The Golf Club Index

According to the Bank of Japan, in May, the total value of all Japanese land inched up by 1.4% in 2005. In deed average Tokyo land prices have been heading north for some months--after 15 years in the other direction.

How do we know that things are really looking up? Apparently, Japan's secondary market in golf-course memberships is soaring as well. Such memberships have long been treated by speculators as a proxy for the overall property market, as they are regularly traded even by folks who, like Uncle Swint, have no interest in ever hitting the links.

During the "Bubble Economy" there was a uniquely Japanese episode of speculation in golf club memberships. At the peak the total market value of golf club memberships was about $200 billion (that is billions not millions). There was and is a Nikkei Golf Club Membership Index.

As in the golf-membership heyday of the 1980s, the most hotly traded memberships in the current boom are for clubs nearest to the capital. Thus membership at the Yokohama Country Club (a mere 40 minutes' drive from Uncle Swint’s house) has more than doubled in value since January, reaching ¥13.5m ($120,000).

Waiting to Inhale

As if oxygen bars weren’t enough, Uncle Swint will soon be able to pick up cans of oxygen, available in peppermint and grapefruit, at the local Seven-Eleven.

One can of O2 Supli—3.2 liters of oxygen supplements—contains 95% concentrated oxygen as compared to 21% in free air. At a cost of 600 yen ($5) a can of O2 Supli, if inhaled up to six times a day for two seconds, will last about a week.

The idea behind the product is to allow Tokyoites to replenish our oxygen levels anytime we feel a lack of it due to stress, fatigue, or other factors. Rumor has it that this will be a popular hangover remedy.

According to media reports, Seven-Eleven Japan developed the product together with Tokyo based Hakugen, a manufacturer of miscellaneous lifestyle-related goods. The high levels of refreshing oxygen are inhaled through a transparent mask connected to the can's spray nozzle. On sale in Tokyo on May 24 and nationwide by mid-June.