Aren't Japanese homes super tiny? Even smaller than the already small homes and apartments in Europe? That's one reason. In the US, it seems that people live in bigger places, with higher ceilings.
My understanding was that Japanese housing costs are only good in USD because the yen is devalued. I had the impression that housing is expensive relative to local wages. Is that not true?
It's not true. Here is an apples-to-apples comparison of the price of residential property between the US and Japan in real (inflation adjusted) terms.
