Summer is a wonderful time to enjoy Japan. The mountains, the ocean, the beautiful "inaka" or countryside where time seems to have stopped. It's a good time also to thank God for the simple things that make life in Japan so special -- telephones that work, trains that run on time and people that bring your lost bag back before you even realized you had lost it . . .
We have a question this week from reader Mark, who asks: "Do you have any information on apartment rental renewals fees ("koshinryo")?
"The real estate agent that I rent my apartment through wants me to pay a renewal fee every two years (70,000 yen as an agent fee, 21,000 yen for insurance, 20,000 yen guarantor fee; making a total of 111,000 yen).