[rheide]

You're right about the parking bit but I have a hard time believing you about the rent or the building quality. I lived in Kanagawa for 5 years in a very old (for Japanese standards) apartment building, and it was rock solid. Don't forget that these buildings are designed to withstand earthquakes, whereas London buildings are just slowly rotting away. Regarding rent: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?coun...

Nowadays I'm living in London and have seen housing for way higher prices and way, way worse condition than the apartments I've seen in Tokyo. London build quality is utterly terrible. Japanese build quality is quality.

[fenomas]

There are basically two approaches to multiresidence buildings in Japan. There are "mansions": large, modern and built to last, normally all concrete and having a single common entrance, and then there are "apaato": usually 2-3 stories, separate entrances, typically wooden, and ramshackle after 10-15 years. Both styles are common; sounds to me like you guys are comparing opposite ends of the spectrum.