Japan Property | Lush Dream Home

The number of new apartments put up for sale in the Tokyo area rose 26.2 per cent in September from a year earlier for the first rise in 25 months, a property market research firm said yesterday.

The data is a bright sign for Japan’s property market, which had been hit hard as Japan was stuck in its worst recession since World War Two.

New units put up for sale in the Tokyo area totalled 3,063 in September, the Real Estate Economic Institute said.

The contract ratio in the Tokyo metropolitan area rose to 73.9 per cent from 69.3 per cent in August, the institute said.

The ratio, the number of units sold as a percentage of units put on the market, is used to judge the market’s health and a ratio below 70 suggests a weak market where consumers are reluctant to buy.

Source : Business Times – 15 Oct 2009

A struggle to preserve the view of Mt Fuji

Posted on 13 Oct 2009 | Comments Off

Group of residents faces stiff resistance from officials and developers

Growing up in prewar Tokyo, Makoto Kaneko recalls that the perfectly shaped, snow-capped cone of Mount Fuji was like a constant companion, visible on the horizon from the narrow streets of his hilly working-class neighbourhood.

Grand vista: For now, two-thirds of Mt Fuji is still visible, but residents reckon it is probably just a matter of time before another building blocks what’s left

The most majestic view was from a steep hillside affectionately named Fujimizaka, ‘the slope for seeing Mount Fuji’.

Today, Mr Kaneko’s cramped 80-year-old shop selling foods cooked in soy sauce is one of several old wooden stores and Buddhist temples that still stand here, making the Nippori neighbourhood a rare oasis of medieval charm in Tokyo’s concrete sprawl.

But the distant volcano, Japan’s tallest peak and pre-eminent national symbol, has been increasingly blocked by skyscrapers and smog.

Mr Kaneko said he and other residents did not mind because they still had the vista from Fujimizaka, which has become a minor tourist attraction.

Then, one day a decade ago, they learned of plans for a 14-story apartment building 1.6 kilometres away that would partly obstruct that view. Continue reading →