“Ideally, I’d like to do one each year. But I don’t have that much money,” Kanoh said of the custom-made machinery, which costs roughly 50 million yen ($330,000) each.
“If we have to pay a lot to borrow, we could end up in a really tough spot.”
This week, Japan’s central bank lifted interest rates for the first time in 17 years and ended its negative rate policy. While the move is more symbolic than anything else, while interest rates remain around zero, it has opened the door to something Japan hasn’t seen in decades: a world in which borrowing money will cost more.
Now, millions of Japanese, from small company owners like Kanoh to first-time homebuyers, are deciding how to
