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Premises for a dispensing pharmacy — use zones and the structure-and-equipment standards to check
For a dispensing pharmacy, two things bite first: the use zone (a pharmacy is treated as a shop and, unlike a clinic, is subject to use-zone restrictions), and the Structure and Equipment Regulations — a floor area of roughly 19.8 m² or more, a dispensing room of 6.6 m² or more, and a clean partition. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what to confirm before you sign.
A property for an after-school day-service: use zone, ground floor, area and evacuation decide it
A property fit for child development support or after-school day-service is decided by roughly five things — the use zone (child welfare facilities cannot be built only in an exclusive industrial zone), the training room and its area (a ministerial ordinance plus municipal by-laws), ease of evacuation (a ground floor keeps this light), fire-service classification, and seismic standard. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what a landlord or tenant can confirm at the property-selection stage.
An inherited vacant house: demolish and sell as cleared land, or sell as land with an old house?
Whether to demolish an inherited vacant house and sell cleared land, or sell it as "land with an old house" (as-is), turns on four things — demolition cost versus the fixed-asset tax that rises once the residential-land measure falls away; the buyer segment; contract-nonconformity liability and who bears demolition; and how the vacant-house 30-million-yen special deduction is applied. Since 2024 the deduction can be used whether you clear the land first or the buyer demolishes after delivery, so the timing of demolition moves your net proceeds. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out the comparison.
A grooming salon or pet shop — what to confirm in the premises before you open
For a grooming salon or pet shop, the first things that trip you up are whether the premises can meet the animal-facility standards (cages, washing, disinfection, ventilation, drainage), whether odour and barking will clash with the neighbours, and whether the lease bans "keeping animals." First-category animal-handling registration is granted per business establishment, so the premises being able to meet the facility standards is a precondition. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what to confirm before you sign.
What premises can become a Sakoju? The reality of 25 m² per unit and barrier-free design
The skeleton of a property that can register as a service-provided housing for the elderly (Sakoju) is four things — each unit 25 m² or more in principle (18 m² if the shared areas are ample); a kitchen, toilet, washbasin, bath and storage in each unit or the shared areas; barrier-free corridors, level differences and handrails; and at least a status-check (safety-confirmation) service and a life-consultation service. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out the property conditions.
Opening a beauty or barber shop — what the health centre checks in your premises, and the use-zone rules
For a beauty or barber shop, the health centre looks at whether you can clearly separate the work area from the waiting area and whether the washing, disinfection, lighting and ventilation are in place. Unlike restaurants and clinics, salons are subject to use-zone restrictions. The opening notification is filed in advance, and you may not use the premises until the structural inspection is confirmed. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what to confirm before you sign.
Can you sell an inherited pre-1981 condo? The new seismic standard and the buyer's mortgage wall
An inherited old-seismic-standard condominium can be sold, but the dividing line is 1 June 1981. A building given its building confirmation on or after that date is "new seismic"; whether the buyer can get a mortgage and the tax reliefs turns on this. The key is whether the buyer can borrow. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what to confirm before you sell.
When a Chinese-speaking heir inherits a vacant house in Japan — what a real estate agent can do first
When a Chinese-speaking heir inherits a vacant house in Japan, a real estate agent can do four things right after the death — inspect the site, value it, maintain it, and prepare the sale. You do not have to be in Japan. These can proceed in parallel with the inheritance registration and the division of the estate. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out the scope from the primary sources.
Leasing or finding premises for small-scale childcare in Japan — what use zone and floor area actually decide
Premises for small-scale childcare do not stall on the use zone. A nursery can be built even in the most restrictive residential zone. What stalls a project is floor area per child, whether a change-of-use confirmation application is required, fire safety equipment, and the escape rules that apply above the ground floor. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what can be checked before the lease is signed.
You inherited a property that cannot be rebuilt — what to confirm before you sell
An inherited "no-rebuild" property is not unsellable, but its pricing and sale differ from an ordinary lot. Article 43 of the Building Standards Act requires the site to front a road for at least 2 metres; the "road" is defined by Article 42. Even where frontage falls short, there are routes — setback, buying adjacent land, and the certification or permission under Article 43(2). A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what to confirm before you sell.
The key points of the important-matters explanation to read before introducing a Japanese income property to a Chinese-speaking buyer
Before you introduce a Japanese income property to a Chinese-speaking buyer, the thing to read is the important-matters explanation under Article 35 of the Building Lots and Buildings Transaction Business Act — a statutory step in which a licensed transaction specialist explains, in writing, registered rights, statutory restrictions, private-road burdens and utilities before the contract is formed. Where the buyer is a non-resident, the foreign-exchange reporting and the tax checks come on top of it, first. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo, sets out the buy-side due-diligence view.
What to check first when selling or leasing farmland you have inherited
Inherited farmland splits into two paths before you can sell or lease it — keep it as farmland, or convert it to residential or other use. Keeping it as farmland for cultivation requires the agriculture committee's permission (Agricultural Land Act Article 3); converting it to sell requires the prefectural governor's permission (Articles 4 and 5), and within an urbanization promotion area a notification is enough. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo, sets out what can be checked before you contract.
Starting a trucking business in Japan — how to choose the premises and the garage before you sign
What stalls a green-plate trucking business is rarely the use zone. It is four other things you can check before signing a lease — whether the office and garage sit in an urbanisation control area, whether the straight-line distance between them is within the published limit, whether the garage holds every vehicle and fronts a road wide enough for them, and whether a rest facility can be attached to the office or garage. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets it out in order.
What to check before signing a lease for a clinic in Japan — zoning, change of use, and the opening notification
Under Japanese zoning rules a shinryojo (clinic) can be built in all thirteen use zones. What actually stalls a clinic project is something else — whether you will have inpatient beds, whether a change-of-use confirmation application is required, what fire safety equipment the building already has, and whether the operator is an individual physician or a medical corporation. A licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo sets out what can be checked before the lease is signed.
You inherited the house, but the land is leased — when the landowner's consent is needed, and in what order to sell
Inheriting a building that stands on leased land does not require the landowner's consent. Consent is required when you sell it. This article sets out the dividing line between the old and the new Japanese leasehold statutes, why the registration of the building — not the land right — is what makes a leasehold enforceable against third parties, and what documents to gather before a sale. Written by a licensed real estate agent and administrative scrivener in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
What really happens with offices and housing when a Taiwanese company sets up in Japan
When a Taiwanese company opens a base in Japan, the time is not spent searching for property. Incorporation, residence status and hiring form a queue of procedures, and the lease sits inside it. This article covers what landlords and guarantee companies check when a foreign corporation is the tenant, whether the office or the representative's residence comes first, how leased company housing works, and where Japanese practice differs from Taiwan's. Consultation is free of charge, in Japanese or Chinese.
Building a wooden rental apartment building in Tokyo: is three storeys possible, and how much is the Tokyo subsidy?
A rental apartment building can be built in timber up to three storeys in Japan. Tokyo subsidises newly built zero-emission homes (Tokyo Zero-Emission House) at up to 2 million yen per unit for apartment buildings — around 20 million yen for a ten-unit building. Written for landowners and investors considering land utilisation and rental management in Tokyo, this article covers the feasibility of timber construction, how it compares with reinforced concrete, the amounts and conditions of the Tokyo subsidy, and impressions from visiting a three-storey wooden rental building. Consultation is free of charge.
For real estate professionals in Greater China: working with a licensed Japanese broker on property deals in Japan
Brokering real estate transactions in Japan as a business requires a Japanese real estate brokerage licence (takken licence). An overseas firm without one proceeds by dividing roles with a licensed Japanese broker. This article is for real estate companies and agents in Greater China who want to introduce Japanese properties to their clients. It covers how roles are divided, who delivers the statutory explanation of important matters, what happens at settlement when the seller is a non-resident, how bulk deals for a whole building or multiple units proceed, and what you can ask Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. to handle. Consultation is free of charge, in Chinese or English.
Bought property in Tokyo as a non-resident? You have 20 days to file under FEFTA — and from April 2026 purpose no longer matters
A non-resident who acquires real estate in Japan must file a report with the Minister of Finance through the Bank of Japan within 20 days. For acquisitions from 1 April 2026 the real estate itself is reportable regardless of whether it was bought to live in or as an investment, and the exemption for acquisitions from another non-resident has been abolished. The property registration number is now a reportable item, so the registration and the 20-day deadline have to be worked backwards together. The article sets two primary sources side by side — Tokyo up 58.5% (first worldwide) in Knight Frank's The Wealth Report 2026, and MLIT's registry-based count of 308 acquisitions in the 23 wards of Tokyo by persons with an address abroad, 192 of them Taiwanese — so that both "Taiwan is the largest source of buyers" and "3.0% across the Tokyo Metropolis" are held at once. Written by Joji Uramatsu, real estate transaction specialist and administrative scrivener. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku, five minutes from Myogadani Station.
If I file a tax agent notification with the tax office, does that cover my resident tax too? — Local taxes go to a different counter
Filing the "所得税・消費税の納税管理人の届出書" (Notification of a Tax Agent for Income Tax and Consumption Tax) with your tax office does nothing about your resident tax or your fixed asset tax. Local taxes run on a separate procedure under the Local Tax Act (地方税法), and in Tokyo's 23 special wards the counters split again. You file your tax agent (納税管理人) for special ward resident tax and metropolitan resident tax with the ward, and for fixed asset tax and city planning tax with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. That is because in the 23 wards the fixed asset tax is a metropolitan tax (Local Tax Act, Article 734, paragraph 1; Article 736, paragraph 1). Resident tax is imposed on whoever has an address there on 1 January (same Act, Article 294, paragraph 1, item 1; Article 318), so even if you leave Japan on or after 2 January, that fiscal year is still taxed. The Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance on Metropolitan Taxes (東京都都税条例), Article 125 requires the filing "within 10 days from the day the need to appoint arises," and if you choose someone living outside the metropolitan area, an application for approval at least 10 days in advance. There are at least three places to file.
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