Meiji-era storehouse to be torn down in Miyagi
After sustaining serious structural damage during the March 11 Tohoku earthquake, the Matsuyama Zashiki-Kura* in Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, will be demolished by the end of the year. The City said that a shortage of building materials and high repair costs mean it is not possible to restore the property.Read more
And the most desirable area in Tokyo is…
Major 7 announced the results of their latest survey of the most desirable neighborhoods in Tokyo and the Kansai area. The data is collected by Mitsubishi Estate, Daikyo and 5 other major condominium developers. In Tokyo, Kichijoji was in top spot for the fourth consecutive year. Ashiya was number one in Kansai for the seventh consecutive year.Read more
Demolition starts on Hiroo's Hanezawa Garden
Mitsubishi Estate began demolishing the former residence of Yoshikoto Nakamura, also known as the Hanezawa Garden, in Hiroo on October 3rd despite countless attempts by local residents to preserve the house and Japanese gardens dating back to 1915.Read more
No one wants to live near the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant
The coastal city of Omaezaki in Shizuoka Prefecture suffered a big fall in land prices and is seeing vacancy rates soar as property transactions and prices plummet.
The tsunami in northern Japan and the Fukushima nuclear disaster have had a big effect on this coastal town which is also home to the controversial Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant. Vacancy rates are climbing and property transactions are down.Read more
Government suspends construction of lodging house
Prime Minister Noda has confirmed that the government has suspended the construction of a 10.5 billion Yen (136 million Yen) lodging house for government workers in Asaka City, Saitama Prefecture. The government will pay the contractors 4 billion Yen (52 million USD) as compensation for the halt in construction. Construction began on September 1st, 2011, and was scheduled to be complete by June, 2013. The work is expected to be suspended for the next 5 years before resuming in 2016.
The site was the location of the former US Military Asaka Base. The plans were to build a two 13-storey residential buildings with a total of 850 apartments. The construction company was Obayashi Corporation.Read more
Revival of Karuizawa property market following March 11
Although land prices have been falling year on year in the popular resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, property transactions have increased since the March 11 Tohoku disaster as the power conservation and fear of radiation led people to seek safer and cooler locations outside of Tokyo.Read more
Japanese hotels being sold off due to lack of tourists
The effects of the March 11 Tohoku disaster have had wide-reaching consequences with hotels as far away as Hokkaido being forced to close their doors and sell due to a faltering tourism industry.Read more