The housing market in Japan provides opportunities for buying a house overseas. Japan has a large population 128 million for a relatively small country - and so it's pretty crowded on the whole. Japan is actually a collection of islands, and has many mountains and forests. The region is very active in terms of earthquakes, and so property needs to be well built.

Japan is a very interesting place to visit for a holiday - and it's always a good idea to go on holiday somewhere first to see if you like the place. It's much cheaper than buying a house, and can help preventing problematic mistakes. Economically Japan is still a very strong force, although the 1990s saw relatively tough times compared to the spectular growth of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s. Japan's industry used to be a bit of a joke up to the 1950s, but some wise managerial practices emphasizing quality and the full involvement of all the workers led to a truly spectacular turnaround. There are signs that the economy is beginning to rise again now - perhaps at last the fortunes are beginning to rise in the land of the rising sun.

The first step in buying a property abroad is to do lots of homework - narrow down the region or country where you want to buy, work out your budget, and it's worth buying some books. There are country specific, region specific and general books on buying a house overseas.

It pays to be skeptical at all times - and get a keen eye for spotting whether people or articles are as independent as they may claim.

Ask a Professional

There may be investment prospects in Japan, but it is essential that you seek independent expert professional advice before undertaking any property purchase. There are lots of things to bear in mind, including local laws and regulations, taxes, surveyor's assessments of the building, financial currency exchange, dealing with interbank transfers, volatility of the housing market, etc. etc. In some countries there are various restrictions on foreigners owning land or property, so this needs to be checked out fully. Any property purchase is a major undertaking.

Surge in Interest

Japan's largest 100 cities with populations: 1 Tokyo 8,164,000 2 Yokohama 3,220,000 3 Osaka 2,624,000 4 Nagoya 2,155,000 5 Sapporo 1,672,000 6 Kobe 1,477,000 7 Kyoto 1,461,000 8 Fukuoka 1,237,000 9 Kawasaki 1,174,000 10 Hiroshima 1,086,000 11 Kitakyushu 1,026,000 12 Sendai 918,000 13 Chiba 829,000 14 Sakai 808,000 15 Okayama 594,000 16 Kumamoto 579,000 17 Kagoshima 537,000 18 Hamamatsu 534,000 19 Funabashi 533,000 20 Sagamihara 532,000 21 Higashi-Osaka 518,000 22 Amagasaki 501,000 23 Niigata 486,000 24 Shizuoka 472,000 25 Hachioji 466,000 26 Matsudo 456,000 27 Himeji 454,000 28 Nagasaki 445,000 29 Matsuyama 444,000 30 Kanazawa 443,000 31 Kawaguchi 439,000 32 Ichikawa 437,000 33 Yokosuka 433,000 34 Nishinomiya 428,000 35 Utsunomiya 427,000 36 Urawa 418,000 37 Kurashiki 415,000 38 Gifu 411,000 39 Toyonaka 410,000 40 Oita 409,000 41 Omiya 404,000 42 Wakayama 397,000 43 Hirakata 391,000 44 Fukuyama 366,000 45 Takatsuki 360,000 46 Asahikawa 359,000 47 Iwaki 356,000 48 Fujisawa 351,000 49 Nara 350,000 50 Machida 349,000 51 Nagano 347,000 52 Suita 345,000 53 Toyohashi 338,000 54 Toyota 332,000 55 Takamatsu 330,000 56 Toyama 321,000 57 Kochi 317,000 58 Koriyama 315,000 59 Hakodate 307,000 60 Okazaki 307,000 61 Kashiwa 306,000 62 Kawagoe 305,000 63 Naha 304,000 64 Tokorozawa 303,000 65 Akita 302,000 66 Aomori 288,000 67 Miyazaki 287,000 68 Maebashi 286,000 69 Koshigaya 285,000 70 Yao 278,000 71 Fukushima 277,000 72 Yokkaichi 274,000 73 Akashi 271,000 74 Kasugai 267,000 75 Tokushima 264,000 76 Shimonoseki 263,000 77 Ichinomiya 262,000 78 Otsu 260,000 79 Ichihara 258,000 80 Neyagawa 257,000 81 Ibaraki 254,000 82 Fukui 253,000 83 Yamagata 249,000 84 Hiratsuka 246,000 85 Sasebo 245,000 86 Shimizu 242,000 87 Hachinohe 241,000 88 Kakogawa 240,000 89 Takasaki 236,000 90 Morioka 235,000 91 Mito 234,000 92 Kurume 228,000 93 Fuji 222,000 94 Kure 217,000 95 Numazu 211,000 96 Fuchu 209,000 97 Soka 206,000 98 Kushiro 205,000 99 Hitachi 202,000 100 Takarazuka 201,000 [source: citymayors.com]

Some practical property advice: for Japan.

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