Average Japan land price rises 2.7% as tourism drives values
The average price of land in Japan rose 2.7 percent in 2025, the fourth straight year it has climbed and the fastest pace of increase since the calculation method was changed in 2010, as the nation's booming tourist sector has pushed up values, government data showed Tuesday, Kyodo reports.
With land prices also driven by developments around train stations in urban areas, the average price rose at the fastest pace for the second straight year, though some rural regions continued to see declining values.
The National Tax Agency's latest survey of prices per 1 square meter of land facing major roads is used to calculate inheritance and gift taxes. It is based on data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and reflects land transactions.
By prefecture, Tokyo saw the sharpest rise at 8.1 percent, followed by Okinawa at 6.3 percent and Fukuoka at 6.0 percent, with the number of prefectures seeing land prices growth rising from 29 in 2024 to 35 in 2025, the data showed.
In Tokyo, the price of land on Kaminarimon Street in the popular tourist district of Asakusa jumped 29 percent, marking the steepest climb in the capital.
Popular tourist destinations outside Tokyo also experienced sharp increases, with land prices in the mountain village of Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture and the city of Furano near Hokkaido ski areas growing 32.4 percent and 30.2 percent, respectively.
"Areas popular among inbound tourists are expected to continue seeing the highest land price increases, as the number of visitors to Japan continues reaching record highs," said Fumiko Watanabe, a researcher at the NLI Research Institute.
Among prefectural capitals, the price around Omiya Station in Saitama and Chiba Station in Chiba surged at 11.9 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively, propped up by convenient commuting access and ongoing redevelopment projects.
Meanwhile, land prices in 12 of the 47 prefectures logged declines, with Niigata, Yamanashi, Nara and Kochi seeing bigger falls than the previous year.
Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan, which was hit by a major earthquake on Jan. 1 last year, saw its land price rise by 0.7 percent, but a street in Wajima devastated by the disaster plunged 16.7 percent.
The land in front of Kyukyodo stationery store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district was the most expensive spot in the country for the 40th consecutive year at 48.08 million yen ($334,000) per square meter, up 8.7 percent from the year before.
As reported previously, China has lifted its ban on Japanese seafood imports imposed in August 2023 following the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
