70 - 80 percent drop in rosenka land values in Tohoku
In order to account for changes in land values due to the March 11 Tohoku disaster, Japan's National Tax Agency (NTA) announced adjustment ratios, or scaling factors, for the 2011 rosenka (prices of land fronting major roads). Along with the 1995 Hanshin Earthquake, this is only the second time in history that adjustment ratios have been introduced.Read more
Foreign visitors to Mt. Fuji area down 77%
Foreign visitors represent an important of the tourism industry in the areas surrounding Mt. Fuji. The Mt. Fuji Visitor Center in Yamanashi Prefecture reported that the number of foreign visitors to the center between April and September, 2011, fell 77% from a year earlier to 20,650.
Chinese tourists typically make up the majority of foreign visitors to the Mt. Fuji area, however, the number of Chinese visitors fell by 78% to 10,300. Fuji Kyuko, a tourism company that operates in conjunction with the Visitor Center, had opened a sales office in Shanghai in July, 2010, but the effects of the March disaster continue to have a negative effect on their business.Read more
Daikanyama Hillside Terrace Apartment for Sale
Price: No longer on the market
Size: 122.35 sqm (1316 sqft)
This apartment in Daikanyama Hillside Terrace is a very special offering as it is extremely rare to see any apartments in this complex listed for sale. This is the first apartment to be listed in at least 2 years.Read more
"Bansuisou" to be designated as a cultural property
Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs has decided to designate a French-styled residence in Ehime Prefecture as an Important Cultural Property. Located on the perimeter of the Matsuyama Castle grounds, "Bansuisou" was built in 1922 as the residence for Count Sadakoto Hisamatsu, a descendant of the Matsuyama Daimyo. Count Hisamatsu had a long history with France, having first gone there to study when he was 16 years old. He then graduated from French military academy, École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr. He was later appointed as the military attache to the French Embassy before returning to Japan in 1906.Read more
Sendai's hillside houses still at risk of landslides
The hillside residential areas in Sendai City suffered from serious landslides during the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and a recent survey by Kyoto University's Disaster Prevention Research Institute has shown that landslides are continuing in these neighborhoods.
While aftershocks and heavy rains were thought to be the main cause, the Institute said that it is unusual for landslides to continue for such a long period of time.Read more