Market & Areas
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.