During a recent sojourn in the United States, I talked with friends and relatives about the housing situation, specifically the value of their homes in the wake of the subprime fiasco of 2007-08. Those who bought high just before the bubble burst are feeling queasy now that property values have descended to earth, while those who made their purchases longer ago were slightly chagrined at the elation they experienced when the price of their houses skyrocketed briefly before settling to saner levels. None are among the millions of Americans now facing foreclosure, but if they still have mortgages they can't feel totally safe, not in such an uncertain employment environment.

Nevertheless, their homes tend to be the only secure things in their lives, investments that protect them from the vicissitudes of the economy. So it was difficult for them to understand that such security isn't a given in Japan; that here, houses and condominiums lose value as soon as you move into them. The only real security a home provides in Japan is the knowledge that you won't be kicked out; at least not after its paid for.

Most Japanese people understand this situation but don't discuss it openly. The government's decades-old policy of promoting new home ownership in order to keep the economy chugging along has resulted in a surplus of cramped, uncomfortable and sometimes substandard units that will only increase in number as the country's population shrinks.