[steven]

I'm sure I misinterpreted a lot of it! I appreciate your correction though.

I thought 80万 was extermely cheap hahaha. I just glossed over it so I didn't notice the "坪", which was obviously a key part. So if you multiply that by at least 5 or so (does that sound right?) then you might get a decent idea of what it could cost for a basement in Japan (back in the day according to this site at least). I get the feeling that it would probably cost at least 500万 for a usable basement in Japan.

By the way, Sashimister, if I may ask, what are your feelings on this topic? I've never really heard of basements in Japan either. Do you know if there's a reason for that?