Tsunami-hit homeowners to receive 80% of former land values
The town of Shinchi in Fukushima Prefecture will soon begin the process of buying up land in coastal areas from residents who have been displaced from the March 11 tsunami. This is the first town to announce official plans and set purchase values.
The land will be purchased at 80% of the government assessed land values (koji-chika) that were valued prior to the disaster.
There are five towns and cities along the tsunami-hit coastline, incuding Minamisoma, Soma, Iwaki, Hirano and Shinchi, that plan to relocate residents to higher ground. In Shinchi, 500 homes were fully or partially destroyed by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.Read more
70 - 80 percent drop in rosenka land values in Tohoku
In order to account for changes in land values due to the March 11 Tohoku disaster, Japan's National Tax Agency (NTA) announced adjustment ratios, or scaling factors, for the 2011 rosenka (prices of land fronting major roads). Along with the 1995 Hanshin Earthquake, this is only the second time in history that adjustment ratios have been introduced.Read more
Tsunami-damaged kominka to be moved to Shikoku
Many of Japan's cultural properties were also damaged or destroyed by the March 11 Tohoku Disaster, including a 300 year old farmhouse (kominka) in Minamisanriku Town, Miyagi Prefecture.
The "Endo Residence" is over 500 meters from the coast, yet was picked up and moved about 20 meters by the March 11 tsunami. Despite the house being warped, the daikoku-bashira and thatched roof remain mostly intact in their original shape.Read more