Might be helpful for background. (3) Some things to consider as you look into buying there: (i) do you have PR (permanent residency), without which you may not qualify for a loan; (ii) do you have personal ties to Japan (Japanese spouse, parents, etc); (iii) do you speak Japanese (which can also help in getting a loan); (iv) how much capital will you have as a down payment - I understand 20% is commonly required.Happy to address any specific questions you may have, so don't hesitate to shoot them my way.

I have read that Starbucks, Whole Foods, and Trader Joes are good indicators that the property value in areas each are located in will tend to rise. 

There are quite a few here on BP - @Luther Wilson III does come to mind.If you are wanting to get to know the Kansas City Market and the Kansas Ctiy people, I suggest setting up a key word alert here on BP for Kansas City - and also check out some of the events on the BP calendar and schedule a KC visit around them.If you schedule around a 2nd Tuesday you can make a MAREI meeting on Tuesday and a WinVestors meeting on a wednesday morning and if the planets align, sometimes a House Traders event on Wednesday evening - just have to have a 2nd Tuesday and a 3rd Wednesday fall in the same week, which seems to happen in May - so 3 meetings, 3 different groups of people in about 30 hours.

Trail of Tears, Teapot Dome, the Japanese Internment...ect.

Anytime you trade real estate, you should be licensed. 

Unless you are a trader you are not in this current environment. 

Yesterday, I snowboarded in the morning, did some wine tasting on the way home and had a "real" Japanese meal for dinner.

I just looked into transferring title of my Mom’s place to either a trust or a relative, and either would incur a transfer tax, so I’d guess a trader to an LLC would,too.

Japanese buffet.

Trader Joe's too, but Sprout's has won me over even over TJ's lately!