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December 11, 2024
 

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REAL ESTATE

A 40-year-old house in the city of Fukuoka that has been renovated by Katitas, a company that buys up secondhand houses for resale. The company retained the house's original wooden ceilings and window frames to preserve the property's vintage look.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Dec 9, 2024
As demand rises for abandoned houses, so do cases of hidden defects
Industry experts recommend prospective buyers conduct thorough inspections before concluding transactions for akiya.
Insurance tycoon Douw Steyn’s 250 million rand home overlooks the luxury residential estate bearing his name near Johannesburg, South Africa.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2024
Luxury estates for the rich are a booming business in South Africa
Despite a 20% decline in South Africa’s millionaire population over the past decade, it remains a hub for the continent’s high-net-worth individuals.
A residential area of Tokyo. Rising prices has made it difficult for the child-rearing generation to secure large houses in the capital.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 7, 2024
Tokyo government considering fund for housing support
The planned fund will provide necessary financial aid for private businesses to develop affordable housing.
High-rise buildings in Tokyo. Through faking documents and passports a criminal group conspired to pose as the owner of a real-estate plot and buildings in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in 2017, defrauding Sekisui House of ¥5.5 billion.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 28, 2024
Real-life ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ ordered to pay ¥1 billion in damages
The Tokyo District Court ruled that the defendants knew they were engaging in a fraudulent scheme in their dealings with Sekisui House.
Elliott Investment Management's stake in Tokyo Gas is centered around getting the utility to sell off its real estate holdings, including Shinjuku Park Tower, which houses the Park Hyatt Hotel Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024
Real estate worth ¥25 trillion puts Japan companies in spotlight
The hidden value of property on corporate balance sheets is a theme behind some of the biggest activist campaigns and mergers and acquisitions in Japan.
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 21, 2024
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
Ko Shinjo’s novel, a bold exploration of the twisted psyches of criminals, is best appreciated as a companion work to the recent Netflix series of the same title.
Tokyo Gas’ LNG terminal in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2024
Tokyo Gas shares jump most since 1987 after activist fund discloses major stake
Elliott Investment Management said it now owns more than 5% of Tokyo Gas and may make "important proposals” to the utility provider.
A lobby lounge of a luxury hotel inside Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2024
Blackstone nears $2.6 billion deal to buy Seibu’s Tokyo complex
Any sale around that amount would make it one of the most expensive single real estate transactions in Japan.
High construction costs due to rising material and labor costs continue to push up sales prices of new condominiums.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 22, 2024
Tokyo-area condo price hits new high in first half of fiscal 2024
The average price in the area, which includes Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, rose 1.5% from ¥78.36 million a year earlier.
A condo complex in Tokyo
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2024
Japan's land ministry eyes bill to prevent overpriced condo repairs
The ministry plans to impose supervisory penalties on companies that are found to be in violation of the rules.
The average price of new condos in Tokyo's 23 wards in the first half of this year stayed over ¥100 million and a notable wave of price increases was observed in urban areas surrounding Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2024
Tokyo area condo prices remain sky-high
The average price of new condos in central Tokyo's densely populated 23 wards stood at ¥108.55 million in the first half of this year.
Residential buildings in the Toyosu area in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 11, 2023. If rising rates on real estate investment loans are seen as a burden, people may become more cautious about acquiring properties for leasing, experts warn.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2024
Tokyo home prices are seen to largely withstand BOJ rate hikes
The days of making large profits from property in Tokyo may be over
Southeast Asian cities like Bangkok are benefiting from an influx of global trade and investment following years of deteriorating commercial relations between the U.S. and China.
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2024
Thai scion bets U.S.-China feud will ease office glut
Thailand approved over $13 billion in investments in the first half of the year, up 35% from the same period in 2023, driven by Chinese and Singaporean investors.
A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Sep 21, 2024
Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks
"Akichi," or vacant plots of land, are nothing new to the urban landscape. As the population decreases, however, the challenge is how to handle their steady increase.
Rapidus' new semiconductor plant under construction in Chitose, Hokkaido, in July
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024
New high-profile chip plants driving up nearby land prices across Japan
Expectations for growth in demand for semiconductors has boosted demand for commercial and industrial plots, and housing.
Tokyo's Ginza area marked the highest commercial land prices this year for the 19th consecutive year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 17, 2024
Japanese average land price rises for third consecutive year
Overall land prices showed the first increase in 32 years in locations outside the three metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.
A Tokyo Star Bank branch in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024
Tiny Japan bank looks to grow by lending to offshore homebuyers
Japan’s weak yen and low interest rates have drawn overseas interest in Japanese property and boosted prices.
Hong Kong’s property tycoons are eagerly awaiting interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve due to their struggles with slow home sales, vacant office buildings and tenants pushing for lease renegotiations.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2024
The Fed is making Hong Kong's billionaire landlords anxious
Many Hong Kong property companies have significant amounts of debt at floating interest rates tied to Hibor, which tracks the Fed's rate changes.
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024
First lesson of Japan’s akiya gold rush: No such thing as a free house.
Renovations are usually the most expensive part of the journey and the laundry list of what needs to be done is long and tends to get longer after the process starts.
Factory activity in China contracted for a fourth straight month in August, with subindexes showing deepening deflationary pressures.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024
China faces calls for stimulus as growth engines stall amid property woes
Factory activity contracted for a fourth month in August, with subindexes showing deflationary pressures and latest sales figures showing a worsening residential slump.
Firms should quit turning foreign workers into Japanese ones
Filipino housekeepers undergo training to work for a Japanese staffing company. By applying the same criteria when hiring overseas and local workers, Japanese firms tend to underutilize the unique skills that foreign nationals can bring.
Hundreds of izakaya going bust as prices rise and customers change
Dining habits have changed since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, with alcohol consumption experiencing a drop.
South Korea's Yoon banned from foreign travel as leadership crisis deepens
Protesters tear signs, depicting the names of ruling People Power Party lawmakers who didn't vote during the impeachment motion against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol last Saturday, as they attend a rally calling for the impeachment of Yoon, who declared and quickly reversed a martial law order last week, in front of the PPP's headquarters in Seoul on Monday.
Tokyo police arrest four men on suspicion of staging colleague’s suicide
Police officers reinvestigate a Tobu Tojo Line railroad crossing in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward on Dec. 27, 2023, after a man was fatally hit by a train weeks earlier.
DOGE's best idea yet is permanent daylight saving time
Elon Musk, a co-leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, carries his son X Æ A-Xii Musk following a meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
45-day negotiation window set to begin as Marines post Roki Sasaki
Roki Sasaki delivers a pitch during the first inning of the World Baseball Classic semifinal against Mexico in Miami in March 2023.
Hundreds of izakaya going bust as prices rise and customers change
Dining habits have changed since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, with alcohol consumption experiencing a drop.
Welcome to Yama, Japan’s first Michelin-starred dessert restaurant
Koichi Katsumata is the first chef to receive a Michelin star in Japan for an 'assiette dessert' (dessert course) restaurant
Futaba pivots to 'hope tourism' to revive its fortunes
The town of Futaba is still dealing with the effects of 3/11, but that isn't stopping some residents from looking forward.
2024 was the year Japanese TV found its prestige
“Shogun,” created by American channel FX and made by a joint American-Japanese team, utilized the strengths of both Japan and Hollywood to create a bona fide smash that critics adored. 

Podcast

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

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?
By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono
The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

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