First heritage de-listing for Kyoto City as 90-yr old bookstore is about to be demolished
Demolition of the 90-year old Heirakuji Bookstore in downtown Kyoto will begin this month as the owner can no longer afford to maintain the aging building.
The building was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 1998. The heritage listing will be removed due to the demolition of the structure. This is the first time a national heritage listing has been removed from a property in Kyoto City and the second time for Kyoto Prefecture.Read more
Hakone Fujiya Hotel to close for 2 years for earthquake retrofitting
Last month, Hakone’s historic landmark Fujiya Hotel announced that they will be temporarily closing the hotel from April 2018 to conduct necessary earthquake retrofitting and refurbishment. The hotel will re-open in Spring 2020.
Fujiya Hotel’s main building was built in 1891 and is registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property along with the Comfy Lodge, Flower Palace and Kikka-so Inn Annex. Famous past guests have included Charlie Chaplin, Helen Keller, John Lennon, Prince Albert, Emperor Showa and the current Emperor and Empress of Japan.
The restaurant in the 122-year old Kikka-so Annex building, which was originally a holiday villa of the Imperial Family, will continue to operate as normal during the refurbishment.Read more
Average apartment rent in March 2017
According to Tokyo Kantei, the average monthly rent of a condominium apartment in greater Tokyo in March was 2,681 Yen/sqm, up 0.6% from the previous month and up 3.6% from last year. The average apartment size was 60.35 sqm and the average building age was 20.0 years.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the average monthly rent was 3,180 Yen/sqm, up 0.4% from the previous month but down 1.1% from last year. The average apartment size was 58.16 sqm and the average building age was 18.3 years.
In Tokyo’s 23 wards, the average monthly rent was 3,342 Yen/sqm, up 0.4% from the previous month but down 0.4% from last year. The average apartment size was 57.72 sqm and the average building age was 17.6 years.
Tokyo's new apartment supply in March up 26.6%
According to the Real Estate Economic Institute, 3,408 new apartments were released for sale across greater Tokyo in March, up 47.5% from the previous month and up 26.6% from last year.
2,255 apartments were sold, resulting in a contract ratio of 66.2%, down 2.2 points from the previous month and down 1.4 points from last year. 187 apartments in high-rise buildings (over 20 stories) were released for sale, down 41.0% from last year. The contract ratio was 62.6%, down 1.8 points from last year.
Unsold inventory as at the end of March was 6,749 apartments, up 155 units from the previous month and up 710 units from March 2016.
The average price of a new apartment across greater Tokyo was 55,880,000 Yen, down 3.5% from the previous month and down 0.9% from last year. The average price per square meter was 790,000 Yen, down 7.3% from the previous month and down 1.5% from last year.
The average size of a new apartment sold during March was 70.75 sqm (761 sq ft).Read more
Chiyoda’s population reaches 36-year high
In April, the resident population in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward exceeded 60,000 for the first time since 1981. It reached 60,297 as at April 1, 2017, up 2.1% from the previous year. Approximately 4.5% of the residents are foreigners.
In the first national census in 1920, the population was 220,000. The years following the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 saw many residents move out to newly developed residential neighborhoods in suburban areas alongside railway lines. Air raids during WWII saw the majority of residential homes destroyed due to fire.Read more
HULIC wins bid for hotel development on historic site in Nara
Japanese real estate company HULIC has been selected to develop a hotel on a historic site within Nara Park. Nara Prefecture received bids from four companies during the month-long public tender process held in January 2017.
The 1.3 hectare site was originally home to a sub temple, but sold off to private interests in the late 1800s. Since then it has had several owners, including poet Haruyasu Umeda, and banker Kenshiro Yamaguchi. After WWII, the Nara Family Court annex building was built on the land, although it has since been demolished. Remains of the traditional Japanese garden dating from the 1910s remain.Read more