Tag - housing

 
 

HOUSING

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 17, 2016
Getting a renter to budge can require patience
Do I have any chance at all of having the tenants removed from my property, or do I have to wait until they decide to go?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 2, 2016
A rise in vacancies won't mean drops in rent
According to the June 11 issue of Nikkan Gendai, the vacancy rate for rental properties in the 23 wards of Tokyo is currently 33.7 percent, while in surrounding prefectures, it's even higher: 35.5 percent in Kanagawa and 34.1 percent in Chiba.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2016
Airbnb's 'master of disaster' comes to Tokyo as regulations loom
Airbnb Inc. has gone on a charm offensive in Japan, hoping to drum up support as regulators debate whether to clamp down on the startup's rapidly expanding operations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 11, 2016
No guarantees: the struggle of being old and alone in Japan
Foreign media have been diligently covering Japan's rocky economic road to an uncertain future, but they seem to have missed the recent bankruptcy of Nihon Life Kyokai, a company that provides guarantor services. Though it's only one failure, the Japanese press has paid particularly close attention,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 30, 2016
Yukarigaoka proves 'new towns' can age well
Tama, in western Tokyo, is currently trying to find a way to rehabilitate Parthenon Tama, the city's public cultural complex. During headier times, Parthenon hosted world-famous classical musicians and theater companies, and in addition to a large auditorium and a small auditorium, it contains a museum,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 2, 2016
Low interest rates cause spike in refinancing
It has been more than a month since the Bank of Japan introduced negative interest rates in its bid to revitalize the economy. For consumers, the rate change is a mixed blessing. Obviously, interest on deposits will not go up any time soon, but anyone thinking of buying a house or condominium can get...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 5, 2016
Tohoku is literally still waiting to move on
Earlier this month, the NHK travel series, "Tsurube Toasts Families," in which rakugo (traditional comic storyteller) performer Shofukutei Tsurube and a guest visit a town and talk to residents on an impromptu basis, went to some new communities in the area destroyed by the Great East Japan Earthquake...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2016
Fastest-growing Airbnb market at risk as lodging-scarce Japan cracks down
Aileen Jeffery arrived in Tokyo two years ago and spotted what she thought was the best opportunity of her career: Hotel rooms in the capital were scarce and a boom in tourism was exacerbating the shortage.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Feb 6, 2016
The ups and downs of apartment elevators
In the 2014 American movie, "5 Flights Up," Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton play an elderly couple who think about selling their two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment. Since they have lived in the unit all their married life, the decision is a difficult one, and the premise of the plot hinges on the reason...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jan 2, 2016
Getting a high rise out of dodging taxes
About a year ago, we talked about using real estate purchases to lower inheritance and gift taxes. Obviously, people who are able to take advantage of these schemes are already well off — the average person doesn't have to worry about paying inheritance taxes when his or her parents die because for...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 16, 2015
Airbnb: Will Japan kill the golden goose?
Time will tell whether new legislation kills or culls the golden-egg-laying goose that Airbnb has become for hosts and travelers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 12, 2015
Investors see big returns as Airbnb takes off in Japan
While many see Airbnb as a possible fix for two seious problems in Japan — the shortage of hotel rooms and a steady increase in vacant buildings — others see an investment opportunity.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 7, 2015
City land grab sowing seeds of China's next property boom
In the Chaoyang district of northeast Beijing, a nondescript wall covered in patriotic posters protects one of the city's most valuable treasures: a dirt field containing nothing but a few scattered trees.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2015
It should be home sweet home, but not in Japan
The destructive nexus between construction companies, bureaucracy and politicians is largely responsible for Japan's glut of rapidly depreciating houses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 5, 2015
Aota-uri: 'green' condominiums to be wary of
Each year between 1990, when Japan's asset bubble burst, and the 2007 recession, about 200,000 new condominium units were added to Japan's housing stock. After 2007, the number dropped to about 100,000, but, depending on the year, anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 of these units were built in the Tokyo...
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 23, 2015
The reason American landlords love to rent properties to refugees: reliability
One week a refugee family is fleeing the brutality of civil war and living in a shipping container near the Syrian border, and the next they might be moving into a furnished apartment in Cleveland.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2015
Japan piling probe to expand to entire industry as data falsification fears grow
The infrastructure ministry says it will expand its probe into data management for piling work to the entire industry, as fears of manipulation involving building foundation piles continue to grow.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 16, 2015
Philippines' Aquino pushes infrastructure projects as term in office ends
With seven months left in office, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III is taking measures to strengthen his infrastructure legacy and boost the resilience of one of Asia's fastest-growing economies.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2015
Asahi Kasei piling scandal grows to at least 50 workers, 266 sites
The company at the center of Yokohama's tilting condominium reveals that over 50 employees falsified data on at least 266 piling projects over the past decade.
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2015
Piling scandal needs deep probe
The probe into the piling data scandal mustn't end with individual companies and workers; instead it should dig deep into the very foundation of the construction industry and get at the real root of the problem.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building