Why foreign buyers are seeking ‘worthless’ wooden homes in Kyoto

[Seiko]

Why foreign buyers are seeking ‘worthless’ wooden homes in Kyoto

Demand is growing for old-fashioned ‘machiya’ houses which offer Japanese heritage at a bargain price

www.ft.com

Share your opinion on this 2015 article by Lucy Alexander.

 

[thomas]

Could you provide a summary or quotes? FT requires a subscription.

 

[TGI-ECT]

Let's see if this link might be useful. I guess the preview will let me know.

Nope:

Alright, if I get in trouble with the Financial Times, though, I will become a Net Ghost and haunt somebody.

First sentence is:

{QUOTE}Demand is growing for old-fashioned 'machiya' houses which offer Japanese heritage at a bargain price.{/QUOTE]

I am not allowed to place the whole article here, but I can put bits here and it is so that somebody becomes so interested in the Financial Times they will buy a subscription.

Let's see, what else is helpful:

{QUOTE}Machiya — merchants' wooden town houses, whose ornate, shadowy eaves once lined every street in the former imperial capital — are being steadily demolished. Postwar, Japan's baby-boomers wanted an address in a spanking new, earthquake-proof apartment block; machiya were regarded as worthless anachronisms.{/QUOTE}

Let me quote one more bit and then everyone will have an idea of what's up:

{QUOTE}Machiya are typically concealed behind elegant wooden lattices, which allow for privacy while letting in air and light. The front room was typically used as a shop, while the private back rooms, with ancient wooden beams, sliding paper screens and tatami-mat-covered floors, overlook a courtyard garden.{/QUOTE]

EDIT: Sorry folks that I can't seem to work the BB Code properly in some cases. I could use a lesson on what I am doing wrong.

 

[joadbres]

For what it's worth, I am able to read the entire article when accessing the exact same link, but via a Google search result. Some kind of loophole, perhaps.

The following is an example link which works for me. YMMV.

Google Search

 

[Lothor]

I was able to read it in the above way. Thanks for the suggestion.

It was stated in the article that transactions in Japan are based on trust. I'd strongly disagree with that considering the low levels of trust that the Japanese
have of each other according to international studies. Certainly, our second-hand house (24 years old at the time) was surveyed before we bought it, which was part of the service of the estate agent we used, one of the large companies. nAnd with the cost of restoring termite-infested wood, I'd insist on one.

 

[TGI-ECT]

Very interesting about that link through Google's search tool. Good detective work there, joadbres. Yep, now y'all can read the whole thing.

I wanted to write earlier that I thought the use of the description "worthless" was not very polite, as it spins the whole thing in the wrong direction, but without the full article I figured folks wouldn't understand why I felt that way. Now I can write it, and I think I am being polite with my view of the wrong spin that one word gives to what the buyers are looking for when they buy those older houses.

Oh well, I better stop before I get in trouble because I remember how to use street language.

 

[OoTmaster]

EDIT: Sorry folks that I can't seem to work the BB Code properly in some cases. I could use a lesson on what I am doing wrong.

Pretty sure it has to do with your use of curly brackets and not straight edged brackets. At least that is my assumption. I don't use BB code in my job but I am a system administrator so syntax of different computer languages is part of our every day. If it's not that I would be highly surprised. I would suggest changing the curly brackets to straight and seeing if that works. If it's been too long an admin of the site might have to do it for you. Also I used it when I edited my post as I had accidentally taken your name/post off of the quote.

 

[TGI-ECT]

I appreciate that you are offering assistance, but I should inform you that I am very aware of all manner of BB Code workings and I did not use the wrong brackets. In fact, I am not able to use any of the BB Code on this site, except quoting using the lower button when quoting an individual; but I have no trouble using it on other sites around the Net. Well, maybe that should be 'most' sites around the Net. I seem to have it in my brain that I have run into this before, but I don't presently know where.

Anyway, I appreciate that you are attempting to help. Thank you.

Oh yes, it might have something to do with my using IE11 because I am using a Win7 machine when I access this site. I use this unit for most of my Net access type work.

In fact, I can't use the highlight and delete tool as I can with other sites and even when using such like pdf/odt/rtf. If I want to delete a line here I have to use the nice and neat slow 'Back Space' key.

But I am now taking this topic way off the proper trail and up a hill where we don't need to go. I figure someday the mystery will be solved and it is kind of neat not having that code around when I post here. It reminds me of the TRS80 days, which I still have a few of. That really cool soft green screen with such nice and slow responses to any and all work. You could really enjoy your coffee as you worked, in those days. These days the computers don't really force you to slow down and they take you on a ride like at them amusement parks and you get involved and the next thing you know an hour or more has passed and your coffee is cold.

Uh oh, way-way-way off-topic. Sorry.

 

[joadbres]

{/QUOTE]

I appreciate that you are offering assistance, but I should inform you that I am very aware of all manner of BB Code workings and I did not use the wrong brackets.

Oh, so the mixing of straight and curly brackets was intentional, then?

We'll leave you alone then. Clearly, you know what you are doing.

 

[johnnyG]

A four year old new article presented for discussion?

I'll wait till 2023 and then give my opinion.

 

[thomas]

Sorry @Seiko, it seems your thread's gone south...

@joadbres , thanks for pointing out the loophole. I tried to open the article in a Chrome incognito tab, but that wouldn't work either.

@TGI-ECT , there is no way the forum software would replace square with curly brackets. So it's either a manual edit or - as you pointed out - some mystery related to using IE11 on W7 (and I thought IE11 had been replaced by Edge several years ago).

@johnnyG : just checked the Forum Rules; while posting older articles isn't explicitly disallowed we might nick you for necroposting - in four years!