City suing for ownership of ancient tomb in Osaka

Fujidera Kofun Tomb Osaka

Fujidera City in Osaka Prefecture has filed a lawsuit seeking the transfer of ownership of land containing a 1,500 year-old ancient tomb.

Called a ‘kofun’, the ancient tomb is part of the Mozu and Furuichi Kofun-gun group of tombs constructed between the 3rd and 7th century AD in the Osaka area. The city is hoping to have the tombs registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and owning the land would help to ensure its protection and preservation.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Renovating a historic home in Kamakura may soon become easier

Kamakura

Kamakura City is considering introducing an ordinance that would allow owners of historic buildings to bypass some of the regulations under the Building Standards Act that normally apply for renovations, extensions and changing the use of a property.

When making structural additions or alterations to older buildings, it can be very difficult to make the building comply with the Building Standards Act while still retaining the original features. In many cases property owners simply give up and either rebuild or leave the property to deteriorate. As a result, the neighbourhood begins to lose its character over time as the older properties are demolished.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Illegal AirBnbs found operating out of semi-public housing

ShinonomeThe Urban Renaissance (UR) Agency is cracking down on tenants who are illegally subletting their rental apartments to provide short-term accommodation to foreign tourists.

According to UR, as many as 80 rental apartments were found to be illegally sublet by tenants. The majority of the properties were in UR-operated buildings in Tokyo and Osaka. The agency became aware of the issue after receiving a growing number of complaints from residents reporting large numbers of foreigners with suitcases coming and going from apartments.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Apartment owners battling with short-term accommodation hosts

High-rise apartment buildings with hotel-like facilities, such as lounges and guest rooms, are growing increasingly popular in urban centres such as Tokyo and Osaka. However, these buildings are also proving popular with hosts providing illegal overnight accommodation through booking sites similar to AirBnb. The increasing number of foreign tourists coming to stay in these residential buildings is creating unintentional problems with building residents.

Facing complaints from residents, condominium management associations are scrambling to introduce building bylaws to ban short-term rentals.

Since new bylaws were introduced in The Tokyo Towers complex in Kachidoki, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, residents have found it easier to book the on-site guest suites. The two-tower complex has approximately 2,800 households. Residents can book the 11 guest suites at low rates for when family members or friends come to visit.Read more

by Zoe Ward

An agent’s disclosure obligations regarding stigmatised properties

Under Article 47 Item 1 of Japan's Real Estate Brokerage Act, agents are prohibited from intentionally failing to disclose any matters relating to the building that may have a serious affect on the client’s decision to proceed with the transaction.

This means that real estate agents are obligated to notify clients of defects to a property, such as suicide, murder or other unnatural deaths, but only if the agent is aware of these defects at the time. There may be times when an agent is unaware, in which case they cannot be held liable. This can occur if the landlord or seller was purposely withholding this information from the agent, or if there was an unnatural death or murder that was not reported to the property owner or management company. The owner of the property, however, may be held responsible even if they were unaware of the defect.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Landowner suing Osaka City for bomb disposal fees

Namba

A landowner in Osaka is fighting the city over the disposal costs of an unexploded ordnance (UXO) unearthed during construction. The property owner filed a civil suit in the Osaka District Court seeking the reimbursement of the 5,760,000 Yen in bomb removal fees.

In March 2015, a 1.8 meter long American-made bomb weighing 1,000kg was found buried two meters underground in an apartment construction site in the Namba area. A 300-meter evacuation radius was established while the Self-Defense Forces removed the bomb. As many as 2,200 residents had to temporarily evacuate, and the nearby Nankai Main Train Line had to stop operations for a three hour period. Read more

by Zoe Ward

3 arrested for selling investment apartments without real estate license

Three people have been arrested under suspicion of brokering the sale of investment-type apartments to buyers without having the necessary real estate licenses, and through dubious sales tactics.

According to the police, the three suspects are accused of selling relatively overpriced studio apartments to three women that were approached via dating websites. The apartments were sold for approximately 27 million Yen each, which was estimated to be approximately 10 million Yen above their true market price.Read more

by Zoe Ward