How easy is it to buy and restore an aging countryside home in Japan?
CNN
In Japan, old houses are plentiful, cheap and sometimes even free. We speak to some of the property owners who have taken the plunge to create not just a holiday home but to enjoy a piece of Japanese history.
Tokyo (CNN) — Near the town of Fujino, off busy Route 20, just 65 kilometers west of Tokyo, sits a narrow, single-lane tunnel.
Passing through it, the modern incarnation of Japan seems to disappear as travelers emerge into cedar forests and twisting mountain roads that lead deeper into an even less-forgiving side of rural Japan.
Free of gas stations or convenience stores, a few houses dot the roadside or perch on hilltops, accessible only through tiny tracks. Usually, only hikers heading to or from Mount Jinba or weekend cyclists provide any sign of human life.
President Joe Biden asserted Friday that Hamas has been degraded to a point where it can no longer carry out the type of attack that launched the current 8-month conflict in Gaza, laying out a three-phase proposal Israel has submitted to wind down the grinding crisis as he declared, “It’s time for this war to end.