Cost of building a house in Japan – Here are the land & construction costs by prefecture

The costs of a custom-built-home in Japan can roughly be divided into two main categories: the cost of buying the land and the construction costs.

Here are the costs of building a house in Japan, based on the nationwide average of homes built in 2020.

  • Cost of land: ¥14,361,000 ($126,319 USD)
  • Cost of construction: ¥29,612,000 ($260,514 USD)
  • Total cost: ¥43,973,000 ($387,000 USD)

These averages are based on data from the Japan Housing Finance Agency‘s survey of homes built in 2020. To put the numbers in better context, let’s take a look at the average floor area and land area purchased:

Category Amount
Total floor area of house in square meters 111.1 sqm
Total land area in square meters 219.1 sqm
Construction cost in JPY ¥29,612,000
Land cost in JPY ¥14,361,000
Total cost in JPY ¥43,973,000
Approx cost per sqm (Total Cost / Floor Area) in JPY ¥395,797
Approx cost of land per sqm (Land Cost / Total Land Area) in JPY ¥65,545
Ratio of construction cost to cost of land 2.06

In the nationwide average, the cost of construction is more than twice that of the cost of land, but as we can see from the chart below, the cost of land is much higher in urban areas, especially Tokyo. In Tokyo, the average amount people spent on buying land was more than 1.7 times the amount spent on construction.

An important point to note that not all land is comes ready to be built on. The land may need to be bulldozed and leveled, retaining walls built, trees chopped, etc. in order for the site to be ready to be hooked up to water, gas, and electricity utilities. This will add to the total cost. For more information on this, please see this article: Building a house in Japan

This data is provided to help our readers get a general idea of average market prices. Actual costs will, of course, vary and can also be controlled by your decisions regarding the size of the house, quality of materials, and what amenities you want.

There are also many other considerations about the structure that you can actually build due to regulations regarding the Floor Area Allowance (FAR), Building-to-Land ratio, and setback. More information on this, please see: Building a house in Japan.

How much does it cost to build a house in Japan: By Prefecture

Average
Total Floor Area
of House in
Sqm
Average
Total Land Area
in
Sqm
Average
Construction Cost
in JPY Million
Average
Land Cost
in JPY Million
Average
Total Cost
JPY
Approx Cost Per Sqm
(Total Cost /
Floor Area) in JPY
Approx Cost of Land
Per Sqm
(Last Cost /
Total Land Area)
in JPY
Japan 111.1 219.1 29.612 14.361 43.973 395,797 65,545
Hokkaido 117.0 263.6 31.209 8.869 40.078 342,547 33,646
Aomori 114.2 274.4 30.925 6.131 37.056 324,483 22,343
Iwate 111.7 256.7 28.709 7.67 36.379 325,685 29,879
Miyagi 115.0 261.1 29.866 11.765 41.631 362,009 45,059
Akita 107.5 290.6 27.797 5.811 33.608 312,633 19,997
Yamagata 111.3 294.4 28.999 7.601 36.6 328,841 25,819
Fukushima 112.8 274.4 30.241 9.143 39.384 349,149 33,320
Ibaraki 114.6 305.2 31.379 8.461 39.84 347,644 27,723
Tochigi 117.5 312.1 31.157 8.216 39.373 335,089 26,325
Gunma 113.4 304.8 29.204 7.817 37.021 326,464 25,646
Saitama 110.4 190.2 29.872 17.214 47.086 426,504 90,505
Chiba 111.2 210.6 30.093 14.231 44.324 398,597 67,574
Tokyo 98.5 110.3 26.48 34.62 61.1 620,305 313,871
Kanagawa 104.7 140.5 28.129 23.57 51.699 493,782 167,758
Niigata 112.1 221.2 28.704 7.984 36.688 327,279 36,094
Toyama 126.9 257.6 31.314 7.645 38.959 307,006 29,678
Ishikawa 119.6 225.3 29.246 10.063 39.309 328,671 44,665
Fukui 118.1 228.1 28.723 8.091 36.814 311,719 35,471
Yamanashi 114.1 294.0 28.3 7.831 36.131 316,661 26,636
Nagano 112.7 365.5 30.059 8.75 38.809 344,357 23,940
Gifu 114.1 268.1 30.425 8.276 38.701 339,185 30,869
Shizuoka 113.6 234.1 31.225 11.852 43.077 379,199 50,628
Aichi 115.4 192.7 31.449 16.893 48.342 418,908 87,665
Mie 116.0 269.0 30.863 9.051 39.914 344,086 33,647
Shiga 114.5 221.8 29.718 10.992 40.71 355,546 49,558
Kyoto 107.8 167.8 28.514 16.149 44.663 414,314 96,240
Osaka 109.7 132.2 27.43 19.952 47.382 431,923 150,923
Hyogo 113.0 188.8 30.239 15.48 45.719 404,593 81,992
Nara 112.6 207.0 29.927 12.997 42.924 381,208 62,787
Wakayama 113.0 228.5 30.41 8.869 39.279 347,602 38,814
Tottori 114.3 248.4 26.632 6.396 33.028 288,959 25,749
Shimane 110.0 237.7 29.711 9.119 38.83 353,000 38,363
Okayama 113.1 232.6 31.392 10.247 41.639 368,161 44,054
Hiroshima 115.5 208.1 30.495 12.827 43.322 375,082 61,639
Yamaguchi 111.3 268.0 31.073 8.361 39.434 354,304 31,198
Tokushima 112.7 228.2 29.262 9.046 38.308 339,911 39,641
Kagawa 112.1 241.8 29.159 8.085 37.244 332,239 33,437
Ehime 110.7 234.5 29.664 10.091 39.755 359,124 43,032
Kochi 107.8 233.1 28.838 9.623 38.461 356,781 41,283
Fukuoka 114.1 251.9 31.412 11.986 43.398 380,351 47,582
Saga 114.4 266.0 29.443 7.681 37.124 324,510 28,876
Nagasaki 108.4 236.6 29.516 8.912 38.428 354,502 37,667
Kumamoto 108.8 260.2 31.036 9.307 40.343 370,800 35,769
Oita 110.4 260.3 31.261 9.203 40.464 366,522 35,355
Miyazaki 108.2 297.2 28.95 8.787 37.737 348,771 29,566
Kagoshima 105.3 284.7 27.697 8.007 35.704 339,069 28,124
Okinawa 107.5 218.6 30.967 15.494 46.461 432,195 70,878

Buying Land in Japan

Our partner agents on Real Estate Japan list land for sale throughout Japan.

Please click here to see a list of land for sale in Japan.

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Data Source: Japan Housing Finance Agency, August 2021 Report (in Japanese)

Lead image: Flooded rice fields in Hida mountains valley near Nanto, Japan, iStock 1227370053


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