Naspal Town housing price

林原-san once told me, during English conversation class, that houses in Naspal Town cost 300 million yen. That's 3 million dollars! Despite the fact that Naspal Town is located in the area of Nakayama nearest the onsen and has natural hotspring pumped into the house, it's still hard to imagine there being 3 million dollar homes in the boondock that is Nakayama.

But I've finally figured it out! There is a sign on Rt. 9 where we turn right, saying that one 坪 (tsubo) costs 4.6 man. One tsubo equals 3.3 sq. meter or 35.58 sq. ft. So, Naspal Town costs about 1292 yen per sq. ft.

A 300 million yen house (3 million dollar home, as we were told by Hayashibara) would be 251,608 sq. ft, or 5.8 acres. That's a damn big house. Hayashibara must've had the zeros all mixed up.

But, according to Diane, people don't buy houses per se in Japan. You buy land plots and then build your own house on top. Most houses in Japan aren't built to last very long, as a result.

However, those plots in Naspal town still don't look like 6 acres to me...