gurgle

Originally Posted By: rider69 If you own a place there is no getting around the taxes! I mean resident taxes, not property taxes. I would presume you only pay the resident taxes if you hold certain visas, although I have no idea if some categories of residency do not require any resident taxes to be paid, for e.g., retirees. If you only ever enter for holidays, obviously you do not have to pay and resident taxes. All the overseas owners of property that I know enter on holiday visas.

Originally Posted By: rider69 You can quailify for a Visa if you have invested money into Japan. Don't really want any type of visa that may mean resident taxes, etc. Perhaps when I am older and spend more time there, but not now.

Thanks KRUSTY.

Originally Posted By: griller I guess the answer to the 2nd one is "if the driver has a valid licence and the car is insured for a 3rd person to drive", it will be ok. (?) Probably, but the obvious in Japan is not always so, fme...

Some questions that I have. I am sure there are plenty more out there; Car - Can a non-resident own a car in Japan ? (I think the answer is "no"). - If not, can a non-resident drive a car owned by a resident and still be covered by their car insurance ?

Nice piccies guys....look at all the people in Zao - About as busy as Happo back country....!!! Where do you work Matt ?

Thanks for the pics and vid Matt..........thinking about next time helps the deskbound get through the day .......

Any Hakuba pics this morning guys ? I am hearing good things....

Great pics Matt and good to see you guys are still getting good conditions this late in the season. Are those the tree runs back in to the Cortina resort, or through the gate and down to Norikura ? Wish I was there......

Completely off topic....but... When I sent to Saipan(near Guam) a few years back we met some mainland Chinese that were living there. They were all working in factories making Tee-shirts and stuff like that. All a bit strange for sure, the reason apparently is so they can put "made in the U.S.A." on the products.

On the planks I see people riding these days you could have about 1cm "bottomless....(depending on your definition of course........)

Originally Posted By: tripitaka Well, there you have it. "As long as prices keep going up," so it's effectively a Ponzi scheme More like a tontine than a ponzi scheme I reckon.....

Originally Posted By: tripitaka Originally Posted By: Mamabear I really don't understand Trip.... how is the Aussie property market much different from the US Market, the Canadian Market, the UK Market, the NZ Market...and at east a few European markets? I don't actually think it is that different Mama, particularly when you think of its explosive growth due to a credit bubble. There are some differences for sure, mostly to do with taxes. The aussie "model" if you like, is to keep buying a bigger and more expensive house as you can afford it and then sell it when you retire

Originally Posted By: Go Native In Australia, historically prices have always gone up even if there has been a period of stagnant or negative growth. The next peak has always been more than the previous one. There is no denying, the price appreciation in real terms in australia since 1955 has been phenomenal (3% real p.a.). It is hard to see that changing any time soon with the immigration and all the other things in status quo, rates, employment, credit, etc. Originally Posted By: Go Native People should really understand though that the property market here is no longer the sole

Originally Posted By: Mamabear But over time they SHOULD appreciate. Why ? If there is less demand than supply, prices will not appreciate and probably go down. Australia has had a lot of population growth and recent years, a great economy, historicaly low interest rates and high credit availability. That is why prices have done well in Australia and a lot of those same things have obviously had an impact on Niseko. If those things were to all reverse, I suspect prices will go down. I doubt prices ever got back to their historical highs (in real terms) in the spice islands, Great Zi

Originally Posted By: Go Native Not really, the bulk of the investors over the last 12-24 months have been from SE Asia not Aus. Really ?? I live in Singapore and have met plenty of people that own places in Niseko. All expats (mostly Aussie) and not one Singaporean. Is it mostly expats buying ?

It really would depend on whether property prices are about to collapse in Australia, wouldn't it ? I doubt that is about to happen......

Honestly it reminds me of Glengarry Glenross. People I have not spoken to for years ring me up and say "Hey mate you used to live in Japan, right ? I have been shown a great investment opportunity in "Nersiko" in Japan. Some place called "Heraffuu". Whadya think ?" So far, they have all been right (or lucky ?) though..... My memories of the place are thigh deep powder and thick aussie accents.....but not as many as thought I would hear.

Wow, that must have been interesting work, to say the least. The violent discipline sounds very efficient, even if not particularly "pc". So unless they come in without a culture of violence, which is unlikely, you don't think much else would work ? Is it still the way things are run these days IYO ?

I have no idea.

Originally Posted By: Jynxx You know what? I'd rather not have a law against racists. That's right, I mean it because I feel much safer when I seek for service like dentists or lawyers, that I'm getting proper service. When I first went to Australia in '76, There still was the air of White Australia Policy lingering. I knew what I was getting and where things stood, and can tell people who were "racially sensitive". Now, you never know. People are wearing masks, being politically correct for publicity, and it's illegal to be racist. FkMeDead, how can you put a law against peoples feeling

Originally Posted By: JA Originally Posted By: gurgle A couple of things; The last time I checked Cronulla and Sydney were both in Australia. But the "cronulla incident" was not, and never would be, related to surfers. Mostly just a mob of drunken yobs from the "westies" who thought it would be a good idea to "have a go" at some people who were different. You only have to flick through the photos on google to see that there is obviously a mix of yobbos AND surfers involved. It's utter denial to think that locals from Cronulla were not at all involved. Originally Posted By:

A couple of things; The last time I checked Cronulla and Sydney were both in Australia. They may have unique problems like gang related violence and not neccessarily racism, but they are still part of Australia. I can't believe the amount of "Cronulla denial" I hear, even from people in Sydney, let alone elsewhere in Australia. The debate on whether the aggression and violence is gang related or racism is an interesting one and I don't really know Sydney well enough anymore to know the answer. I only know how I feel when I am in the surf there and I don't like the feeling. When I see Aust

Originally Posted By: Mantas Originally Posted By: gurgle Aussie surfers are GENERALLY speaking, pretty narrow minded and quite racist. What experiences are you basing this statement on? Did you spend some time in Cronulla or something? I've been part of the surfing community for nearly 40 years in Australia, that's surf clubs, board riders clubs ect. and I've never heard such rubbish. Most surfers I've encountered are GENERALLY open minded and well travelled. Guys like Indo and myself married foreign women through our surf wanderings, so have a lot of my mates. Sure there are som

Originally Posted By: JA Not quite sure what you're saying here. Tonight, I am somewhat affected by alcohol (as most evenings, as it happens, by this time.) I have had a beer after work, a glass of wine with dinner, and an after dinner drink. I do not believe I'm "pissed" by any stretch of the imagination. To me, pissed is when you lose control of your body (and consequently your brain). I don't really want to go on about this, but I will. You may not be "pissed" by your definition, but statistical evidence suggests that you are more likely to be violent. So perhaps you need to str