According to The Asahi Shimbun, at least 90 taxi operators have already registered in the two weeks after a new ride-sharing service was launched here and in Tokyo.
While the majority of current customers are foreign tourists, taxi companies are hiring more drivers in anticipation of the service’s wider adoption. On the evening of 19 April, local taxi company MK Co. received a ride-share reservation through the Uber app from Vietnamese tourists who wanted to travel from Kiyomizudera temple to Kyoto Gosho. Ninety percent of the company’s ride-sharing customers are foreign visitors, likely familiar with the service in their home countries. Domestic customers, on the other hand, are still unfamiliar with the concept. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15245852
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According to The Australian Financial Review, Shizen Energy Group, a Japanese renewables player that has developed 1.3 gigawatts of assets since its founding in 2011, is seeking backers for its first Australian bet.
Street Talk understands Shizen has acquired exclusivity over a 200-megawatt pipeline of solar assets in NSW and Victoria alongside development partner Bison Energy – another Japanese player that already has 14 projects in Australia. Now, Shizen wants an equity investor that could help it turn the early-stage project into saleable electricity. https://www.afr.com/street-talk/japan-s-shizen-energy-seeks-equity-backer-for-aussie-solar-play-20240421-p5flh5
According to The Australian Financial Review, Japanese investment in Australian real estate surged last year to a record $2 billion as this country’s housing crisis draws a new wave of investors wanting to put their capital and skills to work.
Of the 53 deals in various sectors involving Japanese investors last year, 13 were property transactions – up from six a year earlier – Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF’s) Japan-Australia Investment Report 2023 shows. Decisions such as the NSW Minns government’s plan to boost housing density around 39 transport hubs in Sydney – expanded to 45 on Friday – and build 185,800 homes over 15 years are creating new opportunities. https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/japan-investment-in-australian-real-estate-hits-2b-record-20240407-p5fi0m
According to The Australian Financial Review, housing affordability is at its worst in more than two decades, with both aspiring homeowners and low-income tenants slammed by surging prices, rents and interest rates, the latest ANZ Housing Affordability report shows.
The average portion of income needed to service a new mortgage blew out to 48.9 per cent nationwide during the March quarter, up from 43.1 per cent a year ago and a sharp jump from the 34.8 per cent decade average. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/housing-affordability-the-worst-in-20-years-anz-20240415-p5fjxs
According to The Jiji news, the average unit price of new condominiums put up for sale in the greater Tokyo area in fiscal 2023 hit a record high for the third consecutive year, Real Estate Economic Institute Co. said.
In the year that ended in March, the average condo price in Tokyo and its three neighboring prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama came to 75.66 million yen, up 9.5 pct from the previous year. https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/32497#goog_rewarded
According to The Asahi Shimbun, a domed stadium is to be built on the site of the old Tsukiji fish market site near Ginza that closed six years ago under a redevelopment plan approved by the Tokyo metropolitan government.
Officials announced that a group of companies led by Mitsui Fudosan Co. had been chosen to lead the project that eventually will include a hotel as well as a landing port for “flying cars.” A basic agreement between the consortium and the Tokyo metropolitan government is expected to be signed by the end of the current fiscal year. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025 and the entire complex is expected to be in full operation by fiscal 2038. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15238962
According to The Australian Financial Review, it’s down to the short strokes at Whitehaven Coal’s sale of a minority stake in Bowen Basin’s Blackwater metallurgical coal mine, bought alongside Daunia for about $6.4 billion from BHP and Mitsubishi last year.
Sources said JFE Steel Corporation, Japan’s second-largest steel producer after Nippon Steel, is in advanced discussions to acquire a circa 10 per cent stake in Blackwater. The suitor is already a shareholder at QCoal’s $1.76 billion Byerwen mine in the region, which feeds its West Japan steelworks. Of note, Whitehaven Coal, in tandem, is in active discussions with a handful of other suitors, including India’s JSW Group, to come onto Blackwater’s register alongside JFE. Japanese trading house Itotchu has kept close to Whitehaven for months. https://www.afr.com/street-talk/whitehaven-s-blackwater-selldown-may-be-upsized-jfe-keen-20240418-p5fkva
According to the Asahi Shimbun, Kanden Reality & Development (KRD), which is involved in housing and other businesses, will more than double its investment in overseas operations by 2035. Starting this month, the "Overseas Business Department" has been upgraded to a headquarters to strengthen its authority and enable quick decision-making.
President Kenichi Fujino said, "We will focus on overseas business where investment efficiency is high, even if we have to take risks. The reorganization is also an expression of our intention to move to the next phase.” The company launched its overseas business in 2017. The company has been involved in residential development and real estate investment in the United States, Australia, and Southeast Asia, where population expansion and economic growth are remarkable, and has been involved in about 40 projects to date. The company has recently decided to develop a project in the U.S, and it plans to increase its investments from approximately 59 billion yen (stock basis) at the end of fiscal 2023 to 130 billion yen, 2.2 times the current amount, by fiscal 2035. https://digital.asahi.com/articles/ASS4C2JWPS4CPLFA003M.html
According to The Australian Financial Review, Australia will fall 90,000 homes short of this year’s national target of 240,000 new dwellings, affordable housing industry figures have said after new housing starts for 2023 came in at the lowest level in 11 years.
Dwelling commencements over the last calendar year undershot the national cabinet total by almost one-third, falling to 163,836, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed. This was the weakest since the 2012 total of 153,580. “Dwelling completions for 2024 are currently projected at approximately 150,000, which is approximately 90,000 dwellings short of the government’s target of 240,000 per year,” said Matt King, the director of economics and research at PowerHousing Australia, an industry grouping for affordable housing providers. https://www.afr.com/property/residential/new-housing-starts-sink-to-11-year-low-target-more-than-a-third-down-20240410-p5firq
According to The Asahi Shimbun, ahead of its official opening, tech trade show SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024 offered a glimpse of futuristic mobility, sustainable food and entertainment innovations in a preview event on 9 April.
The media preview featured a new compact tricycle, a water-sky versatile drone, beef-free hamburgers and other highlights from the show’s Showcase Program, which envisions “urban life in 2050.” “Experience a sustainable and high-tech Tokyo,” said Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, promoting the event that will be held in multiple venues across the capital from 27 April to 26 May. SusHi Tech Tokyo, which stands for the Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo, is organized by the Tokyo metropolitan government. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15225540 |
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