MUFJ Bank donates villa to Kamakura City

Kamakura Villa UFJLocated in Kamakurayama, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank's holiday villa was donated to Kamakura City. The city opened the villa up to the public for one day on October 25th. In 2009, MUFJ had initially planned to sell the villa to the city, but financial difficulties caused the sale to fall through and it was later donated.

The main building is built from reinforced concrete with 2 floors and 1 basement. There are also two wooden tea houses.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Kan continues quest to control foreign land ownership in Japan - are legal reforms likely?

There are no restrictions against foreigners purchasing and holding land in Japan.

However, with recent disputes over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands igniting land ownership debates, many seemingly ordinary purchases by foreign capital are now under media scrutiny. This includes the purchase of forests in Hokkaido and the purchase of resort properties by a Korean group near a military base in Nagasaki.

Prime Minster Kan has recently started to raise the point of restricting land ownership in order to protect national interests.

The following is a translation of an article from the Asahi Shimbun, October 26th 2010.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Tokyo Land Prices in October, 2010

Based on current market prices, the average price of a 100sqm (1,076sqft) piece of land in Tokyo is as follows:

Minato-ku (201 plots)
100sqm = 123,300,000 JPY (4,076,00 JPY/Tsubo)

Shibuya-ku (294 plots)
100sqm = 95,052,000 JPY (3,142,000 JPY/Tsubo)

Meguro-ku (264 plots)
100sqm = 75,092,000 JPY (2,482,000 JPY/Tsubo)

Setagaya-ku (1,466 plots)
100sqm = 65,523,000 JPY (2,166,000 JPY/Tsubo)

The above data is sourced from the Homes database of land currently for sale. This data is current for October 1, 2010.

1 Tsubo = 3.3 sqm.

by Zoe Ward

Asakusa Tower to go ahead despite opposition from Sensoji Temple

Asakusa Tower

Asakusa's Sensoji Temple lost their court case against the development of high-rise apartment building under construction less than 400 meters away from the temple. The temple argued that the development went against city plans to limit residential buildings to 5 stories. No reason was given for the ruling against their case.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Inside a $16 million Tokyo Penthouse

Hirakawacho Mori Tower Residence Penthouse 14Hirakawacho Mori Tower Residence
23rd floor 5-Bedroom Penthouse
424.98 sqm (4,570 sqft)

1,300,000,000 JPY (~USD 16 million)

Last week I had the chance to view the largest of the four penthouse apartments in Mori's newest building in Hirakawacho. The interior has marble and hardwood flooring and wood panelling. There are four separate entrances to the unit (main, kitchen, maid and emergency use). The formal living room has a gas fireplace and balcony.  The formal dining room overlooks the Imperial Palace and Marunouchi.

Read more

by Zoe Ward

Komazawa 3 Chome House (SOLD)

komazawa-3-house-exterior

*UPDATE: SOLD in October 2010*

Built in 1992, this large 4-bedroom house has a 3-car lock up garage, internal courtyard and a “irori” fireplace in the Japanese tatami room.

The house is in a quiet residential neighborhood directly across the street from Komazawa Ryokusen Park and is a 9 minute walk from Sakura-shinmachi Station. Read more

by Zoe Ward

Japanese Villa in Atami

nishiyama-villa-3

Price: 230,000,000 Yen No longer on the market

This beautiful traditional Japanese house and garden in Atami City was built in the early Showa period and was previously owned by Viscount Torio. The spacious property includes the main house, tea house, guest house, and a large Japanese garden with flowing stream. Water from the natural hot springs can be drawn in the bathroom of the main house.

Atami City is only 39 minutes by Shinkansen from Tokyo Station. The house is a 15 min drive from Atami Station, or a 9 minute walk from Kinomiya Station.Read more

by Zoe Ward