Historic home in Kunitachi open to public before demolition
A historic home in Kunitachi City, Western Tokyo, will be open to the public for a viewing on February 8 and 9 before it is demolished.
The Takada Residence was built in 1929 ~ 1930 by physician and author Giichirou Takada. Mr. Takada moved his family from their former residence in the Akasaka Tameikesanno area in order for his eldest son to attend school in Kunitachi. This home would have been one of the original homes built when the suburb was developed in the 1920s.
The 2-storey wooden house sits on a 600 sqm block of land. It has a concrete basement (used as archives) and the house was equipped with steam heating.
Demolition is scheduled to begin at the end of March 2015.Read more
Two small towns offering free homes to attract new residents
In an effort to attract young families from outside the area, two small towns are offering free house and land packages.
Miyagi Prefecture
The town of Shichikashuku in Miyagi Prefecture will provide a 'rent-to-own' house to qualifying residents. After renting the home for 20 years, the tenants will receive the house and land for free.
Tokyo apartment sales in January 2015
The following is a selection of apartments that were sold in central Tokyo during the month of January 2015:Read more
Apartment in Daikanyama Hillside Terrace for Sale
| Price: No longer on the market |
A 2-Bedroom apartment in Daikanyama Hillside Terrace was listed for sale this week. Hillside Terrace is one of those places that is yearned for by locals, but only very few are lucky enough to call it their home.
The apartments are in very high demand with buyers waiting years or even decades for the chance to buy an apartment, but it is such a tightly-held building that it is very rare to see anything offered for sale. In fact, this is only the second apartment we have seen on the market in over five years.
This current listing is on the 3rd floor, which is the top floor of the building. It has an internal floor area of 131.05 sqm (1,410 sqft). It is occupied by the seller, but can be inspected with advance appointment.Read more
53-yr old office conversion in Chiyoda-ku
Real estate developer Hulic Co., Ltd. has converted a 53 year old office building in Chiyoda-ku into a trendy shared apartment, office and event space. The building has been named ‘the c’ to represent the keywords behind the project, which were central, conversion, communication, culture and create.
Floors 3 to 9 have been converted into shared residential space, with a shared office space located on the 2nd floor. The top floor of the building has been turned into a shared lounge, theatre room and dining space for both residents and office workers. An event space was created in the building’s basement which can be rented out for events and meetings. The rooftop has an open terrace with wi-fi access.Read more
Scandal-ridden site in Shinjuku up for public auction
Due to the messy history behind this land, most people had given up on the thought of ever seeing this site redeveloped. However, the land is being put up for public auction on February 17, 2015, by the Tokyo Tax Office with a minimum bid set at 2.19 billion Yen (18.5 million USD).
The Shinjuku Building Incident
The site was once home to the Shinjuku Building - a 12-storey multi-tenant building built in 1983 and demolished in early 2011.Read more
Tokyo's plan to fireproof older neighbourhoods
Tokyo is pressing ahead with a 10-year plan to fireproof the older, densely packed neighbourhoods that dot the city.
January 17th marked the 20th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. Many of the casualties were caused by fires spreading throughout tightly packed neighbourhoods of wooden homes. A fire that broke out after the quake in Kobe’s Nagata-ku burned for three days and destroyed 4,759 homes.
Suginami-ku
Just south of Asagaya Station in Suginami-ku is a neighbourhood of wooden homes built immediately after WWII. Many are located alongside small pathways and narrow roads not accessible by vehicles. Firetrucks cannot access many of the homes, which means fire can spread easily, placing residents at risk.
Under the Building Standards Act, when building a new home or altering an existing home alongside a narrow road, the land must be set back by 2 meters from the centre line of the road. Ideally all houses along the street would eventually do the same and the road would become 4 meters wide - enough to allow cars to pass through. However, many residents put flowerpots or park their cars on this setback portion of the road, rendering it useless.
In 2015, the local council plan to introduce regulations that would allow for the compulsory widening and levelling of roads. The land would not be purchased by the council, and landowners would not receive any compensation.Read more