Old department store in Yamagata up for foreclosure
The Onuma Department Store in Yamagata City is up for foreclosure later this month, with a minimum bid set at 186,768,000 Yen (approx. US$1.8 million). Yamagata District Court will accept sealed-bids from November 24 to December 1, with bids to be opened on December 3. The department store closed its doors in January 2020 after filing for bankruptcy, making Yamagata City the only prefectural capital in Japan to be without a department store.
Kyoto’s hotels see conditions improve for fourth month
According to the Kyoto City Tourism Association, hotel occupancy rates are slowly on the rise as the historic former capital recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. Conditions have improved for the past four months, and Japanese guest numbers are close to 80% of what they were pre-pandemic.
The two sides of Tokyo's shrinking population
In the month of September, the population of Tokyo’s metropolitan area dropped by 10,673 residents. While that might paint a grim picture, the population is up 28,253 residents from the same time last year. Ultimately the numbers still aren’t convincing enough to show that telecommuting is causing a great exodus from the capital. Almost half of September’s decrease can be attributed to a large and ongoing outflow of foreign residents, which may also be a result of the lack of incoming foreign workers and students due to international travel bans.
Tokyo Apartment Sales in October 2020
The following is a selection of apartments that were reported to have sold in central Tokyo during the month of October 2020:
Quick real estate news summary for the week
Homebuilder to provide antiviral coating in new homes, Takanawa condo goes on sale, and Sapporo to have highest tower in Hokkaido in 2023. Below is a quick weekly summary of some of the recent goings-on in the Japanese real estate market.
Yoku Moku acquires Omotesando retail building
Long-established confectioner Yoku Moku has acquired a commercial building across the street from their flagship Aoyama store.
Demolition starts on 47-year old apartment building in Takeshiba
Demolition has started on the Hamamatsucho Business Mansion apartment block near Takeshiba Station in Tokyo. This is just the 4th condo-style apartment building in Tokyo to be redeveloped under recent regulations governing the sale of land under aging apartment blocks, and the first of its kind in Minato ward.