Meet Chai Kanda, CEO of Shiki Properties in Kyoto, who sits down to talk about Japan's short-term rental market. He talks about his work restoring machiya for vacation rentals, Japan's tourism boom, and how regulations affect Japan's tourism industry.

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0:00 Intro

0:45 Meet Chai

1:07 What brought Chai to Japan

2:07 Chai’s childhood in Japan

2:27 Leaving Sydney for Japan

2:51 Chai’s original vision for Japan

3:52 Chai’s first job in Japan

4:11 Staying in Kansai long term

4:36 Discovering real estate

6:43 From rentals to acquisitions for Chai

9:30 The pros and cons of machiya investment for Chai

11:38 The charm of machiya

12:15 Chai on Airbnb in Japan

13:58 Chai on renovation budgets

16:27 Chai navigating funding and partnerships

17:35 Chai on customer demand for machiya

18:55 Adapting to rapid growth

20:17 How booming tourism affects regulations

24:32 Kyoto-specific rules

25:29 Expanding beyond Kyoto

29:02 Expanding into Japan's "Little Venice"

32:37 Chai comparing markets

34:20 The usual process of starting in a new area

36:56 Tourism and neighborhood change

39:55 Evaluating sustainable tourism markets

43:09 Chai on overtourism in Japan

45:13 Crowded buses and local frustration

47:27 Transit expansion challenges

48:10 Untangling the tourism challenge

50:27 Chai’s long-term vision

52:36 From real estate to hot sauce

54:12 The reality of launching food products in Japan

56:04 Chai’s Scoville rating

56:55 Key lessons from two decades in business

58:25 The fear of failure in Japan

1:00:39 Being prepared for business in Japan

1:03:26 Wrapping up

1:04:01 Outro

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Shiki Group:

https://linktr.ee/shikigroup

Shiki Properties IG:

https://instagram.com/shiki_properties

Shiki Real Estate:

https://linktr.ee/shiki.realestate

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The effect of Japanese housing regulations on tourism

Unpacking Japan

The effect of Japanese housing regulations on tourism