Japan's priciest land plot in Ginza hits 22-year high

Something is not right. The economy here by all rights should be close to toilet flush stage. I find these "statistics" and cheery data kind of scary. I wonder how much the average person cares about the smoke and mirrors being played on them.

Right...they read the newspapers and the newspapers are always right!

That's a crazy price for land, though.

“Early indications of a bubble are strengthening” in the most expensive areas,” said Takashi Ishizawa, senior analyst at Mizuho Securities.

“On the other hand, regions with falling populations likely won’t see their land prices rising again. Tokyo is growing at the expense of the declining regional economies.”

Therefore, it's not really a bubble. There is increased demand for land in urban areas where economic activity is strong and an ever decreasing demand for land in non-urban or even sub-urban areas where economic activity is stagnant if not falling.

Interesting how all those Japanese with a special appreciation of nature and love for furasato don't really want to live or even visit there often.

Jeff: They have no time to visit said furasato and nature areas.

Plus, I do believe they actually prefer cement, and not to go outside anyway. Sort a cave dwelling mentality.<

Don't know how true it was, but I remember hearing in the late 80s that if you laid a 1,000 yen bill on the ground in the Ginza, the area it covered was valued at ~1,000,000USD.

What a joke! Imagine who benefits from rising in Ginza? No, nor can I! Meanwhile, land prices in the areas outside are falling,abandoned houses increasing. Try raising a family in Tokyo's polluted environment where there is so much heat absorbing concrete that it has its own micro climate.....

Time to buy an older farmhouse in the country, methinks. Wish my family had owned a slice of Ginza or bought something there just after the war......

Interesting how all those Japanese with a special appreciation of nature and love for furasato don't really want to live or even visit there often.

Most of Japan's countryside has had faster broadband than many UK cities for over ten years. The takkyubin people can get you most things to you in twenty-four hours, and most regional cities are well served by (underused) express trains and/or highways. If people had the will to decentralize, the infrastructure is already there.

The economy here by all rights should be close to toilet flush stage

Spot on.

Tokyo land prices rose 2.1%. The yen conitinued to fall against other major currencies and its purchasing power decreased. Therefore, a rise of 2.1% in yen does not represent a rise in true value.

Then we see the effect of Abenomics. Foreign companies are borrowing yen at low interests rates to buy not Japanese products but prime real estate in Japan.

Tokyo land prices rose 2.1%. The yen conitinued to fall against other major currencies and its purchasing power decreased. Therefore, a rise of 2.1% in yen does not represent a rise in true value.

Yes and no. If you are comparing to other currencies, then no. But the property is in Japan, and the prices is in Japanese yen, so there is an increase in value. If the owner is in Japan, this would be an increase in value. If the owner is overseas, then it wouldn't be an increase in value.

kohakuebisuJUL. 02, 2015 - 03:15PM JST Most of Japan's countryside has had faster broadband than many UK cities for over ten years. The takkyubin people can get you most things to you in twenty-four hours, and most regional cities are well served by (underused) express trains and/or highways. If people had the will to decentralize, the infrastructure is already there.

Where are people finding all this broadband service even in the suburbs?

Otherwise, as you note, Japan certainly has the infrastructure to be a lot more decentralized than it is. However, most regional cities are even less liveable than the major cities (in the broadest terms) and none, except some of those of historic significance, have the slightest idea of how to make themselves more appealing. The biggest problem, though, is corporations who will not decentralize.