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>It's really one of the largest things that seemingly every developed country is struggling with right now.

Not Japan! Tokyo rents are surprisingly cheap relative to other major cities.

The key here is considering housing a consumable with 20-year lifespan tops, as opposed to multigenerational investment vessel.

Yeah this is the big difference. A home in Japan is not an investment. You buy a home to live in, the mortgage is around the same or a bit cheaper than rent, but the property depreciates like a car, and while the land has value, the house you built on it has negative value (since the next tenant has to tear it down).

> (since the next tenant has to tear it down).

In Tokyo?

My understanding is that in Japan zoning restrictions are controlled at a federal rather than local level. I've read that this helps prevent local incumbents using the zoning system to exclude new construction.

In other words, Japan lacks the regulatory environment (common in all these other countries) that depresses supply.

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