Filling Needs with Empty Rooms

"Over 10 years, we have stayed committed to our founding mission."

"Thanks to our joint efforts, Belt and Road international cooperation has gotten off the ground,

grown rapidly, and produced fruitful outcomes."

Xi touted the success of his signature policy this past week at the Belt and Road forum in Beijing to mark its 10th anniversary.

But despite the rhetoric, the program appears to be losing steam.

Far fewer countries sent top representatives this time than to the previous forum in 2019,

including some European nations.

Italy is one country having second thoughts.

It was the only member of the G7 that had signed on.

But it is now reportedly thinking of withdrawing, as the framework hasn't produced significant economic gains.

China had sought to help rejuvenate the port of Trieste on the Adriatic Sea.

But after 4 years, the project hasn't made any headway.

The program has also stalled in China's Himalayan neighbor, Nepal.

The countries signed a cooperation agreement in 2017.

It includes construction of a railway linking China's Tibet autonomous region with Kathmandu across the Himalayas.

But the project has been slow to take shape.

One expert says that's because Nepal can't dispel concerns it would be saddled with a huge burden of debt.

"If you wanted to bring that train from that region to Kathmandu, you would require a lot of funding, money needed."

"Which is going to pay for it? Chinese? No, I don't think Chinese are really going to go for that."

"They are looking for certain contribution from the Nepalese side."

"What's there for Nepal... it's not really clear."

Beijing's ambitious strategy may be losing its domestic appeal as well.

China's economy has been struggling.

It logged slower growth in the July to September period than in the previous quarter.

Turmoil in the real estate sector continues to be a major drag.

The crisis is getting worse.

Just recently, the nation's biggest private property developer, Country Garden, is at a risk of defaulting on its offshore debt.

The economic challenges could make large-scale Belt and Road investments difficult.

An expert on Chinese politics says Beijing may have to focus more on profitable projects.

"The program is the brainchild of President Xi Jinping, so officials won't be able to say it's a failure."

"I think the nation will seek to refine the framework, instead of making it smaller."

"And it will likely to do so in a way that could generate synergy effects with the domestic economy."

At the forum in Beijing, there were indeed signs of a shift in strategy.

Xi stressed the promotion of high-quality, green developments.

Many people around the world are now watching how China navigates the second decade of its Belt and Road Initiative.

I realized I was afraid of getting old.

The more you learn about aging, the less fear it holds.

Applewhite is 71 years old.

She has given talks all over the world about overcoming ageism.

She has been chosen as one of 50 leaders in a United Nations project to defeat ageism in society.

Sexism on the basis of sex or gender, and ageism is discrimination and prejudice on the basis of age.

We are being ageist, and we are all ageist all the time.

The populations of developed countries are getting steadily older.

US President Joe Biden is 80, the oldest president in US history, a fact that is debated constantly.

Social media are full of posts proclaiming "too old,"

focusing on his age without taking into account his health.

We would never say that person is too gay to be president, too fat to be president,

too dark-skinned to be president, and to say they are too old is equally unacceptable.

It should be about capacity.

For example, if I didn't like something about this interview,

and I blamed it on the fact that you were young, that would be ageist, right?

I might blame it on your ideas or your experience. That's different.

So it's very important to portray aging in all its diversity, you know, from every perspective.

Applewhite says that to overcome ageism, it is necessary to educate young people.

No one is born biased, but attitudes towards age,

just like towards race and gender, start to form in early childhood.

The sooner we can be aware of the human tendency to stereotype to group, the better.

Education of the young has begun here in Japan.

This junior high school class featured a guest speaker.

The lecture was organized by a company that manages web services for real estate and nursing homes.

"Ageism is not just directed towards the elderly."

"It is directed towards all age groups I hope people can face this issue without thinking:

'It has nothing to do with me,' or, 'It's something that is a long way off for me.'"

This is the first time many of these students have heard anything about ageism.

"I don't think we need a retirement age."

"I wanted to play guitar, but was told, 'You can start in high school.'"

"I thought that to eliminate ageism, people should respect individuality."

"I thought I can try something and challenge myself, not just because I am young, or anything like that."

Applewhite says she hopes we can see people as individuals, and not be biased by assumptions about age.

It's part of my identity, like whether I am right-handed, whether I am Japanese,

you know a world without ageism would be a world where age, whether youth or older,

or later life, is not a barrier to access or opportunity.

Many vacant homes like this have been left empty for years.

One business is turning them into affordable housing for people struggling to find a place to live.

Another business owner was able to fulfill a dream by turning a vacant property into a place for local children to enjoy.

Today's On-Site Report shows how unique business models are finding ways to make use of Japan's vacant properties.

This century-old home has been sitting vacant for several years.

An elderly couple used to live here, but they moved out in 2018.

With no interested buyers, the house was left abandoned and has gradually deteriorated.

It's got some structural issues that will need to be fixed.

The property was purchased by real estate company owner Matsumoto Tomoyuki.

When a property goes unsold for a long period of time, we can usually get a good deal on it.

Other real estate companies passed on this property because it required so much cleaning and repairs,

it would be difficult to make a profit on.

Matsumoto's company, on the other hand, now owns 160 properties like this.

The goal is to buy extremely low-priced homes, so they can offer them to renters at low a price.

Working with the local Government, Matsumoto rents most of his properties to single elderly tenants

or to people who are struggling to make ends meet.

May I come in?

Furukawa Kenji moved into to one of Matsumoto's properties just 3 days ago.

After health issues left him unable to work, he found himself homeless for nearly a year.

No matter where he went, he couldn't find a realtor who would rent him a place to stay.

Without an address, I couldn't receive any welfare assistance,

but fortunately I was able to move into one of Matsumoto's places.

Matsumoto doesn't just charge below market value, he often sets the rental fee according to what the tenants can afford.

The company is able to turn a profit by only purchasing extremely cheap properties and keeping renovation costs down to a bare minimum.

For example, in Furukawa's case, he was desperate to move in quickly,

so the only work that was done was to repair the plumbing and give the house a cleaning.

The aging tatami floor mats and wall paper were even left as they were.

As long as I keep it clean, this will work just fine!

Our mission is to provide a comfortable home for everyone.

But to make that possible, we have to continue to expand our portfolio and grow our business.

In order to avoid having problems with any of his tenants, Matsumoto makes it a priority to earn their trust.

Tada Taeko moved into one of Matsumoto's properties about 4 years ago.

Prior to meeting him, she had been turned down by several real estate agencies due to her age.

Because Tada has trouble walking, Matsumoto stops by to check on her and collect rent in person.

He's been such a blessing!

I'm really getting up there in years!

Matsumoto was inspired to focus his business on helping people in need after renting out a room to a person who was living on welfare.

He was only able to live in the property for a few years, before passing away.

But that didn't change the way I felt about helping people.

If nothing else, it motivated me even more because I think it was a good thing that

he was able to pass away in the privacy of his own room.

I hope to continue to grow my business, so I can help as many people as possible.

This sauna was built in a renovated house that's over 70 years old.

Owner Nakashima Atsuki fell in love with its beautiful garden and decided to keep it as it was.

Not many saunas offer relaxing outdoor spaces like this, so I'm glad I was able to rent it.

Surprisingly, this property had been vacant for over 10 years.

The owner, inherited it from his grandmother, and was reluctant to rent it because it meant so much to him.

I had some previous offers, but they all wanted to tear down the main building,

so I decided to turn them down as I felt I would regret doing that.

But the current tenant appreciated what the main building had to offer and wanted to use it.

Mizutani Takefumi's business made this contract possible.

It provides a range of consulting services to promote regional revitalization projects.

Mizutani recently created an online platform called "Sakasama Fudousan," which translates to "Upside Down Realty."

Instead of listing properties, it introduces potential tenants and explains their business ideas and why they're passionate about them.

The goal is to convince reluctant owners to rent their properties

by allowing them to choose what kind of businesses will become their tenants.

Since they're not actually a real estate company, they don't charge any brokerage fees.

Mizutani feels that offering a free service is the key to finding uses for vacant properties.

A standard real estate agent may have a quota and feel the need to push a deal through.

But we're not like that at all, the property owners actually reach out to us and choose which tenants they are interested in renting to.

Since starting his service, 22 property owners have used the site to find tenants

and Mizutani says that he is seeing a daily increase in the number of inquiries coming in.

The service has recently expanded to larger, multi-faceted projects.

For example, this traditional shopping arcade in the city of Nagoya.

Many of the buildings here have been left shuttered and abandoned.

However, if you look inside one of the old shops.

Welcome!

Last year, Aizawa Keiko opened a snack shop here in one of the vacant properties.

Aizawa, who had long dreamt of opening a snack shop, posted her business plan on Sakasama Fudousan's website.

This resulted in the owner of a property that had been vacant for over 40 years deciding to rent it out to her.

Since the shop is located on a narrow side street, it offers a safe and welcoming environment for children to come and gather.

When the landlord saw that it would be a place just for kids, she gave us permission to set up shop here.

Over the past year, the surrounding neighborhood has started to regain its liveliness.

Kano Eishi, chairman of the shopping arcade, has helped facilitate this turnaround.

He teamed up with Mizutani and started an initiative to introduce prospective tenants to the owners of vacant properties in the arcade.

It gives us peace of mind because we can understand the vision and plans of the entrepreneurs who want to do business here.

The initiative has also lead to this new business opening up in a property that had been abandoned for over 10 years.

Aoyama Sho opened up this tea cafe in what used to be a small pub.

After dreaming about it for a long time, he finally found a place that matched his needs.

All the locals know why I'm here and have been very welcoming, so I have a feeling things will go well for me.

I hope our service will play a major role in contributing to the revitalization of local areas across Japan.