But pay is not the same as in the US. Average wage in the US is 77k in Japan it’s 41k. Wages have been even more stagnant in Japan than in the US. Also Japan is in a unique situation. Nobody wants to live in an old home unless they have no choice, because Japan is an earthquake prone country. People only want to live in a home that’s build up to the latest building code. Otherwise people wouldn’t choose to live in tiny apartments. People rather live in a small new apartment than a larger old one, because they fear the old building is a death trap. Therefore rent and prices for relatively new homes are still high. And that’s also why, unlike the rest of the world, houses depreciate in value. And because houses depreciate they are maintained poorly. If you buy such a cheap house you need to raze it to the ground anyway and rebuild from the ground up, because the building is falling apart. Yes cheaper than in the US but you will most certainly lose a significant amount of money when you sell the home again. They are not investments in Japan.