Neighbourhood changes name to avoid playground taunts
A residential neighbourhood in Kitanagoya City, which is 10km north of Nagoya, has successfully applied to change the reading of the area’s name to something less embarrassing.
徳重土部
While the kanji characters remain the same, the reading of the last two characters has been changed from ‘dobu’ to ‘tsuchibe’. The pronunciation of ‘dobu’ can mean drain or ditch, which does not exactly have positive connotations. Schoolchildren often made fun of the name, and local residents believed it to have a negative effect on property values.Read more
Japan's commercial land prices stop falling for first time in 7 years
On March 18, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced the 2015 Chika-koji land prices for Japan. The nationwide average for commercial land prices saw no change from last year, ending a seven year streak of declining prices and indicating a possible recovery.
Residential land prices dropped by 0.4%. This was the 7th year of consecutive decline, although the rate of decline has been shrinking.
In Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, 70% of the surveyed commercial land sites saw an increase in prices, while 70% of the locations in regional areas saw a decline.
The Izumimoegidai neighbourhood in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, saw the highest increase in land prices in Japan with an increase of 17.1% from last year. The top 10 residential land price increases were all in Iwaki City, which has been seeing an influx in demand from people who were displaced after the 2011 Tohoku disaster.Read more
Scandal-ridden site in Shinjuku up for public auction
Due to the messy history behind this land, most people had given up on the thought of ever seeing this site redeveloped. However, the land is being put up for public auction on February 17, 2015, by the Tokyo Tax Office with a minimum bid set at 2.19 billion Yen (18.5 million USD).
The Shinjuku Building Incident
The site was once home to the Shinjuku Building - a 12-storey multi-tenant building built in 1983 and demolished in early 2011.Read more
Shoto Governor’s Residence sells for 4.3 billion Yen
The former Tokyo Governor’s Residence in Shibuya’s high-end Shoto neighbourhood has been sold to Sumitomo Realty & Development for 4.368 billion Yen (36 million USD), or approximately 1,968,000 Yen/sqm based on the land size.
The residence was offered for sale by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government via public bidding from December 15 ~ 19. Sumitomo and another major real estate company were the only two bidders. The second bidder had tendered approximately 4 billion Yen for the property.Read more
No bidders for Nara Dreamland
The foreclosed Nara Dreamland amusement park in Nara City failed to attract a single bid when it was put up for public auction on November 11. The 297,000 sqm site was listed for sale with a minimum price of 730 million Yen (6.3 million USD). Although ten inquiries were received, no bids were made.
Too expensive?
With a minimum price of around 2,400 Yen per square meter, this might seem like an exceptional bargain when compared to the surrounding area, but the park is dotted with a number of overgrown and unsafe structures and rides which would require several hundred million Yen to remove.
The land is also subject to a number of strict building regulations that make redevelopment a difficult task. The land falls in an Urbanisation Control Area and current uses only permit welfare, sports, museum, zoo or school facilities. Approval from the prefectural governor is required before construction.
Housing, commercial, retail or hot spring development is not allowed. It is also within two kilometres of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Todai-ji temple and Kofuku-ji temple), which means the land is designated as a scenic and conservation zone under the Act for the Preservation of Ancient Capitals. As a result, building heights are limited to 10 meters, while building-to-land ratios are limited to 30%. Nara’s mayor said the city has no intention to provide any allowances on the construction regulations.Read more