Office vacancy rate in Tokyo hits 33-month low

The office vacancy rate for existing buildings in central Tokyo’s five business districts reached a 33-month low in October. According to office brokerage Miki Shoji, the vacancy rate was 5.36%, down 0.71 points from last year and the 16th month in a row to record a year-on-year decrease.  During the month, around 4,000 tsubo (13,220 sqm or 142,000 sq.ft) of space was absorbed thanks to some large-scale leases.Read more


Foreign tourist arrivals finally exceed pre-pandemic level

Last month, inbound tourist arrivals exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the first time. A total of 2.51 million foreigners visited Japan, up 0.8% from October 2019. The rate of increase is 28% if tourist numbers from mainland China are excluded.Read more


Osaka Maritime Museum to sell for 0.3% of original cost

Built at a cost of 17.6 billion Yen, this long-closed museum was recently offered for 56 million Yen, or just 0.3% of its original cost.Read more


Japan’s skyrocketing hotel prices

A quickly recovering inbound tourism industry coupled with a labor shortage has caused hotel rates in some areas in Japan to far exceed pre-pandemic pricing.Read more


Omotesando low-rise rumored to sell for 25 billion Yen

Last week the Nikkei Real Estate Market Report announced that the rumored sale price of the Forest Hills retail and office building in Omotesando was 25 billion Yen (approx. US$165 million).Read more


Nara’s hotel shortage continues

Despite having some idyllic and historic tourist attractions, for many years Nara Prefecture had the fewest hotel rooms in Japan. And while there have been several notable hotel openings in recent years to boost the much-needed supply, it has only managed to move up three spaces to rank 44th out of the country’s 47 prefectures.Read more