Ginza Six sees 20 retail tenants depart, only 22% teleworking, and larger apartments in Tokyo see rents climb 4.9%. Below is a quick weekly summary of some of the recent goings-on in the Japanese real estate market.

Ginza Six hit by tenant departures

The Ginza Six department store has seen 20 retail tenants move out between December and January 19. Ginza Six opened in 2017 as the biggest mixed-use retail complex in the area, with 241 retail tenants. Store closures include Kiehl’s, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Moschino, Anya Hindmarch, Bluemarine, Shiseido, and Shu Uemura. According to the department store’s PR manager, the closures are unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic that has seen foreign duty-free shoppers in Ginza disappear. As many as 40 new retail tenants are expected to open in the coming months. 

Survey says only 22% are teleworking

According to the Japan Productivity Center’s latest survey on remote work in the greater Tokyo area, only 22.0% of respondents were teleworking in January, down from a 31.5% share during the first state of emergency in May 2020. The ratio had dropped to 18.9% last October. This falls far below the government’s goal of 70% of employees teleworking during the current state of emergency. A survey by the Cabinet Office released on December 24, reported 42.8% of companies in Tokyo’s 23 wards were implementing remote work.

Large apartments in Tokyo see 4.9% increase in rent

In December, the average advertised rent of apartments in the 30~50 sqm, 50~70 sqm, and 70 sqm+ range all saw rents increase from 2019, according to AtHome. The only size bracket to see rents fall was for units under 30 sqm in size, which reported a 1.1% year-on-year decrease. Apartments over 70 sqm were the biggest winners in December, seeing rents increase by 4.9% from December 2019. The average price to rent a 70 sqm+ apartment in the 23 wards was 343,725 Yen/month.

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