If you've lived in Japan for any length of time you know that any property you buy will likely not increase in value over time. Structures themselves, whether houses or condominiums, lose value as a matter of course because that's the way the government and the housing industry planned it. And since the end of the bubble economy of the late '80s, even land prices have dropped and continue to do so, thus contributing to the cycle of deflation that keeps the economy in the doldrums.

The only exception to this trend is Tokyo, and the media has lately been reporting on how healthy the condo market is in the capital, but according to AERA it's only specific areas of Tokyo, and not necessarily the ones you might expect. For instance, the "3A area" of Aoyama, Azabu and Akasaka — expensive locations favored by well-to-do expats — has been losing value steadily since the so-called Lehman Shock because of decreasing demand for rental property.

But there are locations that AERA says offer "some hope" for the future, meaning that if you buy a condo in these locations the value won't go down "that much." These properties lie in a "golden triangle" whose points are Akihabara station, Toyosu station and Shinagawa station; in other words, parts of Minato, Chuo and Koto Wards, especially the waterfront district, which has become very popular among the boomer generation's own progeny, who are now entering middle age.