Foreign years
Hundreds, even thousands, of Japanese may soon be settling in resorts, beaches and villages across Asia - before local residents notice the trend. They are not refugees, but pensioners, fleeing stressful and costly retirement lives back home.
Japanese pensioners increasingly crave good lives abroad, in a new trend they call 'long-stay'. Popular destinations include Thailand's Chiang Mai and Malaysia's Penang state and Cameron Highlands.
'Asia is closer, less costly, and has a warm climate, therefore is the most popular and realistic choice for people interested in long-stay visits,' says Misuzu Yamada of the 12-year-old Long-Stay Foundation in Tokyo.
The former tour conductor and travel consultant is promoting this new style of travel for Japanese - outside of ritzy resorts. Ms Yamada knows of some 100 such Japanese living in Chiang Mai, 300 to 500 in the Cameron Highlands and about 800 in the Philippines. Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines are attracting the pensioners with special visas.
The government encouraged the idea of retirement abroad as early as 1986, launching the Silver Columbia Project. It proposed that well-heeled pensioners follow the European style of staying in resorts for extended periods. The idea was still alien to most Japanese, and the plan stirred up little interest.
Now, it is no longer a novelty, for many reasons. More than 16 million Japanese journey overseas every year - triple the number of travellers 18 years ago.
Many of them are repeat travellers, experienced in coping with foreign cultures and bored with package tours. They are ready for long stays, which give them the opportunities to experience colourful local life through daily exchanges with the people, and to learn about the culture and language.
One of my 89-year-old father's neighbours regularly goes back and forth between a seashore resort near Tokyo and the countryside in Portugal.
Japanese pensioners find it miraculous that they can have a good life abroad for US$2,000 a month - a typical monthly pension. The yen stretches when you take it out of Japan, which has about the highest cost of living in the world.
According to a recent survey by a major insurance company, a senior couple needs 375,000 yen (HK$27,000) a month to live with reasonable comfort in Japan. That amount is for people who already own their own house or flat. Playing golf costs about US$100 a round. Keeping a yacht at a marina costs around 1 million yen a year. Retirees now have relatively large pensions, from the glory days of Japan's boom.
Soon the post-war generation will begin retiring, with smaller pensions. They, too, will want to get their money's worth.
For some, the answer is the long-stay abroad.
