神戸市内の住宅街で、ラブホテルが禁止地区に「旅館」として営業していた問題で、兵庫県警生活環境課などは１４日、ホ
テルを経営している大阪市天王寺区の経営コンサルタント業「ＧＨＰ」代表の男性（３９）ら３人と、同社を１５日にも風営法違反（禁止区域営業）容疑で書類
送検する方針を固めた。「偽装ラブホテル」の立件は異例という。
調べでは、代表は今年１月中旬ごろ、風営法でラブホテル営業が禁止されている神戸市中央区山本通で、事実上のラブホテル「チャペルスイート」を旅館として市の許可を受け、営業した疑いが持たれている。
県警は今年１月、ホテルを捜索。旅館業法でビジネスホテルや旅館に義務づけられている宿泊者名簿がない▽外観が派手▽建物の外に宿泊料金が表示されている▽成人向けの自動販売機がある−ことなどが判明。ラブホテルとして営業していたと判断したもようだ。
同市によると、同ホテルは捜索を受けた後、設備や構造を改善して営業を再開したという。
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/crime/080415/crm0804150136004-n1.htm
In the residential area of Kobe city, in an area where Love Hotels are prohibited, there was an incident of a Love Hotel operating under a ryokan license. On the 14th, the Hyogo Prefectural Police served a summons of breach of the Adult Entertainment Law to 3 officers of the Osaka office of the hotel operator, called "GHP" GHP ウェブサイト
KPGウェブサイト
Investigators allege that according to their investigations, that the accused have around mid January this year, in Chuo-ku, Kobe, Yamamotodori, operated a love hotel business called Chapel Suite Chapel Hotels ウェブサイト, even though this is prohibited in this area under the Adult Entertainment Laws. while they had only received the permission of the city to operate as an Inn, they were in fact operating a love hotel de facto.
In January this year, prefectural police searched the hotel. They found that in contravention of the laws, there were vending machines for adult toys, that room rate is displayed on the outside of the flashy building, there is no hotel guest roster as is required for inns business hotel in the Hotel Business Law. According to these matters, it was determined to have been opearting as a love hotel.
According to city, after receiving the search, the hotel that was reopened by improving the structure and equipment.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Tokyo Property Deals Surge as Rising Rents Lure Buyers
Investment in Tokyo
properties is surging on prospects that rents will rise, boosting
returns, even after a 20 percent gain in prices since Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe took office almost two years ago.
“There is a sense of value here that you don’t find in other major office markets,” said Jon Tanaka, Tokyo-based managing director of Angelo Gordon & Co., an alternative asset manager with about $27 billion in assets. “Japanese and offshore core buyers have capital available and they are very eager to find investment opportunities in Tokyo.”
Real estate investment in Japan rose 70 percent to 4.6 trillion yen ($44 billion), the highest level since March 2008, in the 12 months ended in March from a year earlier, according to a report published in July by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management. Among deals in the past week, a unit of China's Fosun Group acquired the Citigroup Center building in Tokyo and Mori Trust Co. bought an office and banquet hall complex (Meguro Gajoen) in the capital for more than a $1 billion.
Office rents for the best buildings in Tokyo are estimated to rise by about 30 percent over the next three years, giving potential investors a chance to capitalize on rental incomes, according to CBRE
While Abe’s efforts to revive the nation’s economy and end more than a decade of deflation have led to a recovery in the property market, prices in Tokyo, the world’s third-biggest real estate investment market, are still 20 percent below their 2007 peak, according to an estimate by Deutsche Asset. In an effort to restore economic momentum, Abe reshuffled his cabinet today, 20 months after taking office.
The Topix Real Estate Index tracking 45 property-related companies rose 0.6 percent to close at the highest since Aug. 1 in Tokyo.
Relative yields on office acquisitions that are higher than in other major international cities also are luring investors. The difference between the return on equity and long-term interest rates is more than 400 basis points above 10-year bond yields, according to Deutsche Asset. That compares with less than 100 basis points in Singapore and Hong Kong, and 200 basis points in London and New York.
Private real estate investment trusts, which started in Japan with $200 million of assets under management in 2011, have expanded and become key investors in the property market, said Koichiro Obu, the head of research and strategy in the Asia-Pacific region at Deutsche Asset.
Total assets under management by private REITs rose 46 percent to $6.75 billion as of March 2014 from a year earlier, according to the German bank’s report. Pension funds probably account for 30 percent of investments in private REITs, Obu said.
“It used to be hard for pension funds to invest in private REITs because they were very small,” Obu said. “Now they have gained in size and established a track record, investments from pension funds have begun to flow into the private REITs.”
Acquisitions by Japanese REITs accounted for about half of the $34.5 billion in transaction volume in the year ended June, while foreign capital accounted for 16 percent, according to an estimate by Deutsche Asset.
“The market is heating up,” said Kunihiko Okumura, regional director of acquisitions at LaSalle Investment Management, with $50 billion of assets. “The competition among core investors, REITs and private REITs has intensified.”
The biggest transaction in Japan in the second quarter was Tobu Railway’s purchase of two Tobu department stores for 103 billion yen, according to the report. Other large transactions included the purchase of Kokusai Akasaka Building by Sekisui House, Japan’s second-biggest homebuilder, for 74 billion yen, it said.
Angelo Gordon’s strategy is to renovate vacant buildings and boost occupancy rates, Tanaka said. It acquired 67 percent of Sphere Tower Tennozu, an office building near Tokyo Bay, in December from Global One Real Estate Investment Co. for 9.5 billion yen. The New York-based firm plans to refurbish the building, which currently is less than 40 percent occupied, and sell after leasing it, he said.
More properties are being put up for sale as prices rise. Idera Capital Management, a unit of Fosun, China’s biggest closely held conglomerate, acquired the 25-story building completed in 1992 in Tokyo’s Shinagawa ward, according to a statement on Idera’s website dated Aug. 27.
Mori Trust, Japan’s second-biggest closely held developer by sales, said on Aug. 29 it acquired the 37,000 square meters (398,265 square feet) Meguro Gajoen in central Tokyo, known for its gardens and as a favored wedding location. Mori paid about 130 billion yen to buy the property from Lone Star Funds, people familiar with the deal said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Mitsubishi Estate, Japan’s biggest developer by market value, said a special purpose company it partly owns is seeking to sell a stake of more than 10 percent in an office complex next to Tokyo Station for 43 billion yen.
The capitalization rate, a measure of investment yield, for office buildings in Tokyo fell to the lowest level since August 2009 in June, according to New York-based Real Capital Analytics Inc. The yield declined to 4.80 percent in June from 5.04 percent a year earlier. A drop in the cap rate, which is derived from a property’s net income divided by the purchase price, usually signals an increase in prices.
Not all are expecting prices to continue rising. The rate for office buildings in Tokyo’s central five wards is about 4.4 percent and it probably won’t decline further, according to Yoko Fujinami, an analyst at IB Research Inc. in Tokyo.
“Even as prices for office building are rising, rent growth hasn’t caught up,” said Fujinami. “That will keep the cap rate from falling further.”
The nation’s largest developers such as Mitsui Fudosan and Mori Building Co. also are announcing plans to re-develop their properties as they expect demand to rise.
Mitsui Fudosan, Japan’s biggest developer, raised about 330 billion yen in its first share sale in 32 years, saying that the real estate environment has changed “dramatically” since December 2012, when Abe came to power. The proceeds will be used for property development, it said.
Mori Building, Japan’s biggest closely held developer, said in June it plans to develop about 10 projects in central Tokyo worth an estimated 1 trillion yen with partners as the city prepares for the Olympic Games in 2020.
“Development projects for under-utilized land will lift up property values in those area,” said Hiroshi Okubo, executive director and head of research at CBRE. “That will in turn boost the attractiveness of Tokyo.”
Rents for grade-A buildings in Tokyo in the second quarter gained at the fastest pace since CBRE started compiling the data in 2005. Japanese banks’ lending for the property industry remained at the highest level since June 2007 in the second quarter, according to the Bank of Japan’s Tankan Survey.
“We are in an early stage of a cyclical recovery,” said Angelo Gordon’s Tanaka. It is “mainly driven by improved fundamentals in the market place, increased investor confidence, as well as lenders’ confidence in the market.”
Bloomberg
“There is a sense of value here that you don’t find in other major office markets,” said Jon Tanaka, Tokyo-based managing director of Angelo Gordon & Co., an alternative asset manager with about $27 billion in assets. “Japanese and offshore core buyers have capital available and they are very eager to find investment opportunities in Tokyo.”
Real estate investment in Japan rose 70 percent to 4.6 trillion yen ($44 billion), the highest level since March 2008, in the 12 months ended in March from a year earlier, according to a report published in July by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management. Among deals in the past week, a unit of China's Fosun Group acquired the Citigroup Center building in Tokyo and Mori Trust Co. bought an office and banquet hall complex (Meguro Gajoen) in the capital for more than a $1 billion.
Office rents for the best buildings in Tokyo are estimated to rise by about 30 percent over the next three years, giving potential investors a chance to capitalize on rental incomes, according to CBRE
While Abe’s efforts to revive the nation’s economy and end more than a decade of deflation have led to a recovery in the property market, prices in Tokyo, the world’s third-biggest real estate investment market, are still 20 percent below their 2007 peak, according to an estimate by Deutsche Asset. In an effort to restore economic momentum, Abe reshuffled his cabinet today, 20 months after taking office.
The Topix Real Estate Index tracking 45 property-related companies rose 0.6 percent to close at the highest since Aug. 1 in Tokyo.
Relative yields on office acquisitions that are higher than in other major international cities also are luring investors. The difference between the return on equity and long-term interest rates is more than 400 basis points above 10-year bond yields, according to Deutsche Asset. That compares with less than 100 basis points in Singapore and Hong Kong, and 200 basis points in London and New York.
Private real estate investment trusts, which started in Japan with $200 million of assets under management in 2011, have expanded and become key investors in the property market, said Koichiro Obu, the head of research and strategy in the Asia-Pacific region at Deutsche Asset.
Total assets under management by private REITs rose 46 percent to $6.75 billion as of March 2014 from a year earlier, according to the German bank’s report. Pension funds probably account for 30 percent of investments in private REITs, Obu said.
“It used to be hard for pension funds to invest in private REITs because they were very small,” Obu said. “Now they have gained in size and established a track record, investments from pension funds have begun to flow into the private REITs.”
Acquisitions by Japanese REITs accounted for about half of the $34.5 billion in transaction volume in the year ended June, while foreign capital accounted for 16 percent, according to an estimate by Deutsche Asset.
“The market is heating up,” said Kunihiko Okumura, regional director of acquisitions at LaSalle Investment Management, with $50 billion of assets. “The competition among core investors, REITs and private REITs has intensified.”
The biggest transaction in Japan in the second quarter was Tobu Railway’s purchase of two Tobu department stores for 103 billion yen, according to the report. Other large transactions included the purchase of Kokusai Akasaka Building by Sekisui House, Japan’s second-biggest homebuilder, for 74 billion yen, it said.
Angelo Gordon’s strategy is to renovate vacant buildings and boost occupancy rates, Tanaka said. It acquired 67 percent of Sphere Tower Tennozu, an office building near Tokyo Bay, in December from Global One Real Estate Investment Co. for 9.5 billion yen. The New York-based firm plans to refurbish the building, which currently is less than 40 percent occupied, and sell after leasing it, he said.
More properties are being put up for sale as prices rise. Idera Capital Management, a unit of Fosun, China’s biggest closely held conglomerate, acquired the 25-story building completed in 1992 in Tokyo’s Shinagawa ward, according to a statement on Idera’s website dated Aug. 27.
Mori Trust, Japan’s second-biggest closely held developer by sales, said on Aug. 29 it acquired the 37,000 square meters (398,265 square feet) Meguro Gajoen in central Tokyo, known for its gardens and as a favored wedding location. Mori paid about 130 billion yen to buy the property from Lone Star Funds, people familiar with the deal said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Mitsubishi Estate, Japan’s biggest developer by market value, said a special purpose company it partly owns is seeking to sell a stake of more than 10 percent in an office complex next to Tokyo Station for 43 billion yen.
The capitalization rate, a measure of investment yield, for office buildings in Tokyo fell to the lowest level since August 2009 in June, according to New York-based Real Capital Analytics Inc. The yield declined to 4.80 percent in June from 5.04 percent a year earlier. A drop in the cap rate, which is derived from a property’s net income divided by the purchase price, usually signals an increase in prices.
Not all are expecting prices to continue rising. The rate for office buildings in Tokyo’s central five wards is about 4.4 percent and it probably won’t decline further, according to Yoko Fujinami, an analyst at IB Research Inc. in Tokyo.
“Even as prices for office building are rising, rent growth hasn’t caught up,” said Fujinami. “That will keep the cap rate from falling further.”
The nation’s largest developers such as Mitsui Fudosan and Mori Building Co. also are announcing plans to re-develop their properties as they expect demand to rise.
Mitsui Fudosan, Japan’s biggest developer, raised about 330 billion yen in its first share sale in 32 years, saying that the real estate environment has changed “dramatically” since December 2012, when Abe came to power. The proceeds will be used for property development, it said.
Mori Building, Japan’s biggest closely held developer, said in June it plans to develop about 10 projects in central Tokyo worth an estimated 1 trillion yen with partners as the city prepares for the Olympic Games in 2020.
“Development projects for under-utilized land will lift up property values in those area,” said Hiroshi Okubo, executive director and head of research at CBRE. “That will in turn boost the attractiveness of Tokyo.”
Rents for grade-A buildings in Tokyo in the second quarter gained at the fastest pace since CBRE started compiling the data in 2005. Japanese banks’ lending for the property industry remained at the highest level since June 2007 in the second quarter, according to the Bank of Japan’s Tankan Survey.
“We are in an early stage of a cyclical recovery,” said Angelo Gordon’s Tanaka. It is “mainly driven by improved fundamentals in the market place, increased investor confidence, as well as lenders’ confidence in the market.”
Bloomberg
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
2014 Q1 Japan GDP Growth 6.7% Annualized
Japan's economy grew at a quicker
pace than estimated in the first quarter, as business spending
increased more than previously reported.
GDP grew an annualized 6.7% in the Q1, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo today, faster than a preliminary 5.9 percent and the median forecast of 5.6 percent by economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The nation’s current account surplus narrowed in April from a year earlier, separate data showed.
Increasing strength in business investment would help the economy rebound from a forecast contraction this quarter after a sales tax increase in April. A rebound in consumer confidence last month signals Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be able to sustain the recovery’s momentum to weather a planned further rise in the levy.
“Expectations for fiscal and monetary stimulus this year are fading,” said Izumi Devalier, a Japan economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. “The slowdown in the second quarter doesn’t look catastrophic, and the question now is how fast the pick up will be after then.”
Business investment rose 7.6 percent from the previous quarter, revised up from a preliminary 4.9 percent increase.
Consumer spending climbed 2.2 percent, more than an initial estimate of a 2.1 percent gain. Separate data today show consumer confidence rose in May for the first time in six months.
Sales Tax
Consumer confidence rose to 39.3 in May, the highest since January, according to separate data today. Expectations for two-to-three months in the future among workers such as taxi drivers, supermarket managers and restaurant workers rose to the highest level since December, after jumping last month by the most since the survey began in 2000, a different poll today showed.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will base a decision on raising the sales tax to 10 percent from 8 percent on July-September data.
Bloomberg
GDP grew an annualized 6.7% in the Q1, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo today, faster than a preliminary 5.9 percent and the median forecast of 5.6 percent by economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The nation’s current account surplus narrowed in April from a year earlier, separate data showed.
Increasing strength in business investment would help the economy rebound from a forecast contraction this quarter after a sales tax increase in April. A rebound in consumer confidence last month signals Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be able to sustain the recovery’s momentum to weather a planned further rise in the levy.
“Expectations for fiscal and monetary stimulus this year are fading,” said Izumi Devalier, a Japan economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. “The slowdown in the second quarter doesn’t look catastrophic, and the question now is how fast the pick up will be after then.”
Business investment rose 7.6 percent from the previous quarter, revised up from a preliminary 4.9 percent increase.
Consumer spending climbed 2.2 percent, more than an initial estimate of a 2.1 percent gain. Separate data today show consumer confidence rose in May for the first time in six months.
Sales Tax
Consumer confidence rose to 39.3 in May, the highest since January, according to separate data today. Expectations for two-to-three months in the future among workers such as taxi drivers, supermarket managers and restaurant workers rose to the highest level since December, after jumping last month by the most since the survey began in 2000, a different poll today showed.
Economic Contraction
The economy will contract 3.5 percent in the April-June period before expanding 2 percent next quarter, according to a separate Bloomberg News survey conducted prior to today’s release.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will base a decision on raising the sales tax to 10 percent from 8 percent on July-September data.
Bloomberg
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Konami Puts it hand up to partner with overseas Casino Operators in Japan
Japanese gaming company Konami
Corp said it was planning to invest in casinos in
anticipation of legislation to legalise gambling and help create
an entertainment and resort market some estimate to be worth
over $40 billion.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are trying to pass legislation allowing the development of casino resorts in Japan, although time is running out for a bill to be approved in the current parliamentary session ending next month.
Konami said it would set up a subsidiary, once a casino bill is passed, through which it would take a minority stake in casinos in partnership with operators.
Companies like Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands Corp have expressed interest in investing in Japanese casinos.
The country is one of the world's last untapped gaming markets and broker CLSA says it could become a leading gambling destination with annual revenue over $40 billion.
Supporters of the casino bill want the first resorts to open by 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games.
Konami sells game software and "pachinko" pinball machines in Japan, but also distributes slot machines overseas, experience that Konami executive Noriaki Yamaguchi said would help it partner with casino operators looking to enter the Japanese market
Reuters
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are trying to pass legislation allowing the development of casino resorts in Japan, although time is running out for a bill to be approved in the current parliamentary session ending next month.
Konami said it would set up a subsidiary, once a casino bill is passed, through which it would take a minority stake in casinos in partnership with operators.
Companies like Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands Corp have expressed interest in investing in Japanese casinos.
The country is one of the world's last untapped gaming markets and broker CLSA says it could become a leading gambling destination with annual revenue over $40 billion.
Supporters of the casino bill want the first resorts to open by 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games.
Konami sells game software and "pachinko" pinball machines in Japan, but also distributes slot machines overseas, experience that Konami executive Noriaki Yamaguchi said would help it partner with casino operators looking to enter the Japanese market
Reuters
Japanese Corporate Taxes to go below 30%
Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy
Minister Akira Amari indicated Monday that the government will consider
stating a cut of the effective corporate tax rate to below 30 pct in new
policy guidelines to be drawn up possibly in June.
Regarding a proposed corporate tax cut, Amari told reporters that he wants the new economic and fiscal policy guidelines to state its timing and size as concretely as possible. He met reporters at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda before leaving Japan on a tour to France and Britain.
Lowering the tax rate from the current level above 35 pct to less than 30 pct would have an impact on the market, Amari said.
Regarding a proposed corporate tax cut, Amari told reporters that he wants the new economic and fiscal policy guidelines to state its timing and size as concretely as possible. He met reporters at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda before leaving Japan on a tour to France and Britain.
Lowering the tax rate from the current level above 35 pct to less than 30 pct would have an impact on the market, Amari said.
Japan plans to allow longer stays for wealthy tourists
Japan is working on a plan to extend the maximum stay for foreign
visitors who meet certain income and asset requirements to one year,
aiming to encourage spending and real estate investment.
Under the current system, foreigners who come to Japan for tourism may stay up to 90 days. By raising this cap for well-off visitors, the government hopes to attract investment in real estate such as vacation homes and condominiums, as well as make it easier to visit scenic spots in areas outside Tokyo and Kyoto.
The requirements have not yet been determined. Australia, which has a similar system, limits applicants to those 55 or older with at least 65,000 Australian dollars ($59,956) in annual income and assets of at least 750,000 Australian dollars.
The government aims to determine age, income and asset requirements by summer, using examples from other countries as a reference, and set up the program as early as this year.
Japan hopes to double the number of foreign tourists to 20 million a year by 2020. This proposal will be incorporated in a revised plan for encouraging tourism to be completed in June.
Another measure to be included is setting up a priority lane at Narita and Kansai airports next fiscal year, for foreign VIPs such as government officials and businessmen traveling first class. Such arrangements, which allow arrivals and departures to proceed faster, are common overseas, but none have yet been put in place in Japanese airports.
Nikkei
Under the current system, foreigners who come to Japan for tourism may stay up to 90 days. By raising this cap for well-off visitors, the government hopes to attract investment in real estate such as vacation homes and condominiums, as well as make it easier to visit scenic spots in areas outside Tokyo and Kyoto.
The requirements have not yet been determined. Australia, which has a similar system, limits applicants to those 55 or older with at least 65,000 Australian dollars ($59,956) in annual income and assets of at least 750,000 Australian dollars.
The government aims to determine age, income and asset requirements by summer, using examples from other countries as a reference, and set up the program as early as this year.
Japan hopes to double the number of foreign tourists to 20 million a year by 2020. This proposal will be incorporated in a revised plan for encouraging tourism to be completed in June.
Another measure to be included is setting up a priority lane at Narita and Kansai airports next fiscal year, for foreign VIPs such as government officials and businessmen traveling first class. Such arrangements, which allow arrivals and departures to proceed faster, are common overseas, but none have yet been put in place in Japanese airports.
Nikkei
Tokyo OKs $1.6bn or $3bn New Stadium for Olympics
Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese sports chiefs on Wednesday
gave the greenlight to a new $1.6 billion stadium for the 2020 Olympics,
all but dashing the hopes of campaigners who say the building and its
price tag, are too big.
The basic design of the 80,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof, originally conceived by prize-winning Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid and shaped like a bike helmet, was rubber-stamped by the council and a panel of advisers.
The structure is set to be built on the site of the 56-year-old, 54,000-seat National Stadium, which will be dismantled over 15 months beginning in July.
The new stadium is set to be completed in time for the rugby World Cup, which Japan hosts in 2019, a year ahead of the Summer Games.
The Tokyo stadium will be built in an area with numerous parks and a grand Shinto shrine, and will tower over most of the structures around it, with building heights historically limited to 15 metres. That limit was raised by Tokyo Metropolitan Government to 75 metres in June last year.
Criticism grew when Japan's minister in charge of the Olympics estimated the stadium would cost about 300 billion yen ($3 billion), more than double the 130 billion yen that was originally stipulated in the design competition.
The estimated cost has since been reduced to 160 billion yen, including by scaling down the stadium's floor space.
Critics have scoffed at the sudden price cut, and suggest the final bill will be much higher.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/23932643/japan-sport-chiefs-greenlight-huge-stadium/
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Alchemy Japan Sues Carval Investors for US$3million for improper sale of Hotels
Alchemy Japan commenced legal proceedings in the Tokyo District Court against Carval Investors, and its shell companies, seeking to recover
almost JPY300 million (US$3million) in damages resulting from Carval's
sale of Cargill's Love Hotels to entities and persons suspected by Kroll Advisory Solutions of ties to Japanese
organized crime, the yakuza.
An English translation of the Japanese Statement of Claim can be found at -
Alchemy Japan vs Carval Investors - English Translation of Japanese Law Suit
For the background to this dispute see -
What Happened at Carval Investors Japan?
An English translation of the Japanese Statement of Claim can be found at -
Alchemy Japan vs Carval Investors - English Translation of Japanese Law Suit
For the background to this dispute see -
What Happened at Carval Investors Japan?
アルケミージャパンは2.78億円の損害を主張カーバル・インベスターズに対する訴訟を開始
アルケミージャパンは2.78億円の損害を主張カーバル・インベスターズに対する訴訟を開始
訴訟はカーバルのレジャーホテルで2012年9月の出来事から生じる
訴訟文書: アルケミージャパン vs カーバル・インベスターズ
訴訟はカーバルのレジャーホテルで2012年9月の出来事から生じる
訴訟文書: アルケミージャパン vs カーバル・インベスターズ
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Japan Casino Push Leads to Calls for Review of Pachinko Status - New Taxes foreshadowed
Moves toward legalizing casinos in Japan have reignited a debate over
the legal status of pachinko, with a potential new tax mooted for a
$200 billion gaming industry that has existed for decades on the fringes
of the law.
Pachinko, a slot-cum-pinball form of gambling, is a national obsession, with 1 in 6 Japanese playing the game, though that number is declining as younger generations prefer to play games on their mobile phones.
With past links to organized crime, pachinko is not classified as gambling, which is illegal in Japan. Instead it’s treated as an amusement activity like arcades and hostess bars, and the operators of the parlors that are found in city streets across Japan pay no gaming tax.
As some lawmakers push to allow casinos that would contribute billions of dollars to state coffers, pachinko, too, could come under a new regulatory umbrella.
Takeshi Iwaya, a leading proponent for casinos from the Liberal Democratic Party, reckons any move to change pachinko laws should come once casinos are up and running, which could be as early as 2020, when Tokyo will host the Olympic Games.
While years away, such reforms may have greater implications for the pachinko industry than the likely loss of customers to new casino resorts, analysts say. And reforming the industry won’t be easy, given the web of special interests involved — not least the national police agency, which oversees it.
“I see no easy way out for the pachinko industry,” said Ichiro Tanioka, an expert on Japanese gaming industries and president of the Osaka University of Commerce, a leading proponent in the casino debate. “It’s a mess.”
In pachinko, players buy baskets of small silver balls that they feed into the machine and guide into a hole that spins out numbers or characters on an electronic screen. Matching series win the player more silver balls, which can be exchanged for snacks, alcohol or small items in the pachinko hall.
Most players, however, opt to trade in their winnings for “special prizes,” which they then swap for yen at small booths outside, but close to, the hall. Legally, these booths are separate from the hall operator, skirting anti-gambling laws.
The police stop short of fully endorsing this system as legal, placing it in a regulatory gray zone that has effectively barred pachinko hall operators from listing their shares on a Japanese stock exchange.
To help bring the game out of the regulatory shadows, a lawyer with ties to the industry suggested a “pachinko law” that would allow balls to be exchanged for cash inside pachinko halls. The main lobby group for parlor operators, though, wants to keep the existing system, but give it legitimacy through a state-supervised program.
Either plan would generate about $2 billion in annual revenue for the government, according to copies of the proposals.
Yoji Sato, one of Japan’s wealthiest tycoons and chairman of Dynam Japan Holdings, a pachinko hall operator listed in Hong Kong, backs reforms that bring all the industry’s moving parts under one law. He acknowledged the industry faces close scrutiny.
“Any industry that cannot be accepted or understood by society will cease to exist,” Sato, 68, said in an interview. “Dynam is in principle behind any move to clarify the industry’s role in society.”
Seiko Noda, another LDP lawmaker involved in both pushing for casinos and the pachinko debate, said there is no consensus yet on how best to regulate pachinko.
Among the 4,000 or so firms involved in the industry, the smaller, financially weaker hall operators are more worried about change, and particularly about any new tax plan, Noda said. “The hall owners are quite afraid they will be ordered to pay more tax to the government, so I’m considering it very carefully,” she told reporters at her office in Tokyo.
Dynam and other leading pachinko operators, meanwhile, are vying to open multibillion-dollar casino resorts — should regulations permit.
A recent Morgan Stanley report predicted that Japan’s casino market could be worth $21 billion to $22 billion — though that’s less than half the size of Macau’s, and well below a consensus view of around $40 billion, by 2025.
Sato said his focus is on that domestic casino opportunity, adding his company has held talks with casino operators including Macau’s Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Entertainment.
Rival hall operator Maruhan and two of Japan’s biggest pachinko machine makers, Sega Sammy and Konami, have also met casino operators, industry executives say. To gain experience in the resort business, Sega Sammy is building a $1.7 billion casino in the South Korean coastal city of Incheon with local gaming firm Paradise Co.
This diversification isn’t just driven by potential pachinko reforms. Pachinko revenues are falling as Japan’s population ages and as younger people turn to mobile devices for entertainment. On a recent visit to a brightly lit pachinko hall in an outlying Tokyo suburb, most of the players were middle-aged men.
While pachinko is unlikely to be badly hit in the short term — parlors are informal and widespread, while casinos will be upscale and out of town — a recent increase in Japan’s sales tax may squeeze small operators and accelerate consolidation.
Japan Times
Pachinko, a slot-cum-pinball form of gambling, is a national obsession, with 1 in 6 Japanese playing the game, though that number is declining as younger generations prefer to play games on their mobile phones.
With past links to organized crime, pachinko is not classified as gambling, which is illegal in Japan. Instead it’s treated as an amusement activity like arcades and hostess bars, and the operators of the parlors that are found in city streets across Japan pay no gaming tax.
As some lawmakers push to allow casinos that would contribute billions of dollars to state coffers, pachinko, too, could come under a new regulatory umbrella.
Takeshi Iwaya, a leading proponent for casinos from the Liberal Democratic Party, reckons any move to change pachinko laws should come once casinos are up and running, which could be as early as 2020, when Tokyo will host the Olympic Games.
While years away, such reforms may have greater implications for the pachinko industry than the likely loss of customers to new casino resorts, analysts say. And reforming the industry won’t be easy, given the web of special interests involved — not least the national police agency, which oversees it.
“I see no easy way out for the pachinko industry,” said Ichiro Tanioka, an expert on Japanese gaming industries and president of the Osaka University of Commerce, a leading proponent in the casino debate. “It’s a mess.”
In pachinko, players buy baskets of small silver balls that they feed into the machine and guide into a hole that spins out numbers or characters on an electronic screen. Matching series win the player more silver balls, which can be exchanged for snacks, alcohol or small items in the pachinko hall.
Most players, however, opt to trade in their winnings for “special prizes,” which they then swap for yen at small booths outside, but close to, the hall. Legally, these booths are separate from the hall operator, skirting anti-gambling laws.
The police stop short of fully endorsing this system as legal, placing it in a regulatory gray zone that has effectively barred pachinko hall operators from listing their shares on a Japanese stock exchange.
To help bring the game out of the regulatory shadows, a lawyer with ties to the industry suggested a “pachinko law” that would allow balls to be exchanged for cash inside pachinko halls. The main lobby group for parlor operators, though, wants to keep the existing system, but give it legitimacy through a state-supervised program.
Either plan would generate about $2 billion in annual revenue for the government, according to copies of the proposals.
Yoji Sato, one of Japan’s wealthiest tycoons and chairman of Dynam Japan Holdings, a pachinko hall operator listed in Hong Kong, backs reforms that bring all the industry’s moving parts under one law. He acknowledged the industry faces close scrutiny.
“Any industry that cannot be accepted or understood by society will cease to exist,” Sato, 68, said in an interview. “Dynam is in principle behind any move to clarify the industry’s role in society.”
Seiko Noda, another LDP lawmaker involved in both pushing for casinos and the pachinko debate, said there is no consensus yet on how best to regulate pachinko.
Among the 4,000 or so firms involved in the industry, the smaller, financially weaker hall operators are more worried about change, and particularly about any new tax plan, Noda said. “The hall owners are quite afraid they will be ordered to pay more tax to the government, so I’m considering it very carefully,” she told reporters at her office in Tokyo.
Dynam and other leading pachinko operators, meanwhile, are vying to open multibillion-dollar casino resorts — should regulations permit.
A recent Morgan Stanley report predicted that Japan’s casino market could be worth $21 billion to $22 billion — though that’s less than half the size of Macau’s, and well below a consensus view of around $40 billion, by 2025.
Sato said his focus is on that domestic casino opportunity, adding his company has held talks with casino operators including Macau’s Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Entertainment.
Rival hall operator Maruhan and two of Japan’s biggest pachinko machine makers, Sega Sammy and Konami, have also met casino operators, industry executives say. To gain experience in the resort business, Sega Sammy is building a $1.7 billion casino in the South Korean coastal city of Incheon with local gaming firm Paradise Co.
This diversification isn’t just driven by potential pachinko reforms. Pachinko revenues are falling as Japan’s population ages and as younger people turn to mobile devices for entertainment. On a recent visit to a brightly lit pachinko hall in an outlying Tokyo suburb, most of the players were middle-aged men.
While pachinko is unlikely to be badly hit in the short term — parlors are informal and widespread, while casinos will be upscale and out of town — a recent increase in Japan’s sales tax may squeeze small operators and accelerate consolidation.
Japan Times
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Tokyo office rents hit 4-year high in first half of 2014
The trend is shown by the office building rent index, which is based on rates when owners solicit new tenants. The index came to 129.81 in the first half for properties in Tokyo built a year or more ago, up 3.92 points on the year. It takes the February 1985 figure as 100.
Businesses are looking for more office space as they expand operations and conduct midcareer hiring.
Companies "are in strong need of improving their locations, as they think about hiring and other factors," says an official at Tokyo Tatemono, a leading real estate developer.
The index for new buildings, those less than a year old, fell. In this category, supply centers around midsize properties, which owners tend to have difficulty renting out at high rates.
In Osaka, meanwhile, the index for buildings at least a year old was 124.45, up 1.95 points. The figure for new buildings fell.
http://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Realty-Reality/Tokyo-office-rents-hit-4-year-high-in-first-half-of-2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
2013 - Yakuza membership shrinks to record low
It is tough to be in the organized crime business in Japan. The latest
figures provided by the National Police Agency (NPA) show that core
membership of the 21 largest yakuza groups has fallen steadily in the
last three years, but the decline was more marked in 2013.
According to the NPA, there were 58,600 registered gang members in 2013 - 25,600 identified as full members of recognized groups and 33,000 classified as "associate members."
That total figure is down by 4,600 from the previous year and the lowest since the Anti-Organized Crime Law first took effect in 1992, while arrests of gang members was put at 22,861 over the year, down 1,278 from 2012.
The law has been updated several times in the last 22 years, points out Jake Adelstein, author of "Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan" and an expert on Japan's underworld groups. The most significant change came on October 1, 2011, when it became a crime for anyone to pay protection money to a gang member.
Down from 80,000
"Membership was hovering around the 80,000 mark for years and years, but the law that criminalized paying protection money has really hit them hard," Adelstein told DW.
"Traditionally, a lower-ranking yakuza earned his money from protection in his neighborhood," Adelstein said. "He earned an income, paid his dues to the group, had the right to use the organization's name in his 'business' and generally terrorize people.
"But when these people could no longer pay their dues, they were no longer part of the gang and - like any corporation - they went out of business." And life for these relatively unskilled and unqualified members of Japanese society - some indelibly marked with the tattoos and missing fingers that single out members of the Japanese underworld - is subsequently tough.
Adelstein says his research indicates they often end up in the construction industry or driving trucks, but many eventually resort to crimes that are taboo in the yakuza world, such as theft and robbery. Many end up in prison and the suicide rate for former gangsters is higher than in general Japanese society.
Japanese gangs are also facing a challenge to their monopoly on the market here, with groups from China, Korea, Russia, Iran and elsewhere making inroads into their traditional heartlands.
Foreign crime groups
Some groups, such as those from Vietnam and Pakistan, specialize in stealing cars and jewelry and then ship their loot abroad. Others focus on importing heroin through Malaysia and other narcotics from Africa.
But another factor imperiling a segment of society that has always been considered a fact of life among the Japanese public are the nation's well-documents economic and demographic problems.
"It's a two-tier labor market and we're seeing the same thing in contractions in Japanese schools and corporations," said Jun Okumura, a visiting scholar at the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs.
"It could be argued that the yakuza were at the forefront of the downsizing movement here in Japan, turning to more irregular, part-time workers to complement their work force," he said.
And that means that income for the lowest level of gangsters is so pitifully low that the gangs are attracting fewer recruits. Combined with a falling birth rate, leading to a smaller pool of potential employees, the outlook for the underworld appears bleak.
New business opportunities
One possible way out is for gangsters to look overseas for opportunities. One of the most popular new areas they are examining is casino operations, in Macau, the Philippines and Cambodia.
"In Cambodia, there is no mafia presence, the entire political structure in the Philippines is corrupt so it's just a case of making sure you pay the correct people, while the underworld groups in Macau are not very strong," said Adelstein. "Others are setting up investment companies in Hong Kong and Singapore to manipulate stock market prices and make money in that way," he added.
As well as Asia, the yakuza's tentacles stretch as far as shell companies in the British Virgin Islands and Amsterdam, while one group is so brazen in its operations that it has little hesitation in sponsoring its own golf tournaments.
Overseas operations are, however, full of potential problems for crime syndicates that have previously focused their illegal intentions on the relatively easy domestic market. The most obvious threat to any business setting up in a foreign market is upsetting the local operators, as well as the need to carve out a new market for whatever sector that organization is working in.
And despite a history that stretches back to the 17th century, the yakuza are even fading in significance and influence in Japanese society. "When was the last time we saw a movie that glorified the yakuza?" asked Okumura. "That says something about this society. The yakuza just don't sell any more and maybe that is a result of social pressure not to glorify these people."
DW.de
According to the NPA, there were 58,600 registered gang members in 2013 - 25,600 identified as full members of recognized groups and 33,000 classified as "associate members."
That total figure is down by 4,600 from the previous year and the lowest since the Anti-Organized Crime Law first took effect in 1992, while arrests of gang members was put at 22,861 over the year, down 1,278 from 2012.
The law has been updated several times in the last 22 years, points out Jake Adelstein, author of "Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan" and an expert on Japan's underworld groups. The most significant change came on October 1, 2011, when it became a crime for anyone to pay protection money to a gang member.
Down from 80,000
"Membership was hovering around the 80,000 mark for years and years, but the law that criminalized paying protection money has really hit them hard," Adelstein told DW.
"Traditionally, a lower-ranking yakuza earned his money from protection in his neighborhood," Adelstein said. "He earned an income, paid his dues to the group, had the right to use the organization's name in his 'business' and generally terrorize people.
"But when these people could no longer pay their dues, they were no longer part of the gang and - like any corporation - they went out of business." And life for these relatively unskilled and unqualified members of Japanese society - some indelibly marked with the tattoos and missing fingers that single out members of the Japanese underworld - is subsequently tough.
Adelstein says his research indicates they often end up in the construction industry or driving trucks, but many eventually resort to crimes that are taboo in the yakuza world, such as theft and robbery. Many end up in prison and the suicide rate for former gangsters is higher than in general Japanese society.
Japanese gangs are also facing a challenge to their monopoly on the market here, with groups from China, Korea, Russia, Iran and elsewhere making inroads into their traditional heartlands.
Foreign crime groups
Some groups, such as those from Vietnam and Pakistan, specialize in stealing cars and jewelry and then ship their loot abroad. Others focus on importing heroin through Malaysia and other narcotics from Africa.
But another factor imperiling a segment of society that has always been considered a fact of life among the Japanese public are the nation's well-documents economic and demographic problems.
"It's a two-tier labor market and we're seeing the same thing in contractions in Japanese schools and corporations," said Jun Okumura, a visiting scholar at the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs.
"It could be argued that the yakuza were at the forefront of the downsizing movement here in Japan, turning to more irregular, part-time workers to complement their work force," he said.
And that means that income for the lowest level of gangsters is so pitifully low that the gangs are attracting fewer recruits. Combined with a falling birth rate, leading to a smaller pool of potential employees, the outlook for the underworld appears bleak.
New business opportunities
One possible way out is for gangsters to look overseas for opportunities. One of the most popular new areas they are examining is casino operations, in Macau, the Philippines and Cambodia.
"In Cambodia, there is no mafia presence, the entire political structure in the Philippines is corrupt so it's just a case of making sure you pay the correct people, while the underworld groups in Macau are not very strong," said Adelstein. "Others are setting up investment companies in Hong Kong and Singapore to manipulate stock market prices and make money in that way," he added.
As well as Asia, the yakuza's tentacles stretch as far as shell companies in the British Virgin Islands and Amsterdam, while one group is so brazen in its operations that it has little hesitation in sponsoring its own golf tournaments.
Overseas operations are, however, full of potential problems for crime syndicates that have previously focused their illegal intentions on the relatively easy domestic market. The most obvious threat to any business setting up in a foreign market is upsetting the local operators, as well as the need to carve out a new market for whatever sector that organization is working in.
And despite a history that stretches back to the 17th century, the yakuza are even fading in significance and influence in Japanese society. "When was the last time we saw a movie that glorified the yakuza?" asked Okumura. "That says something about this society. The yakuza just don't sell any more and maybe that is a result of social pressure not to glorify these people."
DW.de
2013 - Land Price Rises in Big Cities and also Disaster Areas
Residential land prices in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya rose by an average
of 0.5 percent in the 12 months to Jan. 1, while commercial land prices
increased by an average of 1.6 percent, both rising for the first time
in six years, the government said Tuesday.
While average residential prices nationwide edged down 0.6 percent, and commercial property dropped 0.5 percent, the number of survey locations seeing land price increases jumped to around 7,000 from about 2,000 in 2012, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said in an annual report.
The highest land price was ¥29.6 million per square meter at Yamano Music Co.’s head office in Tokyo’s Ginza district.
The survey showed that land prices are recovering not only in the major metropolitan areas but in other locations as well.
A ministry official attributed the recovery to rising demand for condos and offices due to the Abe administration’s aggressive economic policies and low interest rates.
Some survey locations, including in Tokyo, saw price increases of more than 10 percent, but the official denied the possibility of an economic bubble backed by speculative purchases.
While commercial prices rose in all three major metropolitan areas, residential prices edged down 0.1 percent in Osaka.
Both residential and commercial land prices increased in Sapporo, Sendai, Fukuoka, Kusatsu in Shiga Prefecture and Naha in Okinawa. However, land prices declined at more than 70 percent of the survey locations in non-metropolitan areas.
In Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, the three prefectures hit hardest by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the number of survey locations that saw price rises increased due to growing demand for land amid reconstruction work.
Residential land prices rose 2.5 percent in Miyagi while Fukushima saw a 1.2 percent increase.
A residential location in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, saw a 15.1 percent increase, the highest among residential locations.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/18/business/land-prices-rise-in-big-metro-areas/#.UyjvP1GSx1M
While average residential prices nationwide edged down 0.6 percent, and commercial property dropped 0.5 percent, the number of survey locations seeing land price increases jumped to around 7,000 from about 2,000 in 2012, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said in an annual report.
The highest land price was ¥29.6 million per square meter at Yamano Music Co.’s head office in Tokyo’s Ginza district.
The survey showed that land prices are recovering not only in the major metropolitan areas but in other locations as well.
A ministry official attributed the recovery to rising demand for condos and offices due to the Abe administration’s aggressive economic policies and low interest rates.
Some survey locations, including in Tokyo, saw price increases of more than 10 percent, but the official denied the possibility of an economic bubble backed by speculative purchases.
While commercial prices rose in all three major metropolitan areas, residential prices edged down 0.1 percent in Osaka.
Both residential and commercial land prices increased in Sapporo, Sendai, Fukuoka, Kusatsu in Shiga Prefecture and Naha in Okinawa. However, land prices declined at more than 70 percent of the survey locations in non-metropolitan areas.
In Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, the three prefectures hit hardest by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the number of survey locations that saw price rises increased due to growing demand for land amid reconstruction work.
Residential land prices rose 2.5 percent in Miyagi while Fukushima saw a 1.2 percent increase.
A residential location in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, saw a 15.1 percent increase, the highest among residential locations.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/18/business/land-prices-rise-in-big-metro-areas/#.UyjvP1GSx1M
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Cerberus Exits Kokusai Kogyo Investment
Cerberus Capital Management has exited one of its two remaining investments in Japan, a majority stake in property company Kokusai Kogyo.
The deal was valued at as much as ¥140 billion (€1 billion; $1.37 billion), according to media reports. Cerberus did not comment on the sale, but the reports have stated that the private equity firm has offloaded its remaining 55 percent stake in Kokusai to the company’s founding family. The price has been placed at between ¥130 billion and ¥140 billion.
Cerberus originally bought a 65 percent stake in Kokusai in 2004 for an undisclosed amount. It was also reported at the time that Cerberus bought approximately ¥500 billion in loans to the Japanese company for a 50 percent discount, from lenders including the UFJ Group, formerly Japan’s fourth largest bank that was bought by Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group in 2005.
Cerberus does not have a dedicated real estate fund for Asia.
The Kokusai exit marks Cerberus’ second major exit in Japan in two years, after the firm reportedly raised about JPY 146 billion (€1.2 billion; $1.7 billion) by selling its shares in Japan’s Aozora Bank.
Cerberus also sold out of its Japanese love hotel investments in 2013.
This exit leaves Cerberus with only one major investment in the Japan market: a one-third stake in railroad and hotel operator Seibu Holdings.
PERE New
PERE New
Monday, February 3, 2014
Tokyo's Real Estate Market Back to Life
After decades drowning in deflation, Japan’s property market is
re-emerging, with average prices for new condos in Tokyo hitting levels
not seen since 1992, the Real Estate Economic Institute said this week.
If the trend continues and broadens, it could mark a turnaround in the
long-dormant financial fortunes of the world's third-largest economy.
Such a turnaround is long overdue: Japan’s real estate prices have been falling for nearly 25 years. From 1990 to 2002, falling real estate prices swallowed an estimated $9.3 trillion of the nation’s wealth, according to the Nomura Research Institute.
Now there's evidence from various sectors that the real estate market is rising.
1. Tokyo’s new condo sales grew 31 percent between May and December 2013, compared to the same period in 2012. The average price of new condos in Osaka rose by 8.8 percent in June 2013 from a year earlier, Global Property Guide said late last year
2. Resale prices are also rebounding, although at a slower pace. Sales of existing condos in and surrounding Tokyo grew 17 percent between May and September last year compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Real Estate Information Network for East Japan. The Tokyo Stock Exchange Home Price Index grew 3.3 percent in October from a year earlier. That’s still 11 percent below the precrisis 2007 peak and 59 percent below June 1993 prices, the earliest data available.
3. Though overall land prices are still falling-- average property prices are still 71 percent below their peak in 1991, according to a report released last week by the Bank of Japan-- land prices near major metropolitan areas are increasing. From June 2012 to June 2013, the average price of land in the Tokyo area grew by 5.2 percent, according to the Land Institute of Japan. In the Osaka area, the average land price grew by 2.3 percent in the same period. According to a Japanese government survey, more than two-thirds of major urban areas saw their property values rise last summer. In July, Moody’s upgraded its rating of Japan’s property market from negative to stable.
4. Residential construction is increasing. The number of new home buildings increased by 8.6 percent to 451,063 in the first half of 2013, compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
5. If Japan's fiscal and monetary efforts to stimulate the economy succeed -- including the Bank of Japan's goal of inflation climbing to 2 percent -- interest rates will rise, lowering the cost of fixed-rate mortgages and, thus, motivating potential borrowers to take out loans that can be paid back with ever-cheapening money.
The road ahead could be bumpy. New home sales may be up now because of a planned sales-tax hike in April. But even with a tax hike in April, the real estate recovery may continue: Unlike the last sales-tax hike in April 1997, Japan’s economic policies under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have raised expectations for higher prices ahead and encouraged businesses to invest more. To offset any negative impact from the tax hike, the Abe administration is preparing a stimulus package of up to 5 trillion yen (about $48.3 billion).
http://www.ibtimes.com/five-signs-japans-long-dead-real-estate-market-has-finally-come-back-life-1546719
Such a turnaround is long overdue: Japan’s real estate prices have been falling for nearly 25 years. From 1990 to 2002, falling real estate prices swallowed an estimated $9.3 trillion of the nation’s wealth, according to the Nomura Research Institute.
Now there's evidence from various sectors that the real estate market is rising.
1. Tokyo’s new condo sales grew 31 percent between May and December 2013, compared to the same period in 2012. The average price of new condos in Osaka rose by 8.8 percent in June 2013 from a year earlier, Global Property Guide said late last year
2. Resale prices are also rebounding, although at a slower pace. Sales of existing condos in and surrounding Tokyo grew 17 percent between May and September last year compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Real Estate Information Network for East Japan. The Tokyo Stock Exchange Home Price Index grew 3.3 percent in October from a year earlier. That’s still 11 percent below the precrisis 2007 peak and 59 percent below June 1993 prices, the earliest data available.
3. Though overall land prices are still falling-- average property prices are still 71 percent below their peak in 1991, according to a report released last week by the Bank of Japan-- land prices near major metropolitan areas are increasing. From June 2012 to June 2013, the average price of land in the Tokyo area grew by 5.2 percent, according to the Land Institute of Japan. In the Osaka area, the average land price grew by 2.3 percent in the same period. According to a Japanese government survey, more than two-thirds of major urban areas saw their property values rise last summer. In July, Moody’s upgraded its rating of Japan’s property market from negative to stable.
4. Residential construction is increasing. The number of new home buildings increased by 8.6 percent to 451,063 in the first half of 2013, compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
5. If Japan's fiscal and monetary efforts to stimulate the economy succeed -- including the Bank of Japan's goal of inflation climbing to 2 percent -- interest rates will rise, lowering the cost of fixed-rate mortgages and, thus, motivating potential borrowers to take out loans that can be paid back with ever-cheapening money.
The road ahead could be bumpy. New home sales may be up now because of a planned sales-tax hike in April. But even with a tax hike in April, the real estate recovery may continue: Unlike the last sales-tax hike in April 1997, Japan’s economic policies under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have raised expectations for higher prices ahead and encouraged businesses to invest more. To offset any negative impact from the tax hike, the Abe administration is preparing a stimulus package of up to 5 trillion yen (about $48.3 billion).
http://www.ibtimes.com/five-signs-japans-long-dead-real-estate-market-has-finally-come-back-life-1546719
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Asian Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (ANREV) Reports Japan Office is favourite country/sector for foreign investors
The seventh edition of the Investment Intentions Asia Pacific Survey is marked by a sharply higher number of respondents, with investors now representing more than half of the total respondents. This year, allocations to non-listed property funds will continue to increase. Investors show a slight preference for value added funds, and clear interest in multi country/sector funds suggesting an appetite for increased risk. Japan office is the favourite country/sector combination for investors to invest.
ANREV 2014 Report
ANREV 2014 Report
TEPCO returns to profits on 8.5% higher electricity charges
TEPCO operator
of the wrecked Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power station,
returned to profit in the first nine months of its fiscal year
after raising customers’ electricity rates and cutting costs.
Operating profit was 231.3 billion yen ($2.25 billion) in the nine months ended Dec. 31, compared with an operating loss of 114.5 billion yen a year earlier, according to a statement today from the company known as Tepco.
The return to profit was led by increased revenues after the utility, which serves 29 million customers in the Tokyo metropolitan area, raised electricity rates for households by 8.5 percent in September 2012. The increase boosted electricity sales by 9.9 percent to 4.3 trillion yen.
Net income was 772.9 billion yen after a government injection into the utility’s fund for payouts to people and companies affected by the Fukushima disaster in March 2011.
Tepco’s operating profit target for the year ending March is 134 billion yen, compared with an operating loss of 222 billion yen the previous year.
Tepco cut staff and deferred repair work to keep expenses from ballooning, despite increased fossil fuel purchases to make up for lost nuclear capacity amid a depreciating Japanese currency, the utility said. Ordinary expenses rose 1.9 percent to 4.67 trillion yen, compared with a 12.3 percent increase the previous year.
The company expects to pay a record 2.9 trillion yen for fuel in the current fiscal year, during which all of its nuclear reactors were offline for safety checks after the Fukushima disaster, up from 2.7 trillion yen a year ago, Managing Executive Officer Katsuyuki Sumiyoshi said today at a press conference.
Bloomberg
Operating profit was 231.3 billion yen ($2.25 billion) in the nine months ended Dec. 31, compared with an operating loss of 114.5 billion yen a year earlier, according to a statement today from the company known as Tepco.
The return to profit was led by increased revenues after the utility, which serves 29 million customers in the Tokyo metropolitan area, raised electricity rates for households by 8.5 percent in September 2012. The increase boosted electricity sales by 9.9 percent to 4.3 trillion yen.
Net income was 772.9 billion yen after a government injection into the utility’s fund for payouts to people and companies affected by the Fukushima disaster in March 2011.
Tepco’s operating profit target for the year ending March is 134 billion yen, compared with an operating loss of 222 billion yen the previous year.
Tepco cut staff and deferred repair work to keep expenses from ballooning, despite increased fossil fuel purchases to make up for lost nuclear capacity amid a depreciating Japanese currency, the utility said. Ordinary expenses rose 1.9 percent to 4.67 trillion yen, compared with a 12.3 percent increase the previous year.
The company expects to pay a record 2.9 trillion yen for fuel in the current fiscal year, during which all of its nuclear reactors were offline for safety checks after the Fukushima disaster, up from 2.7 trillion yen a year ago, Managing Executive Officer Katsuyuki Sumiyoshi said today at a press conference.
Bloomberg
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