THE marks left by inheritance tax are apparent all around Japan. Bookshops are filled with tomes on how to avoid a hefty bill when a loved one dies. Near the ancient Shimogamo shrine in Kyoto, a lady shows off her old house, which will soon be bulldozed. With her parents getting on, she needs to ready herself to pay an inheritance-tax bill. To reduce it, she is splitting the plot and selling one part, which means destroying the family home and building a smaller one. Back in Tokyo, a barman mixing a whisky and soda gruffly recites a Japanese version of a common saying: "a fortune does not last three generations".
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