Wealthy oldsters may start to become one of Japan’s biggest imports in the coming years as countries across Southeast Asian vie to become the destination of choice for Japanese retirees. Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia all are offering “long stay” programs that include visas and tax breaks for foreign retirees interested in investing a certain amount of cash.

In the Philippines, which would like to attract about a million foreign retirees by 2015 and thereby create four million related jobs, Robinson Land plans to build houses for Japanese, who more used to living in cramped apartments.

“A government is selling the Philippines as a retirement destination, so we’re looking at building leisure retirement villas,” Frederick Go, president of Robinson Land, said at a recent conference in Hong Kong.

“For $100,000 you can really own a palace in the Philippines.”

I have met a number of people in Japan who are planning to retire to the Philippines or Thailand, and all of them have high praise for the respective countries of their choice. I have to say that the notion also sounds quite attractive to me as well. But the looks I get from Mrs. JP whenever I try to broach the subject make it clear that I probably will not be lazing away the days in some villa in Manila anytime soon.