Market & Areas
Columns that help you read the Japanese property market — land prices, condominium prices, interest rates and area trends.
Can You Check Liquefaction Risk Before Buying? Ground, Reclaimed Land and Quake Insurance
How to check liquefaction risk when choosing property in earthquake-prone Japan: municipal maps, landform classification, ground data, what the pre-contract briefing covers, and where earthquake insurance fits.
Is This Area Safe from Floods? How to Check Hazard Maps Before Choosing a Property
Flood risk is easy to overlook when house hunting in Japan. Learn how to use the official hazard map, how river, urban and storm-surge flooding differ, and what to check before a viewing.
Where Do You Check Prices? Land Price Indexes Compared: Kōji Chika, Kijun Chika and Rosenka
Japanese property searches often mention three official land price figures: the published land price, the prefectural benchmark and the roadside rate. Here is how they differ and how to check actual transaction prices.
How Many Minutes From the Station Is Safe? Reading Station Distance Within the Same Area
Even in the same ward and on the same line, a 5-minute and a 15-minute walk tend to differ in rent and ease of resale. Here is how walking times are listed, why distance matters, and what buyers often miss.
Can You Run a Minpaku in the Property You Buy? How the 180-Day Cap and Local Rules Shape Returns
Whether a minpaku earns money depends less on location than on which law you operate under, how many days you may operate, and whether building rules or local ordinances stop you. Here is how the 180-day cap affects returns.
9 Million Vacant Homes, So Why Aren't Central Tokyo Prices Falling?
What Japan's housing survey says about vacant homes, why central prices hold up even as vacancies grow, and what the amended Vacant House Act means for buyers — with a practical view on choosing a property.
Why Are Scaffolding Firms Going Bankrupt? What It Means for New-Build Prices
Tokyo Shoko Research reports 110 bankruptcies among Japan's scaffolding and steel-erection contractors in the first eight months of 2026, up 26.4% year on year. Here's how that connects to new-build pricing and condo renovation reserve funds.
Will the BOJ Hike to 1.25% Today? What It Could Mean for Japan's Property Market
The Bank of Japan holds its policy meeting on September 17-18, 2026, with markets pricing in a 0.25-point hike to 1.25%, a level not seen in about 31.5 years. Here's how to think about the property market angle before the decision lands.
Is Your Utility Bill Really Correct? A Living-Cost Blind Spot in Choosing a Japanese Area
A major Chubu-area utility disclosed a two-year billing error affecting about 5 million contracts. Here's what it reveals about the hidden utility and management costs buyers and renters often overlook when comparing areas in Japan.
Can You Buy in a Flood Zone? Reading Hazard Maps Before You Choose
Seeing a property shaded on a flood hazard map is often enough for overseas buyers to rule it out. Here is how Japan's hazard-map disclosure rules work, how to read the color coding, and what actually matters for a purchase decision.
Is the Yen Weakening Again? Reading the US-Japan Rate Gap to Time a Purchase
One Fed chair's speech sent the odds of a September rate hike surging overnight, and the yen slipped back past 160 to the dollar. Here is how to separate a one-day FX headline from the timeline that actually matters for buying property in Japan.
Where Did the Polka Dots Come From? Yayoi Kusama's 97 Years, and Where to See Her Work
The avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama died on 14 August 2026 at the age of 97. Where the dots and nets came from, what happened across sixteen years in New York and half a century after her return, and where her work can be seen in Japan today.
Is Tokyo Really Too Expensive? Reading Japan's Property Market by Area
Stopping your search after reading that "Tokyo is expensive" or that metro-area averages hit a record high misses the point. Central wards, outer Tokyo, the three neighboring prefectures and regional core cities all move differently. Here is where to check the official statistics for each.
Is a Rising Nikkei a Buy Signal? Reading Japan's Markets as Stocks Rise and the Yen Weakens
On August 17, 2026 the Nikkei rose for a fifth straight session to close at 69,220, while the yen weakened further the next morning. We look at how to read a Japan market where stocks and a weaker yen are moving together.
Is the Yen's Slide to 159 a Buying Signal? How Exchange Rates Reshape Japan Property Costs
On August 10, 2026 the yen briefly slid past 159 to the dollar, with markets questioning how much further coordinated intervention can hold. We look at how currency swings actually change the real cost of buying property in Japan from overseas.
When Stocks Swing Wildly, What Happens to Japanese Property? Markets vs. Real Estate
The Nikkei surged one day and tumbled the next. What do such swings mean for Japanese property prices? We unpack how stocks, interest rates and currency actually affect real estate.
Where Is Tokyo's Resale Condo Market Moving in Late 2026?
Price trends across the central three wards, the Jonan area and the waterfront, and what the districts favoured by Chinese-speaking buyers have in common.
Laws Covered in This Category
- Act on Special Measures concerning Vacant Houses, Article 2
- 9 Million Vacant Homes, So Why Aren't Central Tokyo Prices Falling?
- Building Lots and Buildings Transaction Business Act, Article 35
- Can You Buy in a Flood Zone? Reading Hazard Maps Before You Choose
- Building Standards Act, Art. 20
- Can You Check Liquefaction Risk Before Buying? Ground, Reclaimed Land and Quake Insurance
- Enforcement Order of the Building Standards Act, Art. 38
- Can You Check Liquefaction Risk Before Buying? Ground, Reclaimed Land and Quake Insurance
- Enforcement Order of the National Land Use Planning Act, Article 9
- Where Do You Check Prices? Land Price Indexes Compared: Kōji Chika, Kijun Chika and Rosenka
- Enforcement Regulations of the Act, Article 16-4-3
- Can You Buy in a Flood Zone? Reading Hazard Maps Before You Choose
- Enforcement Regulations of the Real Estate Transaction Business Act, Art. 16-4-3
- Is This Area Safe from Floods? How to Check Hazard Maps Before Choosing a Property
- Flood Control Act
- Can You Buy in a Flood Zone? Reading Hazard Maps Before You Choose
- Flood Control Act, Art. 15
- Is This Area Safe from Floods? How to Check Hazard Maps Before Choosing a Property
- Hotel and Inn Business Act, Article 3
- Can You Run a Minpaku in the Property You Buy? How the 180-Day Cap and Local Rules Shape Returns
- Land Price Publication Act, Article 2
- Where Do You Check Prices? Land Price Indexes Compared: Kōji Chika, Kijun Chika and Rosenka
- Local Tax Act, Article 349-3-2
- 9 Million Vacant Homes, So Why Aren't Central Tokyo Prices Falling?
- National Strategic Special Zone Act, Article 13
- Can You Run a Minpaku in the Property You Buy? How the 180-Day Cap and Local Rules Shape Returns
- Private Lodging Business Act, Article 2, paragraph 3
- Can You Run a Minpaku in the Property You Buy? How the 180-Day Cap and Local Rules Shape Returns
- Real Estate Brokerage Act, Art. 35
- Can You Check Liquefaction Risk Before Buying? Ground, Reclaimed Land and Quake Insurance
- Real Estate Transaction Business Act, Article 35
- Where Do You Check Prices? Land Price Indexes Compared: Kōji Chika, Kijun Chika and Rosenka
- Same Act, Article 11
- Can You Run a Minpaku in the Property You Buy? How the 180-Day Cap and Local Rules Shape Returns
- Same Act, Article 13
- 9 Million Vacant Homes, So Why Aren't Central Tokyo Prices Falling?
- Same Act, Article 18
- Can You Run a Minpaku in the Property You Buy? How the 180-Day Cap and Local Rules Shape Returns
- Same Act, Article 22
- 9 Million Vacant Homes, So Why Aren't Central Tokyo Prices Falling?