Land prices in Japan as of Jan. 1 rose an average 0.2 percent from a year earlier, marking the first gain since 2008, according to the National Tax Agency's annual report released Friday.
Investment in the real estate market grew, owing to the inflow of overseas money, the Bank of Japan's monetary stimulus measures and higher stock prices, while housing markets in major cities benefited from low borrowing costs.
Of the country's 47 prefectures, land prices rose in 14, up four from a year earlier, according to the survey that covered some 328,000 locations nationwide.