Another reason that businesses aren't always sold is that, traditionally, from hundreds of years ago, it was a normal thing to have the business selling tofu, or vegetables, on the 1st floor, and the person's home in the backstore and on the 2nd floor. So if the business couldn't be handed down to the oldest son, they wouldn't want to sell out their homes at the same time selling as well as the commercial holdings.. it's where they've lived all their lives. So the business just shuts down and the senior just keeps living in their home. You can see these kinds of old shops that closed in Tokyo shita-machi and shotengai. you'll see a beautiful but run down storefront, maybe traditionally sold rice or something, but closed no longer selling but still signs of someone living in it.
@jetnavigator
Ай бұрын
I'm always fascinated by the number of tiny little shops that sell a small number of low priced items in Japan. I wonder how they survive but they do.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
There are small shops that are open where the owners don't care about profits but like the social aspect of it so just keep on doing it. These people are retired and have pensions, so the shop is not an essential to survive.
@jonmarshall1502
Ай бұрын
@@RealRuralJapanthat’s pretty much what I thought.
@catherinecole3978
Ай бұрын
Here in Canada, it is becoming more and more common for adult children not to be interested in taking over the family business: department stores, garden centres, electronic shops, delis, and the like. Personally, I think that they're foolish, especiallly when it has been a long-running, successful business with a good solid customer base. But, since I'm old, it's safe to say that I've observed that these people are often lazy, ill-informed, somehow convinced that some business degree or get rich quick scheme is going to take the place of a long life-time of hard work. Some of our North Amrican customs seem to be seeping into other cultures, and often not for the better. In the Sixties, I used to think that we all could be foot-loose and fancy free somehow, just doing our own thing, and somehow we'd be able to earn a living. Decades later, I see that we may have thrown the baby out with the bath water. Even 'tho we live in mid-town Toronto, there are some things that are not all that convenient such as the absence of local hard-ware stores, book stores, grocery stores and the like. As with so many single house-holds which drives up the price of housing, our fragmented families may prove to be of some concern with our aging population. Much to make us think about!
@rakdur
Ай бұрын
I love that you went "how could i make good use of that partially free time i have when i drive? Well, im going to talk and make money on youtube". Brilliant.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
Some viewers like driving videos some like other stuff i try to mix it up.
@oldfellainjapan
Ай бұрын
Sometimes the lease finishes and they have nock the building down and leave it as a vacant lot. It has always amazed me it is just a total waste of money and resources.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
They would have signed up for that at the beginning if that was part of the lease agreement. I worked here knocking down Akiyas and if an owner was going to spend $20K to knock it down they would probably let someone rent it for free or cheap if they agreed to pay to knock it down after a certain time period. Win win for both i suppose.
@iaadsi
Ай бұрын
I've always been told the main reason is inheritance tax which goes as high as 55 %. Why would a young person spend their entire savings (and probably add a loan on top) to inherit an old fishmonger business somewhere in the boonies if they can start a business of their choice right in the city for basically the same kind of money.
@iaadsi
Ай бұрын
And same with empty houses. Why pay upwards of half the property value to inherit a house in an inaka somewhere when you can use that tax money to rent a Tokyo apartment for a decade.
@Rody_le_Cid
Ай бұрын
yup, living in Tokyo, I see many such really old beautiful but run down houses that are worth a fortune, but (as I was told) because the inheritance was split among several children, and maybe there's some dispute where one wants to sell, another can't afford the inheritance tax, and the government basically also holding half of that building after the owner died, so since consensus can't be reached, nothing is done and the building is left to rot. Ultimately the government still wins out if they just wait for the inheritors of inheritors to die off, at some point it all reverts back to the state. This, in my opinion, is also a reason for the dropping birthrates in Japan. Why work all your life, get taxed when you make money, get taxed when you buy the house, and get taxed when you die for your children to end up with like 5% of whatever you've been able to accumulate.
@iaadsi
Ай бұрын
@@Rody_le_Cid Yup. I'm not putting a child into a setting where I'm basically not allowed to hand my life's work for them to carry on. The only ones who benefit from these brutal taxes are rich people who can afford to pay the tax in cash. Everyone else has to sell the property (to someone rich) to settle the tax, and then rent. It just concentrates wealth further.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
@@iaadsi 55% of nothing will always be nothing. Rent an apartment for a decade? In Tokyo? For nothing? Where are these places!
@BobBob-ls5vz
Ай бұрын
Love how people who don’t live in Japan and have no clue of how tax and property valuation work like to write nonsensical comments. Official property value in Japan goes down drastically older it gets and government undervalues all old houses. I purchased 40 year old house for ¥6.000.000. Local tax office valued it at ¥312.000. Annual property tax ¥4400.
@paulsparks4564
Ай бұрын
The other question is, who can take over the business? Where are the kids? Now living in cities? I saw the transition from mum and pop corner stores (like our milk bars in Australia in times gone by) in the early 90s to 7-11s. Some ageing shop owners basically kept going until most of their friends, who were customers, had died off. I think it's very much an issue in the rural regions, but as you said, the hospitality industry is usually the one hardest hit. Really informative and insightful video. Thanx!
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
The kids want to ride a desk here in Japan not do this type of work. In Australia the milk bar owners sent their kids to university and they all became professionals.
@richardm4706
Ай бұрын
Began harvesting the first zuchini and tomatoes this week. I’m sure, if last year’s harvest is any measure, that there will be a decent crop. Corn has sprouted ears too and the scarecrow seems to be keeping the monkeys away. Watermellons are now the size of a rugby ball and kabocha pumpkins are fattening up nicely. Four of our chicks have settled into their new hen house and seem to be enjoying going outside to forage. The lsst two are in an outdoor hutch with a small run. They are the smallest and were being repeatedly bitten by the larger chicks. Will be digging up the last batch of early poatoes this week. Still curing the potatoes dug up last week. I hope the sweet potatoes do well this year, it was a less than bountiful harvest last year.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
Hopefully i get my potatoes out the ground this week if the weather holds.
@richardm4706
Ай бұрын
@@RealRuralJapan yeah, rained last night and again this morning. Been cutting grass in the fields since it stopped, probably sweat 4 litres out of me. Soaked to the bone and severely bitten by deer flies. I need to rent a mini excavator and clean up the drainage swales, get them sloped to drain properly down to the stream.
@g8trdude225
Ай бұрын
Interesting, as always. Thanks! 😎👍. Hotaru & mum appear to have settled in well to your “clowder” ❤
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
Hotaru goes hard always running amok!
@jonmarshall1502
Ай бұрын
She’s a funny old country. Driving around Japan ,it’s amazing how many small businesses that I’ve seen just abandoned.
@cocolenchojapan
Ай бұрын
That’s too sad, but just fact of life.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
Would make a great Michinoeki IMO.
@2001lextalionis
Ай бұрын
7-11 is a franchise, so I'm not sure if it can be sold without involving the corpo. I suspect its an additional added on cost. Also for those interested you should look up what 7-11 did to the franchise owner in Osaka who didn't want to stay open 24 hours. I haven't been in a convini for many years and avoid them whenever possible. Then again I am fortunate enough to live in a suburban area with many supermarkets within walking distance.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
Nobody forces you to sign anything. Being a franchise owner means you aren't your own boss and can do whatever you like. It's basically a business that someone takes on because they don't know how to do it themselves. It's the lazy man's startup.
@DanielRumbacher
Ай бұрын
very interesting topic. i know its kinda random but could you talk about why japanese cars look so different from western ones? in the west the cars all have a roundness to them while in japanese cars i see, they somehow dont like roundness of soft edges so much. do you know why that is? i kinda like the japanese style of cars. they look so retro in a good way.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
It is what the customer prefers to an extent but also regulations. Boxy Kei cars are that way also to maximize the maximum space allowed to be called a Kei car for road tax purposes. No bonnet and trunk allows for the best use of space keeping it within regulations. Look up the regulations and it becomes clear the box is the optimum shape.
@MrGundawindy
Ай бұрын
How interesting. I had assumed that an abandoned business in Japan would be because it was no longer economically viable due to the shrinking population. Now it seems you're saying that the business may have just closed because the owners were done and it wasn't woreth selling as a going concern, for example the supermarket in this video. If I were there wanting to open a supermarket, there's probably a good opportunity to move into that "abandoned" supermarket, with a good chance of picking up the old customers, as long as you provide as good a service of course.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
People buy restaurants all the time and just stick an Under New Management sign on the door and continue on with the same name. They usually pay goodwill in the price so want to keep the name. Here it seems people prefer to buy something and rename it so the goodwill is worthless so to speak.
@Mr.Randy210
Ай бұрын
Have you done a video walk through of your Cafe lately?
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
Not lately
@Mr.Randy210
Ай бұрын
@RealRuralJapan I just watched the renovation videos, curious to see it now.
@justinharper6677
Ай бұрын
We went three weeks of hot sunny weather. Now we are getting the same rainy treatment you have. Humid and rain. As a potato digger myself I'm at least looking forward to another potato video. Your cats have a lot more energy than my lazy loaf of a cat. These cats are just like infants sometimes😄
@jetnavigator
Ай бұрын
Japanese don't like secondhand stuff, right? That's what the wife tells me (maybe she just wants me to spend more money).
@richardm4706
Ай бұрын
That used to be the case, and probably still a strong belief. Definately for dish sets and dolls. I can remember (like 25-30 years ago) going gomi hunting back when big household trash was put out. You could get nice sets of golf clubs, TVs, stereos, fridges, furniture, etc. second hand shops were very rare, but that’s not the case now; there are plenty of second hand shops like Bookoff, making a killing.
@rod.h8064
Ай бұрын
@@richardm4706 there's even second-hand tool shops now, though some reckon that the prices there are a bit of a rip off even if you could get a cordless drill for 10,000 yen
@coboldelphi
Ай бұрын
Houseoff, hardoff, 2nd street, reOk, and a handful of smaller resell shops are fairly popular. With clothing, very expensive shops selling old somewhat vintage American clothing is very popular with the younger kids.
@GeoffSeeley
Ай бұрын
@14:45 ah, the joys of having kids... 🤣
@rod.h8064
Ай бұрын
it was the supermarket that's gone/going, not the 7-11 right?
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
Yes
@thundercid1533
Ай бұрын
I’m sad for your community, employees are now out of work, the supermarkets location was more handy than the local 7-11 and that supermarket you once said sold quality local produce, so now I’m thinking that is one less outlet for local growers.
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
Would make a good farmers market along the side of the road. Plenty of parking and heaps of passing traffic. Could run it one out fairly easily with the growers looking after their own shelves. But being tied to a shop for long hours although profitable is not something i could do i would be bored to tears.
@Mike-ry4ti
Ай бұрын
I really do wonder how these small businesses do manage with the decline in population. I want start my own small auto electronics shop but I wouldn't know where to start!
@RealRuralJapan
Ай бұрын
As long as people need things business will be done.
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