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Japanese couple sell 30-year-old home for apartment living: “We wish we had moved sooner”

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth From a news agency Outcome reported
  • A 67-year-old Japanese couple sold their detached home after living there for 30 years, despite receiving monthly pensions of about 300,000 yen and holding roughly 85 million yen in financial assets.
  • The couple found that the suburban home’s size, maintenance needs and distance from transport made daily life harder as the husband’s health declined.
  • They moved to a high-rise apartment near a station, where shops, clinics and financial institutions are within walking distance.

After spending 30 years paying off their mortgage, a Japanese couple decided that the home filled with family memories no longer suited their retirement. At 67, they sold the detached house and moved to a high-rise apartment near a station.

The couple, identified as A and his wife, had bought the newly built suburban house about three decades ago. They had both worked until taking early retirement at 60 and raised two sons there. Their financial position remained relatively comfortable: they held about 100 million yen in financial assets after retiring, later began receiving roughly 300,000 yen a month in pension payments at 65, and still had about 85 million yen in assets.

The pressure came from daily life rather than money. As A’s health deteriorated, he spent more time at home. The large house retained many belongings left by their sons, making it difficult to organize. His wife began to feel confined by the space. The couple also lived far from a station and depended heavily on their car for shopping and medical visits. Driving him to the hospital and back took about 50 minutes.

This is the place where we truly want to live until the end.

— The coupleThey expressed their preference for the station-area apartment as a long-term home.

The house itself had also grown harder to maintain. After more than 30 years, the roof, exterior walls, kitchen and bathroom required repairs. Tasks the couple could once handle themselves had become burdensome.

The turning point came after one of A’s medical appointments, when his wife noticed a high-rise building near the station. The couple found supermarkets, clinics and financial institutions within walking distance, along with on-site management, security features and delivery lockers. A valued easier access to medical care, while his wife welcomed the ability to leave home without relying on a car. After viewing several properties, they moved and said they wished they had done so earlier, hoping the new apartment would become their lifelong home.

We should have moved here sooner.

— The coupleThey described how the move improved access to medical care and made going out easier.
About this summary

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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