Onigiri
Bite-size Japan real estate
Big market, small bites: Japan's property market decoded from real transaction data, minus the spreadsheet.
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Japan lets you build it; the lease might not let you keep it
One rule explains Tokyo's mixed-use buzz, the other explains that suspiciously cheap listing.
Japan's surprising property tax twist
Why owning land in Japan is less taxing than you'd think.
The 1981 Seismic Shift
Why one date defines Japan's real estate landscape.
The law lets you buy; the bank decides if you borrow
Japan puts no visa, residency, or citizenship test on owning land — the test is at the mortgage desk.
Inheritance tax follows the property, not the passport
Your heirs inherit a Japanese tax bill with the condo — and Tokyo just moved to make homes easier to build.
Why banks won't touch that ¥5M house
Japan's cheap old homes have a financing wall — and closing day still runs on a stamp.
The insurance gap under every Japanese roof
Your fire policy ignores earthquakes — and the tax office is watching your calendar.
Japan's courts are quietly selling property
Court auctions are the market's hidden aisle — cheap, real, and strictly as-is.
Japan's empty home tax squeeze begins
New rules make it pricier to let grandma's house sit empty.
Japan's zoning: where bakeries meet bedrooms
Japanese zoning laws keep neighborhoods lively.
Japan's property tax secret sauce
How Japan keeps property taxes surprisingly low.
The 1981 Building Line: Japan's Seismic Shift
A pivotal date that changes real estate fortunes.
Foreigners: Japan Welcomes Your Property Dreams
No residency or citizenship needed to own in Japan.
Tokyo is in a league of its own
Japan's big cities, head to head — and the capital costs 4.3× the cheapest.
Tokyo is 23 different cities
Inside the capital, the priciest ward costs 3.3× the cheapest — and they're all "Tokyo."
It's the dirt that matters
In Japanese property the building is a melting ice cube — the land is the whole story.
Tokyo lost the condo race
Japan's property map redrew itself in six years — and the capital wasn't the winner you'd expect.
Tokyo nearly doubled, the countryside's on sale
Three things Japan's property market did that don't fit on a postcard.