Kyoto machiya popular with foreign buyers
According to the Urban Research Institute Corporation, foreign corporations acquired 1.2 billion Yen of real estate in Japan in 2014, 2.8 times higher than the figure in 2013. This accounted for a little over 20% of the value of all transactions nationwide.
While most of the foreign investment is centred in Tokyo, Kyoto is also attracting some foreign buyers.Read more
Renewal of modernist theatre in Kyoto reaches completion
Construction and refurbishment of the 55-year old Kyoto Kaikan building finished earlier this month. The original hall was designed by leading modernist architect Kunio Maekawa (1905-1986) and built in 1960. However, theatre stages were too small and the building was not equipped for operas or ballet performances. The building’s condition was also starting to deteriorate.
Kyoto City spent 11 billion Yen refurbishing the South Hall which included preserving the Maekawa-designed exterior, while the Main Hall was completely rebuilt into a 6-storey hall with 2,005 seats.Read more
Developer abandons plans to build apartments on former Kyoto hotel site
Hankyu Realty has given up on plans to build apartments on the site of the former Kyoto Kokusai Hotel after facing strong opposition from Kyoto City officials who want to see a new hotel built instead.
The development site is located in a prime position across the street from the east entrance to Nijo Castle in the centre of Kyoto.Read more
Kyoto carries out first forced demolition
On April 30, Kyoto City began procedures to carry out a forced demolition of an abandoned house in Kamigyo-ku. This is the first case of a forced demolition to be carried out by proxy by the city.
The single-storey wooden structure, which was over 65 years old, was at the brink of collapse. It had once been a house with a workshop space that was used for the production of Nishijin-ori textiles. There were two owners listed on the property title, one of whom had since died, and another who could not be contacted.Read more
Nanzen-ji: Japan’s most expensive and exclusive residential area
London has Kensington Palace Gardens, Hong Kong has Pollock’s Path and Monaco has Avenue Princesse Grace. Japan’s most expensive and most exclusive neighbourhood is not in Tokyo, but in the grounds of a temple in the historic former capital of Kyoto.
Nanzen-ji is a Zen Buddhist temple that was first established in 1291 by Emperor Kameyama on the site of one of his former palaces. During the anti-Buddhist movement at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, Nanzen-ji’s grounds and sub temples were seized by the government, subdivided and sold off to private interests. Between the Meiji period and early Showa period, Japanese nobility began to build luxurious holiday homes with expansive and carefully designed Japanese gardens.
Competition amongst the elite was strong, with each one trying to build a bigger and grander villa than the other. Today, 15 of the original villas remain. Many of these villas are still owned by descendants of the original owners, or are held by some of Japan’s top companies and are not open to the public. These estates are worth as much as 100 million USD, but are so tightly held that, no matter how much money you may have, the area cannot be bought into at any price.Read more