Sales of pre-owned freestanding houses in the greater Tokyo area reached a record high of 14,732 units in 2021. This is according to the Real Estate Information Network Systems (REINS) Eastern Japan’s market trends report for 2021. The 2021 number... More

This article is part of our series on buying a vacant home in Japan, and deals with an issue that comes up more often that you might think in the real estate industry: buyer’s remorse. As part of our popular real... More

Akiya banks are databases of vacant or abandoned homes in Japan where owners and local governments can list properties for sale and buyers can search for vacant homes to buy. The two main nationwide akiya banks (空き家バンク) are operated by... More

The issue of abandoned homes, or akiya, in Japan is well known. In recent months, you may have come across articles in foreign media saying that Japan’s small towns are practically giving away abandoned homes in an attempt to get... More

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has announced that it will now make “for sale” and “for rent” public assets searchable online on the akiya (vacant house) websites currently operated by HOMES (Lifull) and AtHome. These public... More

By Jeff Wynkoop Buying a vacant house in Japan and fixing it up is the dream of many city dwellers. With the price for a new condo at all-time highs in most Tokyo neighborhoods, many people are considering purchasing a... More

By Jeff Wynkoop The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has announced that it plans to introduce measures to convert the growing glut of vacant and abandoned houses in Japan into quasi-public housing(準公営住宅). 8.2 Million Vacant Houses According... More

By Jeff Wynkoop On October 26, 2015, Yokosuka became the first city to tear down a property under the new law called “The Law for Special Measures to Promote Dealing with Vacant Houses, etc.” (空家等対策の推進に関する特別措置法) brought into force earlier this... More

In a previous article, we mentioned that according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, in 2013, there were 8.2million vacant houses throughout Japan. This is about 13.5% of the entire residential housing stock and the highest number... More

Learn how to buy a house in Japan, including akiya (vacant houses) in cash, whether you're in Japan or from overseas. The webinar will be held live online on Tuesday, August 16th from 6:30PM to 7:30PM (Japan Standard Time).

This month on Real Estate Japan we are continuing to see a significant increase in inquiries on For Sale properties throughout Japan, from Hokkaido to Fukuoka. In this post, we share the five most popular wards and cities outside Tokyo, ranked in... More

If you have ever tried to rent an apartment in Japan as a foreigner and have been rejected because of your nationality, you may be surprised to learn that Japanese landlords face serious, long-term headwinds with respect to renting out... More

Real Estate Japan recently conducted an e-mail interview with Ms. Kanako Enomoto, in which she gives detailed answers to frequently asked questions about buying property in Tokyo as a foreigner. Ms. Enomoto is an agent with Tokyo-based EM Labo Co.... More

Japan endured a tough 2018. The kanji chosen to represent the year was “disaster” (災), to underline the numerous natural disasters that struck the country. No one knows yet what 2019 will hold, but we believe that the following seven... More

At the forefront of socioeconomic issues facing Japan is its aging and declining population, and perhaps no where will this manifest itself more visibly than in the country’s real estate and infrastructure. Local governments throughout Japan, including Tokyo, are having... More

In this installment of the “What can you buy in Japan” series, we go outside Japan’s metropolises to see what is available for $150,000 or much less in regional cities and towns. Before we present some examples, let’s briefly take... More

By Jeff Wynkoop The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (the “MLIT”) recently announced it is planning to create a searchable database of vacant houses and lots of land that will cover all of Japan. The goal is to... More

In this article, we take a look at the average price of a newly constructed house in Japan by major region and city, based on data from Tokyo Kantei. For the major national markets surveyed, the average price of a new... More

As one of the largest property and lease management professionals in Japan with 75,000 under management, as well as 95,000 units of corporate housing, we at Tokyu Housing Lease aim to continue to provide multi-lingual services that meet the various changing needs of our clients and ultimately, to exceed their expectations.