Valuation and feasibility evidence

Last updated: 2025. All legal and planning information reflects Japanese statutes and procedures as of the publication date. Project-specific questions must be directed to appropriately licensed Japanese professionals (judicial scrivener, land and building surveyor, real-estate appraiser, or attorney).

Japanese property due diligence asks a single question: what evidence do you need to form a defensible view of what the property could become, and what could stop it? The answer is never one document. It is a chain of primary records, cadastral maps, land registers, building confirmation applications, planning-permission histories, tax assessments, and lease agreements, each held by a different institution and updated on its own cycle. This page maps that evidence landscape and routes you to four focused guides that own the detail: property and company records, development and rebuilding plans, tenancy and relocation evidence, and official register research.

Valuation and feasibility are not the same question

Valuation answers: “What is this property worth today?” Feasibility answers: “Can this property be redeveloped or renovated within the legal, structural, and financial constraints that exist on the ground?” A valuation can be high while feasibility is low. A parcel in a high-price commercial zone may be useless for redevelopment if the road frontage is too narrow, the land is subject to a long lease, or the building is protected by tenancy law.

When you research Japanese property, you are assembling a chain of evidence: ownership, encumbrances, zoning, building condition, tenant rights, and planning history. Each link changes the value of every other link. A clean land register means little if the parcel has no road access; a high floor-area ratio means little if the site sits in a redevelopment promotion area with pending compulsory purchase. The purpose of the evidence framework is to make those dependencies visible before money moves.

Why the records are fragmented

Japanese property records are not a single centralised database. Ownership, boundaries, planning, tax, and corporate documents sit in separate institutions:

Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局) : land register (登記簿) and cadastral maps (地図)
Municipal planning department (市町村都市計画課) : zoning certificates, building confirmation applications, urban planning maps
Local tax office: fixed asset tax register (固定資産税台帳)
Family court and local government: koseki records for inheritance chains
MLIT’s National Land Numerical Information (国土数値情報) : GIS layers for land use, zoning, and infrastructure

No single portal combines these. The nearest practical route is to start with the parcel’s land register at the Legal Affairs Bureau that has jurisdiction over the property’s location, then move to the municipal planning department for zoning and building-history records, then to e-Gov Japan for the current statutory text. This fragmentation is the first fact to accept before starting any valuation or feasibility study.

The main evidence types

Japanese property research relies on several distinct record sets. None of them alone tells the full story.

Land register (登記簿)

The land register is maintained by the Legal Affairs Bureau for each parcel. It records the owner, the parcel’s physical description, and any mortgages, easements, or other encumbrances. The register is authoritative for ownership and encumbrances, but it is not a map; parcel boundaries are shown separately on the cadastral map (地図). In practice, the register may list an owner who has died, leaving a gap in the chain of title that must be resolved through inheritance procedures before transfer.

An entry is legally authoritative until corrected, but it does not guarantee physical boundaries or the identity of an unregistered heir. Obtain a current copy through the online registration information system or at the local bureau counter.

Cadastral map (地図)

The cadastral map shows the official parcel boundaries and is maintained by the same Legal Affairs Bureau. It is often digitised, but the positional accuracy varies: older surveys, especially in rural areas, may carry errors of several metres. The map and the land register are separate records; a boundary dispute cannot be resolved by the register alone, and a licensed land and building surveyor (土地家屋調査士) must normally conduct a boundary survey before redevelopment.

Building confirmation application (建築確認申請)

Filed with the municipality for new construction, this application contains architectural plans, structural calculations, and the compliance check under the Building Standards Act. It is not a title document, and approval does not confirm that the completed building matches the approved plan. For older buildings, the application file may be missing or stored in municipal archives. The application shows what was approved, not how the building was maintained.

Urban planning map (都市計画図)

Shows zoning districts, road plans, and public facility reservations. The map is a planning document, not a legal register; the authoritative zoning designation is recorded in the municipal planning certificate (都市計画証明書), not on the map itself.

Fixed asset tax register (固定資産税台帳)

Municipal record of assessed value and building details for tax purposes. It is not a market-value document; the assessed value is typically 50-70% of market price (Japan Real Estate Institute, 2023), so it cannot be used as a reliable market proxy. The register is updated on a three-year cycle and is held by the municipal tax office, not the Legal Affairs Bureau.

Koseki (戸籍)

Family registry used to trace inheritance chains when the owner of record has died. Because the koseki is maintained by municipalities, not by the Legal Affairs Bureau, researchers must request copies from the city or ward office where the family is registered, not from the land registry office. Privacy rules restrict who may access it.

Licensed professionals and their roles

Land and Building Surveyor (土地家屋調査士) Conducts boundary surveys and prepares registry applications. Not authorised to issue formal valuation reports; that role belongs to a licensed real-estate appraiser.

Judicial Scrivener (司法書士) Licensed to prepare and file property registration applications. Not authorised to represent parties in court litigation.

Real-Estate Appraiser (不動産鑑定士) Licensed to produce formal valuation reports; their reports are used for financing, tax appeals, and court proceedings.

Japan Association of Real Estate Agents (JAREA) Trade body for licensed agents; publishes ethical standards and dispute-resolution guidelines.

How to read the evidence

Every material assumption in property research should carry four attributes: the date it was made, the purpose it serves, the method used to produce it, and the source it came from. If a figure changes, the date and method change with it. A registry entry recorded in 1990 describes ownership as of that registration, not today. A zoning map published in 2021 does not show a 2024 bylaw amendment. When you read a valuation, ask: What was measured, when, by whom, and under which legal definition? That question applies to every number below.

Key relationships between records

The land register records legal ownership and encumbrances; the cadastral map defines physical boundaries. The two are maintained separately and can disagree. A boundary survey by a licensed land and building surveyor reconciles them.
The urban planning map shows zoning and road plans; the Building Standards Act (建築基準法) enforces the actual limits derived from those plans. Local government ordinances may add stricter requirements, so national law alone cannot confirm feasibility.
The building confirmation application is the local record of construction approval; the Building Standards Act provides the technical code the application must satisfy.
The fixed asset tax register is maintained by the municipal tax office, not the Legal Affairs Bureau; it records assessed value for tax, not market value.
The koseki is managed by the municipal government, not the Legal Affairs Bureau; it proves family relationships for inheritance.
The Urban Redevelopment Act defines the framework for tenant relocation, but the actual compensation terms are negotiated between the developer and each tenant, not set by the act itself.
The cadastral map shows parcel boundaries, but it does not show ownership; ownership is in the land register, and the two are maintained separately by different sections of the Legal Affairs Bureau.
The Japan Real Estate Institute publishes appraisal standards, not legally binding prices; its statistics are used for market analysis, not for compensation claims.
Archived NEEDS Site Content may describe past redevelopment projects. Because the company is no longer operating, any claim about current project status or current contact details should be treated as historical only.

Archived NEEDS Site Content

Former consultancy’s public research notes on redevelopment case studies and procedural timelines. These archives are historical records of the former NEEDS company and should not be read as current legal advice or current project commitments.