Sweden Hills, Hokkaido

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Planning of the Sweden Hills neighborhood began in 1979 and construction started in 1984. The idea began after the Swedish Ambassador visited Tobetsu Town and remarked how similar the atmosphere and scenery was to his native Sweden. Tobetsu Town's sister city is Leksand in Dalarna County, Sweden.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Japan's very first high-rise public housing condominium

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Miyamasuzaka Building / Apartment

  • Built in 1953 (58 years old)
  • As seen in 2002 horror film "Dark Water"
  • Apartments sold for between 600,000 ~ 1,000,000 Yen when brand newRead more

by Zoe Ward

Average secondhand apartment prices for June only increase in Osaka

Tokyo Kantei has announced the average sale prices for secondhand apartments across Japan for the month of June, 2011.

In the greater Tokyo area, the average price was 29,750,000 Yen (376,580 USD). This is a fall of 0.7% from the month before, and a fall of 3.5% from June of 2010. It is also the first time in 17 months that prices have fallen.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Apartment being built directly on top of fault line

In Toyonaka City, Osaka, construction work is continuing on a 14-storey apartment building on a site that is directly above an active fault line.

"Uniheim Senri Momoyamadai" is located in Higashi-izumigaoka 3 Chome and is directly above the Butsunenjiyama Fault - an active fault line that runs from the north of Toyonaka and south to Suita in Osaka. It is an extension to the Uemachi Fault, a relatively active fault line which has a 2~3% chance of producing an earthquake within the next 30 years, and a hypothesized magnitude of 7.2 would result in an estimated death toll of 42,000.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Historic lodging house "Hongokan" to be demolished in August

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Built in 1905, Hongokan is Japan's oldest 3-storey wooden lodging house. The L-shaped building has approximately 70 rooms and a total floorspace of 1500 sqm which is very large in scale for a wooden structure.

It was built by an aristocratic family from Gifu Prefecture and was initially used as a boarding house for the Tokyo Girl's Highschool (now known as Ochanomizu Women's College), but soon became a high-grade lodging house that provided luxury accommodation.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo office rents at historically low levels

Miki Shoji announced on July 7 that office rents for commercial properties in central Tokyo have fallen 4% in the past 12 months and are now at the lowest levels ever seen since data collection began.

A major contributing factor to this fall are the companies who are seeing lower earnings as a result of the March 11 Tohoku disaster and can no longer pay high rent for their office space.Read more

by Zoe Ward

New certificates to be issued for earthquake-resistant buildings

Starting in Fall, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will issue certificates for free to buildings that satisfy current earthquake-resistance standards. The certificates will cover office buildings, apartments and houses and will be issued to all who apply.

The certificate can be displayed at the building entrance to put building occupants at ease. While self-governing bodies have been creating assistance measures, there are over 500,000 buildings in Tokyo that do not meet minimum earthquake-resistance levels. The city hopes that the introduction of the certificate will encourage owners of unsafe buildings to have them upgraded.Read more

by Zoe Ward