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Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers.

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.

From Our Own Correspondent: Japan and Abkhazia

Japan and Abkhazia

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Japan and Abkhazia

Tony Grant presents despatches from BBC correspondents Roland Buerk and Damien McGuinness.

Tony Grant with personal stories from correspondents abroad. Today, Roland Buerk on how Japan fell out of love with high-rise housing and Damien McGuinness on Abkhazia's economic and political limbo.

Tony Grant introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world. In this edition: Roland Buerk learns how Japan's real-estate market is changing as clients fall out of love with high-rise homes, while Damien McGuinness visits Abkhazia - a tiny region seemingly trapped in diplomatic, political and economic limbo.


Not such dizzy heights

300 billion dollars. That's what the Japanese government says it will cost to restore housing and infrastructure damaged by the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. Even though not a single high-rise building was destroyed that day back in March, the Japanese seem to be thinking again about where they want to live and work. 

The consequences for Japanese cityscapes could be profound - as Roland Buerk says they seem to be abandoning the skyscraper. 


A modern no-man's-land

There won't be universal celebration - or even recognition - of this week's independence day celebrations in Abkhazia. The territory broke away from Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s; yet the only superpower to  recognise it as a nation-state is Russia. 

Damien McGuinness visited recently, and got the impression that the world's policy of non-recognition is actually helping Russia to increase its influence in the region further.




And with Damien McGuinness returning to his base in Tbilisi, Georgia -  the horse and cart keeps the expenses down, we've reached the end of the road. I'm Tony Grant. I hope you'll join us again tomorrow for more From Our Own Correspondent.

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