Houses in Iwate City to be decontaminated
Decontamination work has begun on houses in the Shidamyo and Ogi areas in Kawamaemachi-Shimookeuri, Iwaki City. The residential neighborhoods are 28 km south-west of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. By the end of this year they will have decontaminated 7 homes and by March, 2012, they hope to have decontaminated a total of 46 homes.
The area was reported as a hotspot with outside radiation levels of 1 ~ 3 microsievert/hr. In the initial days of the nuclear disaster, residents were ordered to remain indoors. The order was lifted on April 22nd. The city hopes that decontamination will reduce the level to below 0.5 microsievert/hr. Once the work is complete, they will re-measure the homes.Read more
Buying a house that cannot be rebuilt
Due to land and construction laws in Japan, there are some houses that legally cannot be rebuilt. This is an important point to watch out for when you are looking to buy a home and land.
These types of properties are called "sai-kenchiku fuka" which means reconstruction is not allowed. In many cases this is because the particular block of land does not have sufficient street frontage.Read more
Bankrupt Matsubishi Dept Store to be demolished
Demolition preparation work has started on the Matsubishi Department Store in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The building is expected to be completely demolished by the end of July, 2012.
The total cost is expected to reach 500 ~ 600 million Yen and will be shared amongst the landholders, which include Asahi Corporation.
The main building of the Matsubishi Department Store was completed in 1936. It suffered damage but miraculously survived the bombing of Hamamatsu in WWII which destroyed 60 percent of the city. Later, in 1956, the store was home to the first escalator in Shizuoka Prefecture.Read more
Sky Tower 41
Sky Tower 41 is a high-rise residential building located on the outskirts of Kaminoyama - a city of 33,000 residents in Yamagata Prefecture. The 41-storey tower looks out of place amongst the fields and countryside.Read more
Apartment rent falls again in November
According to Tokyo Kantei, the average apartment rent in Japan's three largest cities fell again in November.
In greater Tokyo, the average monthly rent fell 0.7% from the previous month to 2533 Yen/sqm. This is the fourth month of continual decline. In Tokyo City, rent fell by 0.6% to 2924 Yen/sqm. Kanagawa Prefecture saw the average monthly rent rise by 1.1% to 2044 Yen/sqm.Read more
New plan requiring land risks to be explained before sale
The Japan Association of Home Suppliers has announced plans to require a site geography and history report to be presented to the buyer prior to the sale of a home.
There are approximately 100 home builders who are members of the Association. The committee chairman, also company president of Mita Housing, said that following the Tohoku disaster they had received an increasing number of inquiries from clients concerned about the liquefaction risk and strength of the ground. He believes that providing a geography and history report for each property would provide help to ease the concerns of buyers. Mita Housing is about to introduce this new reporting system into their own business, and many other real estate companies also have plans to do so.Read more