Tokyo commuters, inbound tourists drive land price gains
The ski resort village of Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture posted a 32.4 percent annual increase as of January 1, the fastest gain nationwide. Prices in Furano City, Hokkaido, jumped 30.2 percent, the second steepest leap.
The average for the Asakusa district of Tokyo's Taito Ward rose 29 percent, while the city of Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, climbed 28.3 percent. Both are popular among tourists.
The Senju area in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, came in fifth place with an annual growth of 26 percent. The area has a railway station that provides access to central Tokyo.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan plans 'world first' deep-sea mineral extraction
Japan will from January attempt to extract rare earth minerals from the ocean floor in the deepest trial of its kind, the director of a government innovation program said Thursday. Earlier this week the country pledged to work with the United States, India and Australia to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals, as concern grows over China's dominance in resources vital to new technologies. Rare earths — 17 metals difficult to extract from the Earth's crust — are used in everything from electric vehicles to hard drives, wind turbines and missiles. China accounts for almost two-thirds of rare earth mining production and 92% of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency. A Japanese deep-sea scientific drilling boat called the Chikyu will from January conduct a "test cruise" to retrieve ocean floor sediments that contain rare earth elements, said Shoichi Ishii, director of Japan's Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program. "The test to retrieve the sediments from 5,500 meters (3.4 miles) water depth is the first in the world," he said. "Our goal ... of this cruise is to test the function of all mining equipment," so the amount of sediment extracted "doesn't matter at all," Ishii added. The Chikyu will drill in Japanese economic waters around the remote island of Minami Torishima in the Pacific — the easternmost point of Japan, also used as a military base. Japan's Nikkei business daily reported that the mission aims to extract 35 metric tons of mud from the sea floor over around three weeks. Each ton is expected to contain around two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of rare earth minerals, which are often used to make magnets that are essential in modern electronics. Deep-sea mining has become a geopolitical flash point, with anxiety growing over a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to fast-track the practice in international waters. Beijing has since April required licenses to export rare earths from China, a move seen as retaliation for U.S. curbs on the import of Chinese goods. Environmental campaigners warn that deep-sea mining threatens marine ecosystems and will disrupt the sea floor. The International Seabed Authority, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting later this month to discuss a global code to regulate mining in the ocean depths.
Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Japan Times
Foreign buying of Japan stocks hits longest spell since 2013
Foreign investors bought Japanese stocks for 13 straight weeks to June 27, their longest buying spree since 2013, data from Japan Exchange Group showed. The persistent buying — despite lingering concerns over U.S. tariffs and still sluggish domestic consumption — likely points to diversification away from U.S. equities, as investors pare positions after Wall Street's strong showing. "It's my guess that this reflects investors trying to diversify their U.S.-concentrated portfolio,' said Shuji Hosoi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities, noting that such shifts could last about a year. Foreign investors bought ¥339.8 billion ($2.36 billion) of Japanese equities in the week of June 23 to 27, extending their net buying which began in the first week of April, when the market had plunged following the shock of U.S. President Donald Trump's extensive tariff plan, some of which has subsequently been amended. It is the longest stretch of net purchases since their 18 straight weeks of buying from November 2012 to March 2013, when investors snagged ¥5.7 trillion of Japanese stocks following radical economic stimulus by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, or so-called Abenomics. The latest buying by foreign investors helped lift the Topix index to lofty heights. The Topix rose to a peak of 2869.07 on Monday, just off its record high of 2946.60 struck in July last year. The benchmark has lost steam since then on renewed worries about U.S. tariffs. But some analysts think their buying may wane. "There's no sense of euphoria we saw during Abenomics. I think foreign buying will slow in July,' said Kohei Onishi, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley.
Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan-U.S. trade negotiations stall as Trump fumes
Trade negotiations between Japan and the United States moved a step closer to failure following two days of broadsides from U.S. President Donald Trump. 'Negotiations didn't collapse,' said Ryo Sahashi, a professor at the University of Tokyo's Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia. 'But the incentives for Japan to compromise became very small.' Trump went on Fox News on Sunday and complained about the lack of U.S.-made cars in Japan. He followed that up on Monday by taking aim at rice. In both instances, the president indicated negotiations were effectively over and he would simply send a letter dictating what rates Japan will be paying. 'They won't take our rice, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'In other words, we'll just be sending them a letter, and we love having them as a trading partner for many years to come.' His remarks came as Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, finished up his seventh round of talks in Washington and returned to Tokyo empty-handed. No concrete progress was made during a meeting and two phone calls with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. On Monday and the following day, Akazawa avoided directly responding to Trump's remarks and remained noncommittal about Japan's next move. He did avoid reiterating an earlier demand that the United States remove all new Trump tariffs as a precondition for an agreement, suggesting that Japan's position may have softened. 'Basically, I think we're at a stage where the negotiations aren't progressing at all, and the U.S. side is getting frustrated and making various comments — President Trump is saying things that sound like threats. But it also seems like Japan is acting on the premise that the negotiations aren't really going to move forward,' Sahashi said. Akazawa talked in general terms about agriculture, saying it is the foundation of Japan as a nation, and repeated the government's stance that agriculture will not be sacrificed. 'I hold that conviction with a strength second to no one,' he said. Under a 1995 'minimum access' framework , Japan imports about 770,000 tons of rice, half of which is imported from the U.S. Outside of that arrangement, imported rice is tariffed at ¥341 a kilogram. Akazawa said that Japan is seeking a package deal that addresses both the sectoral and "reciprocal" tariffs. 'All I can say is that we are continuing to explore whether a potential agreement is possible,' he said. The United States has set July 9 as the deadline for reaching trade deals, after which higher "reciprocal" tariffs might kick in. They would be 24% for Japan, up from the current 10%. In Japan, campaigning for Upper House elections begins Thursday. The United States is entering a long holiday weekend, with Independence Day on July 4. Akazawa said on Monday that working-level talks will continue, but the timing for his next visit to Washington remains undecided. He acknowledged that many of his trips so far were made before finalizing the meeting schedule with his U.S. counterparts. Signals from the White House and comments by analysts suggest any relief from the sectoral tariffs — including 25% on auto and auto parts and 50% on steel and aluminum — is unlikely to happen. Analysts have said that the best-case scenario for Japan is that the 10% baseline tariff doesn't rise to 24% on July 9. Effects of the heavy U.S. levies have already been reflected in Japan's economic data. Exports to the U.S. declined by 11% year on year in May, with automobile exports down 24.7%. In terms of volume, the decline was only 3.9%, indicating that Japanese automakers may have reduced vehicle prices to mitigate the tariff effects.
