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Insider Asia Profile picture
@InsiderAsia
Jun 27, 2021 • 10 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
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🏡While the US faces a shortage of homes, Japan is experiencing a different issue: There's a glut of unoccupied homes throughout the country's rural areas.

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… Photo shows a previously abandoned farmhouse. It’s overlai
These abandoned houses have created "ghost villages" in Japan's rural prefectures where homes can neither be filled nor knocked down.

In some areas, nearly one out of every five homes is empty.

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… Photo shows an aerial view of a renovated akiya. It’s over
💸 The government is offering incentives like $500 homes and tax breaks to entice residents to move from urban centers into rural areas.

But it might not be enough.

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… Photo shows an aerial view of a city in Wakayama. It’s ove
While moving to small towns creates cultural divides and bureaucratic difficulties, the issue is also linked to the birthrate in Japan, which has been on a downward trend since the '70s. 📉

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… Photo shows an aerial view of a city in Wakayama. It’s ove
30 years ago, there was a lot of economic activity in the Japanese countryside.

But the yen kept rising until April 1995, hollowing out the countryside and creating a rust belt area like Ohio's.

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… Photo shows an aerial view of a city in Wakayama. It’s ove
📊Japan has the highest vacancy rates of the 37 countries surveyed in a May report.

Nationally, it has a 14% vacancy rate.
In rural areas, that number spikes to 16% or higher.

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… A photo shows part of Wakayama, Japan. It’s overlaid with
The imbalance between rural and urban Japan has been recognized by the government since the '70s.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga prioritized rural revitalization when he took office in September.

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… Photo shows rice paddy fields. It’s overlaid with a quote
Some regional governments offer renovation subsidies or tax relief measures where buyers pay 1/6 of the annual property tax.

Others launched websites listing akiya for 50,000 yen — $455. 💴

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… A photo shows a dilapidated home in Wakayama, Japan. It’s
For some, like Wakayama resident Uchiyama Seichi, the abundant land is the appeal to move to rural towns. 🌿

But to others, the prefecture is known for something else: just how rural it is.

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… Photo shows Uchiyama Seichi and his wife in front of their c
Still, despite government incentives and an increased interest in teleworking, the pandemic's crippling effect on the tourism sector of Suga's rural revitalization plan makes repopulation unlikely, said McMorran, the NUS professor.

insider.com/japan-ghost-to… A photo shows part of Wakayama, Japan. It’s overlaid with

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More from @InsiderAsia

Insider Asia Profile picture
Oct 24, 2021
China's economy — the world's 2nd-largest — is on the brink of disaster.

President Xi Jinping must strike a balance between eliminating China's crushing debt and maintaining consumer confidence.

If he fails, the rest of the world better watch out.

businessinsider.com/china-economy-… Graphic shows Chinese President Xi Jingping walking across a
Since this spring, Beijing has:

🚫 canceled initial public offerings
💻 fined tech companies billions for antitrust violations
📚 forcibly shut down China's entire for-profit education industry

businessinsider.com/china-economy-…
The upheaval, spanning multiple industries and vast swaths of the country, is the result of one giant issue: China's inability to borrow or buy its way out of its current economic crisis.

businessinsider.com/china-economy-…
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Insider Asia Profile picture
Oct 22, 2021
.@netflix show #squidgame is a dystopian nightmare.

But some South Korean millennials see the drama series as a grim reflection of their own experiences.

Insider spoke to young people in debt in Seoul to see the reality of life in the capital. 👇

insider.com/south-koreas-m… Image from Netflix show squ...
Sarah Son, a lecturer in Korean studies at the University of Sheffield, told Insider that the debt crisis and squalor seen in South Korean cultural exports like "Squid Game" paints only part of the picture.

insider.com/south-koreas-m… Quote from lecturer at the ...
In 2021, South Koreans ran up more than $1.5 trillion in debt, rivalling the country's GDP of $1.63 trillion.

Easy-to-access loans and credit cards appear to be greatly adding to the problem.

insider.com/south-koreas-m… Infographic: $44,000 is the...
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Insider Asia Profile picture
Sep 23, 2021
In July, the Indonesian capital of Jakarta became the Southeast Asian epicenter of the pandemic.

These are the three key issues that could make Indonesia vulnerable if there's another wave. 👇

insider.com/indonesia-pand… Image shows a Jakarta resident visiting the grave of a relat
Hendro Utomo, 53, would listen as the loudspeakers from the local mosque announced who had died the day before.

"Five, eight dead every day, just in my neighborhood," he said.

insider.com/indonesia-pand… Image shows an Indonesian food bank worker reaching out with
Emergency doctors like Debryna Dewi, 29, had to regularly decide which patients would receive a hospital and which were sent home.

insider.com/indonesia-pand… A text-only graphic that reads: "That's not something t
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Insider Asia Profile picture
Aug 1, 2021
The typical Chinese millennial makes $22,000 a year but has no student debt, grew up in an economic boom, and has learned how to outhustle everyone else.

Meet some of them here. 👇

insider.com/meet-the-typic…
While millennials in the US are known for enduring financial crises, those in China grew up during a period of economic reform.

China's millennials — those born between 1981 and 1996 — started working while the country's GDP per capita soared. 💸

insider.com/meet-the-typic… Photo shows a 39-year-old designer in Guangzhou named Chen H
Millennials in China are expected to own an apartment, get a high-paying job, and find a spouse by the time they hit 30.

⏰ The country's major tech companies celebrate working six days a week, 12 hours a day, as part of a "hustle culture."

insider.com/meet-the-typic… Photo shows a family walking through an airport. It is overl
Read 11 tweets
Insider Asia Profile picture
Jul 31, 2021
A battle is unfolding over the world's smelliest fruit.

Insider spoke to farmers in Malaysia who say their entire livelihood is being wiped out at the worst possible time.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows Musang King dur...
In Southeast Asia, the durian is the undisputed king of fruit.

The smell, though, is divisive.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows a close-up shot...
Still, durians are a special treat in Asian households, costing as much as $13 a pound.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows piece of hangin...
Read 12 tweets
Insider Asia Profile picture
Jul 10, 2021
Using a special sustainable toilet in South Korea can get you books, fruit, and even freshly brewed coffee. 🚽

Here’s how.

insider.com/south-korean-u…
Professors at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology have designed a toilet that converts methane from one's faeces into an energy source. 💩

insider.com/south-korean-u… Photo shows a glowing ball on top of a toilet. It is overlai
BeeVi uses a vacuum and a small amount of water to send poop from the toilet into an underground tank and bioreactor, prompting its creators to call it a "super water-saving vacuum toilet."

insider.com/south-korean-u… Photo shows UNIST professor Cho Jae-weon standing next to a
Read 7 tweets

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