Happy new year!  We at REthink Media wish you all the best in your personal and professional endeavours for 2022.

Looking back at 2021, there were many currents of movement throughout the residential real estate sector in both Tokyo and Japan but one clear trend was the movement towards Zero Energy Homes (ZEH) and ZEH-Mansion (or ZEH-M referring to condominiums) architecture permeating throughout the industry in either new builds or via retrofits.

This movement is to support Japan’s goals of carbon neutrality by 2050.  ZEH, and by relation the Zero Energy Building (or ZEB) architecture in the commercial space, is the industry’s main thrust of contribution to realizing those goals.

The second crystal clear trend in 2021 is somewhat tied to the first; the increased purchases by global institutional investors of Japanese multifamily investment properties to an extent never seen before.

Why are the two connected?  ZEH architecture lowers operating costs for buildings in both common and exclusive areas.  Solar panel installation makes up a large portion of ZEH initiatives and in addition to reducing reliance on supplied energy, any excess energy generated by the real estate itself can be sold back to the grid forming a secondary source of income in addition to rental income generated.

Below are some of the articles published on REThink Tokyo during the year providing further insight into the market movements as well as several other topics that were popular with readers throughout the year.

Also included below are two popular topics with readers; Matthew Ketchum’s take on why everyone gets akiya in Japan wrong and Brandon Smith’s collection of articles outlining staffing in Japan’s real estate industry.

Please enjoy this curated selection of topics that will allow you to see what landscape 2022 is beginning in to help you make better decisions on where and how to execute your capital in the Japanese and Tokyo residential real estate environment.

ZEH and ZEB architecture

Panasonic Homes announces FORTINA X sales start date

Using a Monocoque steel frame structure paired with HEPA filtered central air, FORTINA X offers owners greater design flexibility while lowering the home’s carbon footprint.

Mitsui Fudosan to convert all domestic facilities to ZEB and ZEH by 2030

The announcement increases prior commitment levels inline with Japan's overall target of a carbon neutral society by 2050.

Tokyu Fudosan to install solar panels on future residential properties

These include the Branz, Comforia and Campus Village series of developments.

Order Made Homes Offering Off Grid Electricity & Water Storage Option

Sumitomo Realty and TEPCO collaboration moves home building closer to realizing sustainable development goals.

Bjarke Ingels Group Wins WAFX Smart City 2021 Award for Toyota Woven City

Tentatively slated for completion around 2026 in collaboration with Toyota, Woven City aims to be the global blueprint for smart city design and urban planning.

Multifamily property and institutional investors

Allianz Real Estate and Ivanhoé Cambridge establish USD 2 billion platform for Japan multifamily

Latest commitment further highlights Japan residential sector as one that continues to attract sustained institutional inflows throughout the pandemic.

Japan highlights in Savills IM Real Estate Outlook 2022 report

Savills Investment Management joins industry peers to make the case for higher institutional inflows targeting Japan multifamily investments.

Misawa Home announces new Japan multifamily investment property design

The wood built design meets renter needs for new normal spaces while refining an earlier, successful release.

Japan highlights from the Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2022 report

The Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers collaborated on the 16th edition of the forward looking report for the region.

Heitman Enters Japan With Tokyo Multifamily Portfolio Acquisition

Motivating factors for the purchase were cited as being long term resiliency and limited net new supply.

Savills IM increases Japan Residential Portfolio by $218 million

Since its launch in November, 2020, the fund has stake in 27 multi-family properties, 24 of which in central Tokyo.

Abandoned and empty homes (akiya) in Japan

What Everyone Gets Wrong About Akiya in Japan

It's much more dynamic than free houses says Matthew Ketchum, Co-Founder of Akiya & Inaka

The state of hiring and staffing in Japan real estate

Brandon Smith, Director of Real Estate & Finance at East West Consulting K.K, began a series of articles outlining the challenges both companies and candidates face in the current property market given all, but not limited to, the above changes.

Read Brandon’s articles here.