basically guarantee rent like sec 8 but without the tenants destroying things and skipping out. a lot of single japanese live in a small apartment that they basically use just to sleep, shower and store their things.  

The other trick may be getting a loan from a Japanese bank with no work authorization, so are you prepared to pay cash?

Can someone refresh my memory on the tax hike amount (is it a percent?)

Even with a short-term rental manager, you still manage the manager, deal with damages, and have to refresh furniture.

@Gibson BeusI read a cool Japanese proverb the other day-“A spoonful of sweat can save a bucket full of blood”See, told ya it was cool. 

This is a refreshing excpetation management and some good tips.

It's refreshing to hear from a fellow Ohioan on here in the Columbus market.

Are you currently doing investing into Japanese real estate or US based investing exclusively?

There are whole nation states that live in denial (a friend of a friend recently called the USA a "shining beacon of compassion" in the world and told me that it was inappropriate for me to bring up Japanese-American internment camps and two atoms bombs dropped on civilian populations as a counterexample to what he was saying), so is it so strange that these people just cut themselves off from dealing openly with their financial problems or making rational decisions about strategies to avoid foreclosure?

Before your book there was only one other book I found that was aimed at the passive syndication investor and it is refreshing to have more sources for information with concise and clear descriptions on what to expect and what to watch out for!