Japan's two-address systems for land and buildings

Lot numbers indicated on a cadastral map. Different to the postal addresses.

Did you know that buildings and land in Japan can have two addresses? One for registration identification purposes and another to be used as the postal address. While this won't affect your day-to-day life, it always comes up as a question from buyers when going over the contract of sale documents, so it may be worth explaining it in detail below.

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Buying property in an Urbanization Control Area

If you are looking at purchasing property in the outskirts of cities, you may come across land that is in an Urbanization Control Area. This land comes with a very different set of building limitations than other classifications. Here’s why you need to pay careful attention to this difference.

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Looking for land? You might need to knock down a house first

A former Geisha house in Shibuya. Sold last year for the land, with the house demolished shortly after.

If you are looking for land to build a house or other building on in Japan, particularly in a city, you may find lots are small in size while supply is limited. Of Japan’s total land size of 37,800,000 hectares, 66% is forest and 12% is farmland. Land for building purposes comprises 1,960,000 hectares or just 5% of the total - and that includes land that is already built on. The remainder is roads, rivers and waterways, and fields.

In an urban location, most of the land is already occupied, so domestic buyers will also consider lots with existing buildings that they can demolish. This is unavoidable in an area with a short supply of listings. If you limit yourself only to vacant lots, you may find very few options. 

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