Rare ruling sees leaseholders responsible for paying land taxes
In a rare court ruling, some leaseholders in a city in Toyama Prefecture are now on the hook for paying land taxes.Read more
Wakayama demolishing abandoned hotel
A long-abandoned hotel in Japan’s Amalfi is being forcibly demolished by the city government in response to complaints from local residents. Located on a cliffside position, the former Taikobo Hotel overlooks the Saikazaki Fishing Harbor on Wakayama City’s coastal area.Read more
Japan's Standard Land Prices increase by 1.0% in 2023
Japan’s Standard Land Prices were announced on September 19, and as the pandemic winds down and dwellers and tourists return to central hubs, the major urban centers saw the steepest increase.
Nationwide, land prices across all uses increased by 1.0%, following a 0.3% increase in 2022. Regional areas saw the first increase across all uses for the first time in 31 years; however, this may have been driven by growth in cities such as Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka. Residential land outside of those cities continued to decline, while commercial land increased for the first time in 32 years.Read more
Historic Osaka office building demolished and sold to developer
A landmark heritage building alongside Dojima River in Osaka is under demolition by a local developer. Demolition started in April 2023 with completion expected by late October.Read more
Tokyo apartment rents up 11.9% y-o-y
After remaining relatively subdued throughout the pandemic, apartment rents in Tokyo’s 23 wards are on the rise, increasing by 8% since the start of the year.
The average monthly rent of a condominium apartment in the 23 wards was 4,266 Yen/sqm as of August, up 2.3% from the previous month and up 11.9% from last year. This has exceeded the previous record high set in July. Read more
Tokyo's population reaches record high
Tokyo’s population has risen to a record high for the past 4 months in a row, reaching 14.09 million in August. This is the population of the Tokyo metropolitan area which includes the densely populated 23 wards, along with the cities to the west and island communities.Read more
Luxury hotel in Sapporo now a casualty of rising construction costs
Plans for a luxury hotel to crown the top of a high-rise project in front of Sapporo Station in Hokkaido have been scrapped due to rapidly rising construction costs. The upper floors will, instead, be office space to cater to the high demand from office tenants in central Sapporo.Read more
New high-rise development announced for west side of Shinagawa Station
On August 29, Keikyu Corporation and East Japan Railway Company released details on the Shinagawa Station District Redevelopment Project that will see three buildings on a 3.3 hectare site on the western side of the station.Read more
Apartment-hotel sells for 69 million Yen per key
Daiwa House REIT Investment Corporation has acquired the trust beneficiary rights to a 74-room hotel in Tokyo for 5.114 billion Yen (approx. US$35 million). The appraised NOI yield was 4.0% (3.5% after depreciation).Read more
Tokyo looks to eliminate 8,600 hectares of wooden homes by the 2040s
This month marks the 100th anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake that struck the greater Tokyo area. That disaster saw approximately 105,000 lives lost, of which around 91,000, or 87%, were due to firestorms that quickly spread through neighborhoods filled with densely crowded wooden homes.Read more