been out to the start of the Japan Alps near Chichibu, we liked that area (countryside, forests, mountains rivers, etc.) and the commute to my work in Tokyo was not too bad.
“The biggest challenge was qualifying for the mortgage. The borrower needs to be in a full-time job and have been in it for at least two or three years. Also, any outstanding loans reduce the amount that can be borrowed.
“I am aware that house prices fall in Japan over time — basicaly for quality reasons. But this is not a factor with log houses as they maintain their structural integrity. Whether the Japanese housing market is aware of this is irrelevant as we don’t plan to sell, but to set up home there for good as we can have low bills, grow food, have access to water, space, beautiful scenery and an eco-friendly lifestyle. (さらに…)
Ups and downs on Japan’s property ladder
Foreigners in a market gone from boom to bust and back (a bit)
Foreigners and the Japanese property market — the two sound like unlikely bedfellows, but in recent years their “liaisons” have been the focus of much media attention — and not all of it positive.
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First it was investments by foreigners driving up land prices; now they’re supposed to be driving them down.
Of course, most of these investments are by foreign-owned or foreign-run corporations, as opposed to your run-of-the-mill individual gaijin. However, the number of foreign residents buying properties in Japan is certainly on the rise, and, like their corporate cousins, these buyers are bringing to the Japanese property market a set of presumptions and expectations that are often very different from the homegrown variety. That can play in their favor, but it can also lead to costly mistakes.
So, before we start construction on the Timeout guide to property-buying in Japan, let’s survey the landscape a little, examining in particular the sometimes troubled but nonetheless ever-closer relationship that’s developed between foreigners and the local property market. (さらに…)
Terrie Lloyd Reports on Oji Homes
Courtesy of Japan, Inc. Magazine, Terrie Lloyd reports the following scoop:
” It is common knowledge in the expat community that the three Oji Real Estate condominium complexes in Minami-Aoyama: Oji Palace, Oji Homes, and Oji Green Hills are extremely popular with out-of-town CEOs and their young families. Oji Homes in particular draws a long waiting list of young families thanks to its 20m outdoor swimming pool and it’s convenient location right in the middle of fashionable Omote Sando. There are approximately 20 apartments in that complex, and over the last 25 years, we imagine that more than 200 families have lived there.
That’s 500+ tenants who rented their luxury apartments in the knowledge that they had a rock-solid landlord and the building was safe — or so they thought.” (さらに…)
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