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July 05, 2025
 

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HOUSING

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Nov 5, 2017
A gut feeling that you need an extra toilet
Everybody knows that Japan produces the most technologically advanced toilets in the world. They pretty much do everything except pull up your pants when you're finished. And one of the more pleasant surprises greeting foreign visitors to Japan is the ubiquity and accessibility of public toilets.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 5, 2017
Know the fees you may have to pay when you leave rented digs in Japan
A reader asks about a payment demand from the manager of an apartment in Tokyo that the reader vacated in a hurry.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 1, 2017
Re-registering property: The lie of the land
According to an article that appeared in the Asahi Shimbun last June, authorities are unsure of the title holders to 4.1 million hectares of land in Japan — in total, an area equivalent in size to the island of Kyushu. Though this problem has been evident at least since the 1980s, the government didn't...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Sep 28, 2017
Lawyerless Turk challenges Osaka car dealer's snub of non-Japanese patrons, wins redress
In a highly unusual case that has surprised Japanese legal experts, a Turkish national based in Osaka sued a local second-hand car dealer for discrimination and won, all without the services of a lawyer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 25, 2017
Buying a house in Japan can be an investment in joy
The 'return' on your investment in a home in Japan is best measured in terms of the pleasure it will yield and the doorway to the intimacies of community and the Japanese mind it will lure you into.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Sep 20, 2017
With every new construction in Japan, fewer trees
When houses are demolished, there is a very bad habit here of cutting down all the trees on the plot, leaving the ground cleared and empty for new construction.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Sep 3, 2017
The hot topic of high-rise fire prevention
The fire that killed at least 80 people in London's Grenfell Tower in June, as well as similar apartment building blazes that recently occured in Dubai and Hawaii, has brought the world's attention to the issue of safety in high-rise residences.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 6, 2017
Reviving Japan's old shopping arcades
As everyone knows, Japan has an unmanageable surplus of vacant housing. According to the latest government surveys there are more than 8 million unoccupied houses and apartment units in Japan and that number will increase to the point where one in four or five residences will be empty by 2030.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2017
The bust never ended for Wall Street's most crisis-scarred banks
Ten years ago today a pair of Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds that had gorged on subprime mortgage securities filed for bankruptcy, becoming the canaries in the coal mine for the global financial system that collapsed 15 months later.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 2, 2017
'No foreign tenants' — and not much you can do about it
Landlords in Japan are within their rights to refuse to rent to foreign residents, but some services are stepping in to bridge the gap.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 2, 2017
New law to guarantee the guarantor pays
Until the postwar growth period, the majority of Japanese rented rather than owned the places where they lived, but renters in Japan have never had much in the way of rights. Still, it is difficult to evict someone from a home they rent, even when they've been delinquent with payments. The Leased Land...
JAPAN / Society
Jul 2, 2017
Survey: What's been your experience of trying to rent an apartment in Japan?
We asked foreign residents to tell us about the hurdles they faced when trying to rent an apartment in Japan. The following is a selection of their responses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 4, 2017
Parking the car can drive you crazy
In the 1990s when we rented an old house in Saitama Prefecture, we needed a parking space since we had a car at the time. There was none on the property and so we talked the landlord into tearing down a decrepit prefabricated storage shed that stood next to the house. He did, and then, at our own expense,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / A MATTER OF HEALTH
May 3, 2017
Developer taps power of design to create dementia-friendly housing in Setagaya
Despite all the talk about the swelling ranks of people with dementia in Japan and what to do with them, there has been little discussion so far about housing designs that meet their needs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 30, 2017
Safety Net Law to offer new lease on life for abandoned buildings
On April 19, the Lower House of the Diet unanimously passed a revision to the Safety Net Law. The revision creates a new system that will register vacant properties with local governments and, ideally, these properties will be renovated and then rented out to low-income individuals and families who are...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 2, 2017
Temporary disaster housing has an unforeseen permanence
The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake left 110,000 people in three prefectures without shelter. Most of these people moved into emergency evacuation centers while the authorities prepared temporary housing for them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 4, 2017
Will we ever see no obstacles in our way?
Infrastructure in Japan is up to world standards in most areas, and in terms of public transportation it often surpasses those standards — but there's one field it falls way behind: utility poles and overhead cables that carry electrical power and telecommunications.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2017
Realtors say Tokyo's housing boom fading as sales to Chinese slow
Evidence is mounting that Tokyo's housing boom is nearing an end.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2017
Wooden 'plyscrapers' challenge concrete and steel
High-rise wooden buildings, led by The Tree, a 52.8-meter (173-foot) apartment block in Norway, are claiming a place on city skylines as the timber industry challenges the supremacy of concrete and steel.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 31, 2016
Getting too cozy to the next-door neighbors
In its Dec. 20 issue, Asahi Shimbun reported on a couple in their 60s living in Saitama City. Two years ago their neighbor installed an Eco Cute system that uses heat pump technology to heat water more efficiently and, thus, reduce electricity costs. But since the system was installed, the older couple's...
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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