Tokyo, Japan
 

Tokyo and its Commercial Real Estate Market are unique in many aspects. Did You Know....

•   Tokyo, one of the world's major "global cities," is Japan's most populous city with more than 12.5 million people.

•   The metropolitan area of Tokyo consists of three major parts: twenty-three special wards, Tama area, and the islands. It has a population of about 35 million people, making it the world's most populous metropolitan area. 

•   Tokyo, literally "eastern capital," is the capital of Japan and the nation's center of politics, business, finance, education, mass media, and pop culture.

•   Tokyo has Japan's highest concentration of corporate headquarters, financial institutions, universities and colleges, museums, theaters, and shopping and entertainment establishments.

•   Many world records are or were held in Tokyo, including the most expensive real estate ever ($1.5 million/ m² in 1990), the most expensive city (highest cost-of-living), the most passengers served by the train system per year, and has the largest GDP of any metropolitan area in the world.

•   Marunouchi and Otemachi are the main financial and business districts of Tokyo with many headquarters of banks, trading companies, and other major businesses. 

•   In Japan, in addition to using the metric system, space is measured by how many tatami mats can fit into a given space.  A "jou" represents one tatami mat, and a "tsubo" represents two tatami mats.  One tsubo is equivalent to 35.54 square feet. 

•   Before acquiring space, tenants are required to pay "key money," a deposit equaling up to 12 months of rent.  The landlord holds this deposit, interest free, until the tenant vacates the space. 

•   Before key money is refunded, tenants are responsible for restoring the space to its original condition.  This restoration can cost the tenant up to half the original cost of construction.