Living and buying property in Japan - never easier

Australians have barely felt this recession because of the backlog of investment in the booming mining industry. BHP, Rio Tinto and others are leading a huge growth in productive capacity; their aim is to supply minerals to China before they are beaten by Mongolia; which neighbours China. The goods news is that Australia can service the coastal provinces whilst Mongolia can service the inland provinces. There is likely to be a nice competitive spread of business for China.

The culmination of this boom is likely to be Australians travelling more with an ever-increasing dollar. One appealing travel destination is likely to be JAPAN. Why Japan? Several reasons:

1. Japan offers the cheapest property in Asia. Yes, surprising but true, and now is the perfect time to buy. Why? Japanese live in fear. And having just had a recession, they are not likely to be focused on investment. Demand is subdued after an increase in GST was announced.

2. Foreigners are allowed to buy property in Japan on a tourist visa. That is what I did - a 5bed dormitory 1hr from Tokyo for Y2.8mil ($US30,000). Cheap as chips. They are even cheaper if you buy in rural areas, which are subject to depopulation. But I wanted to be close to one of the most exciting cities in the world.

3. Jetstar and Air Asia X are racing to bring to the market increasing flights from Australia to 4 cities in Japan. I personally consider Tokyo and Fukuoka the best cities - for different reasons.

4. The appeal of travelling around the world for your summer. You need not leave your summer behind; you can chase your summer. Better still, if you are into skiing, you can chase your winters as well...just not at the same time. hehe.

5. Cultural shock. Japan is a great intro to a foreign culture. Its safe, its fascinating, its exciting, the food is amazing. Its high tech and invigorates the senses.

6. Travel is cheap if you are a tourist. Stay for 3 months before renewing your visa, whether you fly to HK or just extend. If you have the right job, you can do this easily. For more than 2 decades Japan has been offering foreigns a very generous travel pass - travel by shinkanzen (very fast trains) or local trains for $A300 for a week - unlimited. Cheaper for longer periods. I would get the shinkanzen to a remote part of Japan, then a local train to some mountain temple for lunch. The shinkanzen would get me home by dinner time. I save on accommodation costs.

7. Foreclosed property - best of all, you can buy foreclosed property like me, for a fraction of market value because of poor market sentiment and/or depopulation. Japanese people want to live in the 'expensive' city centre; but you can buy 12+ year old houses very cheaply in fringe areas for under Y4mil ($US 45,000). Its through the court system, so its safe.

8. Activities - Japan is great for campervanning, kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking and touring. I use the train network to go canoeing because many trains go up scenic isolated river systems. Of course, you can buy a cheap 7yr Toyota for $3000 (like my ex-partner did), or you can jump on a train with an inflatable as I did. The train network will get you anywhere.

9. Culture - Japan is a fascinating culture. I personally love connecting with foreigners and Japanese people in their gaijin districts. For many Japanese the place is insufferable...but that's because they accept all this pressure. I once had a conservation with a grandpa who wanted to commit suicide. He said 'I envy you"...being able to do whatever you want to do". This is the freedom we love in the West...but this generation never felt able to do it; some of their children are doing it. Which is why there are many Asians in Australia, USA, NZ living the dream. You don't have to remain in a dead-end job, you just need to have a flexible job like English teaching, tattooing, graphic design, programming, karate instruction. I know people who are teaching forex to Japanese people in English. Yes, they want to learn in English because they want to "kill two birds with one stone". 'Old Japanese Proverb' hehe. :)

10. Strategy - Develop a strategy for what you want to achieve. You can buy fringe city property, rural peoperty, skifield property, even property on islands. Yes, some countries place a high value on 'island property', in Japan, there is no such premium. In Australia, I pay a $150K premium to live within 400km of a city, in Japan, the distance is 1hr from a city or 5km from a train station. The dynamics are different...so you are never really isolated from the city. How much do I pay for my 1hr train ticket to inner city - just Y420. I ride a bike to the local shopping centre, grocery store, a plethora of bars, take-aways. My favourite is Hokka Hokka Tei...far better in Japan than their foreign franchises.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Australian travel preferences and habits

There is an interesting story about Australian travel spending and international travel habits or preferences. It provides some insight into where people are spending their holidays. It appears Australia is out of favour; no doubt this is because of the greater budgetary pressures of the recession as well as the relatively high AUD. Mind you, the AUD is off 10% - down from 1.07 t0 97c to the USD. The general buoyancy of the AUD of course explains the foreign holidays for Australians. Spending big whilst the currency is high.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Tiger Airlines on the back foot in Australia

It comes as no surprise to me that Tiger Airlines is on the back foot with respect to its ambitious expansion plans. The marketing side of the airline is bad enough without even looking at other issues. The airline has a number of issues:

1. Poor capacity to allow seamless travel through Singapore with a hopeless booking system

2. Misleading promotional campaigns which leave prospective customers snubbing their emails

In this respect, Jetstar has the right idea, though they have hopeless customer service. The good news is that Jetstar is showing signs of improving things. Air Asia X is another airline which is making the same mistake on marketing; though it probably has a lower cost operation given that KL is likely to be a lower cost hub. It is at an earlier stage in its expansion plans. It made the sensible decision to service the Christchurch market, which previously had no low-cost offerings to Asia. KL is a great hub because you can get a cheap hotel there for commuters.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

The future of Qantas

The future of Qantas. What does one make of the current problems in Qantas. The airline appears to be having a lot of mechanical troubles on flights...running at about one problem a month. The unions attribute the problem to the outsourcing of jobs to Singapore. I am inclined to agree. There is of course the possibility of union staff sabotaging the reputation of Qantas in order to get the airline to resume maintenance in Australia. Would airline unions resort to extortion to protect their position in the industry? I think so ...particularly if it was merely to change perceptions rather than actually 'down an aircraft'.

The reality was always that this was always bad policy for Qantas. It should not have outsourced to Asia. This is fine for 'discount airline' Jetstar, but it was bad policy for Qantas. The problem is also that Qantas probably had no experience handling the cultural shift to Asia, and its track record is suffering as a result.

Oil fire may have caused engine failure on Qantas jet nydailynews.com

It seems only a matter of time before there is a serious accident. Then I think we can expect the government to buy back into Qantas to restore 'Australian jobs'. The problem was probably that it never really lost its 'public sector' culture after privatisation...like Commonwealth Bank.

The Qantas A380 passenger jet after it was forced to make an emergency ...guardian.co.uk

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Discount airlines flying to Australia

There are a number of discount airlines servicing Australia. I just found a new one - so I thought I would provide a list of the discount airlines now that I am aware of:

1. China Southern Airlines - See their website. They fly to Sydney, Brisbane, and soon to Auckland (NZ). Looking at their website, its a shocker. A sign that Chinese companies just have no idea about customer service. They are expensive too, but more importantly, it would be a nightmare to compare prices. I'd hate to think about the actual flight expensive. I am having flashbacks of a Garuda flight years ago...when they lost my luggage for 4 days. I went to a conference in Goa (India) in my Bali shorts.

2. Tiger Airways - see website. They are Singapore based, they fly to Melbourne and Perth only. I get bombarded with admails from this group, but their offers are always poor, and their routes are limited.

3. Air Asia X Airlines - See website. They are based in Kuala Lumpur, so this will most likely be your transit point. The positive aspects about KL is that its a pretty attractive city, far cheaper than Singapore, just as beautiful, without being as clinical, or broadly as authoritarian...just tight on the social values, so you probably shouldn't feel your GF's legs at the dinner table. They fly to Gold Coast, Perth, Sydney I think, as well as Christchurch (NZ).

4. Jetstar - Jetstar is a Qantas subsidiary, so they fly out of all Australian cities, as well as Auckland and Christchurch. They probably represent the best value, but the service is often dodgy. I've had many issues. i.e. Like telling my family they can't fly through Sydney when they knew we could. They refused to listen until the nth hour. Yes, that's you Page in Christchurch. Problem with Australian immigration as well. They didn't know the rules.

5. Pacific Blue - see website. They fly out of most Australian cities to NZ, Asia, etc. I always find them more pricey than Jetstar.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com