Waves of Chinese buyers save Japan's traditional properties

TOKYO -- Born in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, Yuichi Ishikura, 32, relocated to Kyoto with his mother when he was a junior high school student. While studying at university in the U.S., he was immensely attracted to a particular guesthouse he had stayed at, which became his source of inspiration to begin refurbishing old machiya back in Kyoto into cozy guest villas.