Building Regulations in Japan
The following is a brief guide to some of the building regulations you will encounter when building a house in Japan.
Yosekiritsu
This is the building volume-to-land ratio and defines the maximum total floorspace allowed on a block of land. The ratio is expressed as a percentage, eg. 200%. In built-up areas in central Tokyo the Yosekiritsu is high, whereas in suburban and rural areas, the Yosekiritsu will be much smaller. The highest ratio in Tokyo is 1300% which applies to commercial land in the Yurakucho / Marunouchi area around Tokyo Station. Even still, there are buildings that exceed this ratio because they have borrowed air rights from neighboring blocks. Read more