Lose weight and pay less rent?

One share house in Osaka has come up with a unique concept of combining weight loss with rent. The 'Beauty&Diet Ladies Sharehouse' in Suita City is offering tenants a discount of 1,000 Yen off their monthly rent for each kilogram they lose while living in the house.

The monthly rent charged to each tenant is calculated by how much they each weigh. For every 1 kg, you are charged 1,000 Yen/month in rent. Lose weight, and your rent goes down. The landlord, Broad Enterprise, believe this might be the first of its kind in the world.Read more


Rent a house in a UNESCO World Heritage area for just 10,000 Yen/month

A 88-year old house in Gokayama has been listed for rent at just 10,000 Yen/month (127 USD) in a bid by Nanto City to entice families to the area.Read more


Uenoshita Dojunkai Apartments to be demolished

The last remaining 'dojunkai' apartment building, Uenoshita Apartments, will be demolished next year to make way for a new 14 storey condominium developed by Mitsubishi Jisho Residence.

The head of Taito-ku gave approval on October 9 for the formation of the reconstruction committee.Read more


Hokkaido facing difficult task of regulating transactions on forestry

Regulations requiring advance notification of the sale of land containing a water source came into effect on October 1st, but Hokkaido is already facing the difficult task of identifying and contacting land owners.

In Hokkaido, 53 areas were designated for water resource preservation. Correspondence has been sent to the 4,000 affected land owners, but only 60% could be contacted. The whereabouts of the remaining land owners remains unknown.Read more


An apartment designed with Roomba in mind

The modelroom for Mitsubishi Jisho Residence's latest condominium 'The Parkhouse Shibuya Mitake' has been specially designed in collaboration with the Japanese sales representatives for vacuuming robot Roomba.Read more


Golf courses converted to solar farms across Japan

The Japanese government recently introduced a system whereby electric utility operators are obligated to purchase electricity produced by solar farms and other renewable sources at fixed prices. The system started on July 1, 2012. In order to benefit from the program, suppliers must obtain approval by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Under the feed-in tariff (FIT), utilities will enter into 20-year terms with solar power suppliers. The purchase price of solar power is expected to be set at 42 Yen per kilowatt-hour.Read more


Tepco sells head office bldg for 25 billion Yen

On September 27, Tepco announced that they had sold the Toshin Building in Shinbashi, Minato-ku, for 25 billion Yen (320 million USD).

The sale contract was signed on the 27th with a closing date scheduled for March 2013. The buyer has not been disclosed.Read more