The demise of security deposits and key money

Good news for tenants and bad news for landlords in Japan: A change in the traditional transaction customs in the residential and commercial rental market in Japan is underway which is putting more power on the tenants' side.

The various fees usually paid by a tenant such as security deposits (shikikin) and key money (reikin) are decreasing.  Japan's declining birth rates, decreasing population, oversupply of housing and the growing awareness of consumer rights have put an end to the era where landlords once held all of the power.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Who said all Japanese apartments lose their value immediately after purchase?

Minamiaoyama Masters House by Marubeni

Real estate marketing and research firm, Attractors Lab, has compiled a list of the apartment developers and the resale value of their apartments 10 years after completion. In top spot was Marubeni Corporation.

The data is based on apartments built in the last 10 years that were listed for sale on the secondary market in 2010. The purchase price when brand new was compared to the asking price when the property was re-listed in 2010. The data only included developers who have built over 30 buildings.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Second-hand apartment prices in Tokyo rise after 3 months but stockpile of unsold units reach highest recorded level

According to the Real Estate Information Network for East Japan (REINS), the average price of an apartment on the secondary market in greater Tokyo increased for the first time in three months.Read more

by Zoe Ward

TEPCO doubles their real estate sell-off to 200 billion Yen

Tepco's Tokyo Headquarters in Hibiya, Chiyoda-ku

In order to raise funds to pay compensation for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster, Tepco are planning to sell approximately 200 billion Yen (2.6 billion USD) of their vast real estate holdings. One of their assets includes their company headquarters in Hibiya in central Tokyo which is expected to sell for 10 billion Yen (130 million USD).

The planned sell-off will include approximately 280 properties including company dormitories and company retreats.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Grand Front Osaka Owner's Tower

The massive redevelopment of the Osaka Station North District ("Umekita") is well underway. The 38,000sqm site will have commercial office buildings, retail stores, a hotel and serviced apartments and a residential condominium tower. The design of the "Osaka North Plaza" located at the southern end of the site will be supervised by famous Japanese architect firm, Tadao Ando Architect and Associates.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo's population declines as residents continue to move to Western Japan

Tokyo's population has recently seen a net decrease as residents fled the city following the March 11 Tohoku Disaster and the nuclear emergency.

The hiring season and university enrollment schedule in Spring/Summer usually sees the Tokyo population rise. However, the statistics for June and July showed that the number of people who moved out of the Tokyo metropolitan area exceeded the number who moved into the area, causing the total population to decrease by 4,000 in greater Tokyo, and 6,400 in Tokyo alone. This is despite the thousands of new residents moving in from the Tohoku region.Read more

by Zoe Ward

The "World's Oldest Manga Cafe" to close down

Manrakuen Comic Paradise is a Japanese Manga-Kissa (a comic book library and cafe) near Jinbocho Station in Tokyo where customers pay 400 year per hour to sit and read from the collection of over 20,000 comic books.Read more

by Zoe Ward