COLUMN
Column
Housing tips for international residents, rental & sales knowledge, Bunkyo-ku area information, and more.
Useful real estate insights delivered to you.
Can a non-resident buyer from Greater China get an apartment loan for a Japanese income property?
When a non-resident (from China or Taiwan) living abroad buys a Japanese income property, domestic apartment loans and proper loans often require a Japanese address (resident registration), permanent residence, or a Japanese guarantor — so a non-resident acting alone has limited options, and approval is each lender's own call. Cash settlement is therefore the mainstay, and timing the settlement date backwards from when an overseas remittance clears is the key. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out financing and cash settlement at purchase.
Can an inherited building burdened with a spousal right of residence be sold? Valuation, buyers, and extinguishment in practice
Even a building carrying a spousal right of residence can be sold by the heir who inherited the ownership. But if the right of residence is registered it is enforceable against the buyer (Civil Code Art. 1031), and the right itself cannot be transferred to a third party (Civil Code Art. 1032 (2)) — so in practice the surviving spouse waives or extinguishes it by agreement and the registration is cancelled before an unencumbered sale. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out whether it can be sold and in what order.
You inherited a rental property that is under a sublease (master lease) — how the contract and the rent carry over
Inheriting a rental property that a parent had placed under a sublease (a master lease, or ikkatsu kariage) means you inherit the owner's position as lessor by universal succession. You cannot terminate the master lease simply because an inheritance has occurred, and even a "rent guarantee" does not rule out a rent-reduction demand from the sublease operator. Written by a licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo, from the statutes and public sources.
What kind of property can host a dementia group home? Use zones, size and fire-safety requirements
A dementia group home (dementia-responsive communal living care) cannot be opened in just any property. Four things bite while choosing the property: whether the municipality's "daily-living area" still has capacity (supply control), that the building is category (6)-ro under the Fire Service Act Enforcement Order and needs sprinklers and other fire equipment, the 5-9 residents per unit and up to three units per office scale, and whether converting an existing building needs a change-of-use confirmation application. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what can be narrowed from the documents first.
The inherited family home has an unregistered building. Can you still sell it? The route from the description registration
An inherited family home may include an unregistered building, and it can be sold — but buyers and banks usually require registration, so in practice you enter the "description registration" and the "preservation-of-ownership registration" before selling, then put it into the heir's name. The order is (1) a land and house investigator files the building description registration (Real Property Registration Act Art. 47), (2) a judicial scrivener files the preservation-of-ownership registration (Art. 74), (3) the registration into the inheritance. Paying fixed-asset tax while the building is unregistered is not unusual. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo explains.
Should a Chinese or Taiwanese buyer hold a Japanese income property through a company or as an individual?
When a non-resident from Greater China holds an income property in Japan, whether to hold it through a Japanese asset-management company or as an individual is a question to settle before buying. The dividing lines are three — rent received by a non-resident individual comes with withholding tax and a tax return; rent received by a Japanese company (a domestic corporation) is outside non-resident withholding but the company has setup and running costs; and either way a tax agent may be required. The final judgment on advantage belongs to a licensed tax accountant. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out the picture from the property side.
Converting an older building with no certificate of inspection into a welfare facility — what to look at before you choose the property
A second-hand property with no certificate of inspection (kensazumisho) can sometimes still be converted into a disability-welfare or day-service facility. What changes is what you look at while choosing the property: whether the floor area used for that purpose exceeds 200 m² (which triggers a change-of-use confirmation application), whether a certificate of inspection exists or its legality can be verified through a compliance-status survey, and whether the building is a lawful non-conforming one or an illegal one. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what can be narrowed down from the documents before any viewing.
Finding premises for a residential-type fee-paying elderly home — zoning, fire equipment and floor area
For a residential-type fee-paying elderly home (jutaku-gata yuryo rojin home), three things bite first: zoning (a fee-paying elderly home counts as an 'elderly home' among child-welfare-type facilities, buildable in every use zone except the exclusive industrial zone); fire equipment (whether it falls under item (6)-ro or (6)-ha of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Order table changes whether sprinklers are needed regardless of area or only at 6,000㎡+); and room floor area (no single statutory figure, but the standard guideline suggests private rooms of 13㎡+ per resident). A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo explains.
Can inherited land be sold while the boundary is unfixed? When a confirmed survey is needed
Inherited land can be sold even while the boundary is unfixed. But buyers and banks often want a 'confirmed survey plan' (kakutei sokuryo-zu), and without one the price can drop or handover can slip. If the boundary becomes a dispute, you move to the boundary-determination (hikkai tokutei) system (Real Property Registration Act Art. 123 onward, in force since 2006) and to subdivision registration — both handled by a land and house surveyor. Ordering the inheritance registration (judicial scrivener) and capital-gains tax (tax accountant) alongside the survey reduces backtracking. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo explains.
Opening a home-visit nursing station — what conditions must the premises meet?
For a home-visit nursing station, the law first asks for two things about the premises: a dedicated office, and the equipment and supplies needed to provide home-visit nursing (Ministerial Ordinance No. 37 of 1999, Art. 62). Because the service goes to the client's home, no resident rooms are needed. Zoning is also relatively easy: a technical notice treats these offices as 'senior welfare centres and the like,' buildable even in residential-only zones. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what you can check before signing.
An heir living abroad — how to sell an inherited, tenanted apartment
When an heir living abroad sells a tenanted apartment they inherited, three conditions overlap (inheritance, tenanted, non-resident seller). Key points: an owner-change sale carries the lease, the deposit and the tenant over to the buyer (transfer of the lessor's position, Civil Code Art. 605-2; the deposit is assumed by the transferee); inheritance registration must be done first even to sell (Real Property Registration Act Art. 76-2, in force 1 April 2024); and where the seller is a non-resident, the buyer withholds 10.21% of the sale price, later settled by tax return. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out the steps.
Opening a restaurant in a skeleton (bare-shell) unit — how exhaust, grease trap and fire safety decide the property
Whether a skeleton (bare-shell) unit works for a restaurant is mostly decided before you sign, by four things: the use zone, whether an exhaust duct can reach the exterior wall or roof, whether a grease trap can be retrofitted, and whether fire compartments, sprinklers and escape routes hold up for the floor and area. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what to confirm first.
Selling inherited co-owned real estate — when everyone's consent is needed, and selling only your own share
To sell inherited co-owned real estate as a whole, you need the consent of all co-owners (Civil Code Article 251(1)). Your own share alone, though, can be sold to a third party without the others' consent — but a share alone has limited use, so its price tends to be lower and buyers are few. When talks break down, co-ownership partition (Articles 256 and 258) begins the lawyer's territory. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo explains.
Which clauses trip up Chinese-speaking buyers in a Japanese sale contract (deposit, loan condition, non-conformity)?
What most trips up Chinese-speaking buyers in a Japanese sale contract is that the earnest deposit plays a different role from China's "dingjin", that the loan condition (financing-use special clause) unwinds the contract with no penalty, and that non-conformity liability runs on a "notify within one year of learning of it" clock. All can be headed off by reading the clauses first, in the contract and the important-matters explanation. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo, reads the three clauses against Chinese practice.
What are the property requirements for a certified auto workshop (specified-maintenance certification)?
A property usable as a certified auto workshop (specified maintenance, Article 78 of the Road Transport Vehicle Act) turns on three things — whether the use-zone allows an auto repair shop, whether the certification-standard work bays fit with enough width and ceiling height, and whether the floor and frontage road can take lift work and the vehicles. All can be checked before you sign. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo, sets out what to confirm before the lease.
Can inherited land in an urbanization-control area be sold? Existing housing land and development permission
Inherited land in an urbanization-control area can be sold — transferring ownership needs no development permission. What moves the price is whether the buyer can build. The old "existing housing land" scheme was abolished in 2001; rebuildability is now decided by by-law areas and case-by-case permission. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what to confirm before signing.
A property for an after-school children's club (gakudo): use zone, area and evacuation
A property usable for an after-school children's club (a healthy-development service for after-school children) is decided by the use zone, the exclusive-area figure (roughly 1.65 m² per child under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare ordinance), evacuation, fire service and seismic standard. This is a different scheme from an after-school day-service. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what a landlord or tenant can confirm before signing.
Premises for an acupuncture or judo-therapy clinic — what to check on the use zone and the health-centre notification
For an acupuncture (shinkyu) or bonesetting/judo-therapy (seikotsuin) clinic, two things bite first — the use zone (unlike a medical clinic, a treatment facility is generally treated like a service-business shop and is subject to use-zone restrictions) and whether you can meet the structure-and-equipment standards (a dedicated treatment room of 6.6 m² or more, a waiting room of 3.3 m² or more, ventilation and disinfection equipment). The opening notification is filed by the practitioner within 10 days after opening. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what to confirm before you sign.
Where Taiwanese professionals stumble on Japan's registration and the title deed
Taiwan's title deed (權狀) and Japan's registration identification information both attest to the owner's identity, but their nature differs. In 2004 Japan abolished the paper title deed and switched to a 12-character registration identification code. The authoritative record of ownership is the register, and even without the deed or the code you can still sell, via prior notice or an agent's identity-verification information. In Japan only a judicial scrivener may act as agent for a transfer of ownership; a Taiwanese land agent (地政士) cannot. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out the differences from the statutes.
Selling inherited real estate by conversion division — title, registration and apportioning the capital-gains tax
Selling inherited real estate and splitting the cash is 'conversion division.' Two points: even if you register in a representative's name and sell, so long as it is merely for convenience of conversion and the proceeds are distributed as agreed, gift tax is not an issue (National Tax Agency Q&A); and the capital-gains tax on the profit is filed by each heir according to their share. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out the order of the work.
Feel free to reach out for a consultation
Questions about our column articles are also welcome.
It's fine to start with just one line: “What should I do with this?”
Our representative replies to you personally, and if a property matches your needs, we will introduce it via LINE.
LINE connects you directly to our representative, Joji Uramatsu. Messages are accepted 24/7 and answered in order.
5 min walk from Myogadani Sta. (Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line)｜10:00–18:00 (Closed Tue & Wed)