Buy a resort apartment room? I met a woman who is in her 80s. She is a tea ceremony teacher, holding her lessons twice a month. Her class takes off in August, and she goes to her summer retreat. It’s a small apartment room in countryside. That area was famous as a vacation resort when Japan’s economy was booming, and many real estate agents built a lot of cottages, apartments and hotels for holiday makers. Although the area is still popular as a winter resort for skiers and snowboarders, since the country’s economy became sluggish, many property owners have sold their properties and the prices of them have also getting lower extensively. As a result there are a lot of vacant apartments. I heard that you can purchase a small apartment room as cheap as for about 1000 US dollars. But don’t rush to get one. If you don’t have a car, it might be difficult to get daily necessities and foods. There aren’t any stores or public transportation in that area.