Japan: Tokyo and Osaka offices, logistics and hospitality assets, and the cross-border capital buying them.
TOKYO — Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) on Friday raised its profit forecast for the financial year but flagged the prospect of a slowdown in investment into AI data centres. The banking group boosted its annual earnings forecast to 1.9 trillion yen from 1.7 trillion yen and expanded its share buyback programme as corporate lending demand from local firms remained strong and higher domestic interest rates increased lending margins. Net profit over the July to September quarter was 501.8 billion yen (US$3.14 billion), down 10 per cent from a year earlier, when it registered a gain of 94 billion yen on the sale of its stake in India's Kotak Mahindra Bank.
The Mingtiandi Tokyo Forum on 10 Nov 2026 will feature panels on Japanese capital flows into overseas real estate and domestic yield strategies. Speakers include Barings Real Estate Australia's James King, PAG's Masami Takizawa, and Mitsui Fudosan Investment Advisors' Takayuki Fukui.
Japan launched a multi-million dollar emergency policy package on Friday (Nov 6) to address a surge in hacking incidents, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announcing security countermeasures, strengthened investigation systems and enhanced victim support. The package is initially funded by 10 bill
Mingtiandi's third annual Tokyo Forum will feature a keynote panel with senior executives from EQT Real Estate, Alyssa Partners and Colliers. The event, taking place at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, will also host a panel on Asia-Pacific residential strategies.
EastGate Capital Management CEO Samuel Lim and EGW Asset Management’s Atsushi Higuchi will discuss Japan’s rental research property market at next week’s Mingtiandi Tokyo Forum. The session will cover the shift from owner-occupied labs to leased space, conversion of the Shinagawa Seaside West Tower
Blackstone is near a ¥300 billion ($1.9 billion) sale of the office and retail portion of Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho to Daiwa Securities-linked funds, recouping three-quarters of its ¥400 billion purchase price from February 2025. The deal follows Blackstone's July sale of two hotels in the same c
Star Asia Group has launched its first private fund for domestic capital, the Star Asia Japan Property Fund No 1, holding JPY 30 billion in Tokyo residential properties. Japan Post Insurance is the anchor investor, marking a shift by the insurer towards domestic real estate as it doubles down on inf
Panasonic Holdings reported a surge in Q2 operating profit at its energy unit to 55.6 billion yen, driven by higher sales of EV batteries and data centre storage systems. The company raised the unit's full-year profit forecast by 16 per cent to 198 billion yen and lifted its group operating profit f
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Siemens Energy to collaborate on floating offshore wind power and related industry development. Siemens Energy will establish its first strategic operations and maintenance hub in Asia, in Japan's Ho
The Shah Alam High Court has dismissed a striking-out application by developer Midlands City Sdn Bhd in a suit brought by 24 purchasers over delays in strata titles and CCC. The court found live issues requiring a full trial, which is set for April 2027.
Nasdaq-listed Hotel101 Global Holdings Corp. will enter Africa through a country-wide development agreement in Egypt, starting with a P6.44-billion hotel in Cairo's western district. The 750-room Hotel101-Cairo West is planned on a 15,984-square-metre site along Ahmed Zewail Road in 6th of October C
Tokyu Land Capital Management has acquired 30 Pieces, a 30-unit short-stay apartment building near Osaka's Namba station, from Taiwan-based Aplus Property Investment Holdings. The deal closed in late August, with financial terms undisclosed, as local governments move to restrict the minpaku sector.
Subaru plans to launch software-defined vehicles (SDVs) in the second half of this decade and cut vehicle development times by about 40 per cent. The Japanese automaker will deploy a new integrated electronic control unit co-developed with US chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices across its lineup.
Japan's space agency is preparing to launch the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe on a landmark round-trip mission to Mars's moon Phobos, aiming to collect samples that could reveal the origins of the Solar System. The H3 rocket is scheduled to blast off from Tanegashima Space Center on Tuesday
NTT Data Group is in final talks to build a data centre in Osaka for US AI firm Anthropic, its first dedicated facility in Japan. Construction costs could reach ¥1 trillion (US$6.3 billion), with partial operations slated for as early as 2028.
The Tokyo Financial Exchange will launch futures tied to the Bank of Japan's overnight call rate this month, responding to stronger demand for hedging as the central bank shifts to more frequent policy moves. The exchange's existing three-month TONA contract has seen volumes fall sharply.
A Reuters survey of 215 Japanese companies finds crude oil market volatility is the top earnings risk, cited by 37 per cent of respondents. Rising interest rates and foreign exchange fluctuations follow, with real estate managers warning that higher rates will slow property demand.
Business confidence among large Japanese manufacturers rose in October to its highest level in nearly five years, driven by robust chip demand. However, sentiment among non-manufacturers deteriorated sharply to its lowest since November 2024, as rising costs and weak consumer spending weighed on sec
US data centre developer CloudHQ has proposed rebuilding the BigHop Garden Mall in Inzai, Greater Tokyo, around two data centres, testing local restrictions on such facilities near commuter rail stations. The plan, presented to the Inzai City Council on 29 September, would shrink the retail space to
Global investors including Blackstone, Bain Capital and Warburg Pincus are expected to submit final bids for Fuji Media's property unit, Sankei Building, by end-October. A deal could value the unit at around 1 trillion yen (S$6.3 billion) including debt, marking one of Japan's largest-ever real esta
Hong Kong-based Weave Living has purchased three Tokyo apartment properties totalling 108 units through an off-market deal backed by a consortium of Japanese investors. The acquisition brings the firm's Japan assets under management to JPY 120 billion across nearly 50 properties.
Japan's services producer price index rose 3.7% in August from a year earlier, the fastest annual pace since June 2024. The increase, driven by freight, advertising and rental lease fees, keeps the Bank of Japan on track for further rate hikes after it raised rates to 1.25% this month.
Mitsui Fudosan Logistics Park has agreed to acquire three industrial properties in Japan for JPY 35.7 billion (S$229 million) and sell its entire 50 per cent stake in MFLP Yokohama Daikoku for JPY 11.9 billion. The deals, which involve fully occupied assets completed in 2025 and 2026, are part of th
Ichigo Hotel REIT reported an 11 per cent year-on-year fall in six-month net income to JPY 1.2 billion ($7.9 million), hit by renovation closures, fewer Chinese tourists and weaker post-Expo Osaka demand. The Tokyo-listed trust still beat its revised forecasts, while domestic travel and business boo
Japan's Nippon Life Insurance plans to invest 2 trillion yen (US$12.75 billion) in infrastructure financing, mainly for data centre construction in the United States and Japan. The insurer is pursuing project finance arrangements that offer spreads above 2 per cent on average, and aims to double its
Japan and the United States are discussing the construction of a semiconductor factory as part of their US$550 billion investment agreement, Nikkei reported. The plant, valued at ¥2 trillion to ¥3 trillion, would be operated by GlobalFoundries and focus on logic semiconductors.
Japanese land prices rose 1.5 per cent in the year to 1 Jul, marking a fifth consecutive annual gain and matching last year's pace, the strongest since 1991. The Bank of Japan is likely to weigh the survey in deciding how quickly to raise still-low interest rates.
Tokyo's Shinjuku ward will ban more than 50% of holiday rentals, including Airbnb listings, after a surge in complaints. The new rules target properties in residential zones and areas near schools, with the official announcement expected on Tuesday.
AB Capital Investment has acquired the 161-room Residence Hotel Stripe Sapporo, adding a 15th hospitality property to its Japan portfolio. The apartment-style hotel near Hokkaido University and JR Sapporo Station will be refurbished and repositioned under an operating partner.
Keppel DC REIT and its sponsor Keppel Ltd are acquiring a 90% interest in two hyperscale data centres in Greater Tokyo from a joint venture of GIC and Equinix. The deal values the properties and their operating company at JPY 190 billion ($1.2 billion), with GIC selling its full 80% stake and Equini
Ares Management has raised ¥612 billion (US$4 billion) for its fifth Japan logistics development fund, the unit's largest closed-end institutional fundraise. The fund, Japan Logistics Development Partners V LP, closed at its hard cap and is nearly 50 per cent larger than its 2021 predecessor.
Universal Studios Japan plans to spend ¥200 billion to ¥300 billion (S$1.26 billion to S$1.88 billion) to build new attractions on a 60,000 sqm site adjacent to the park, the Nikkei newspaper reported on 28 Aug. The expansion, the park's first since opening in 2001, aims to lift annual attendance be
Yuchecngo-led PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (PERC) will sell a 35% stake in PetroWind Energy, Inc. (PWEI) to Japan's SMFL Mirai Partners for P1.7 billion. The deal comes weeks after PERC completed its acquisition of former partner BCPG's stake in the Nabas wind farm operator. PERC will retain a 25% st
Orix JREIT is paying ¥29.4 billion ($185 million) for a half-stake in Toyosu Prime Square in Tokyo and ¥10.6 billion to take full ownership of the Naha Shin-Toshin Center Building in Okinawa. The two acquisitions total ¥40 billion and are expected to enhance unitholder value, the trust's manager sai
Gaw Capital Partners’ GCP Hospitality will manage 14 hotels in Kyoto under a deal with IHG, adding more than 1,000 rooms to the group’s Japan portfolio. Twelve properties will convert to IHG’s Garner midscale brand, with one Holiday Inn Express and one unbranded hotel included. The hotels are set to
Japanese developer Hulic Co Ltd has confirmed it is the buyer of an eight-storey office building in Ginza from Singapore-listed Keppel REIT for JPY 11.5 billion (S$72.4 million). The deal, which marks a 28.4 per cent premium to Keppel REIT's November 2022 purchase price, ends the trust's four-year p