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The article covers the financial troubles facing temples and shrines in Japan and how priests have responded by using real estate development to raise funds. It reports that low interest rates and inheritance tax laws in Japan have made the country's real estate industry more profitable. Particular attention is given to the temples and shrines in Japan's more crowded and populated cities.

"Leverage is still very inexpensive in Japan, so you can use a degree of leverage to enhance returns", said Anton Pil, managing partner of JPMorgan Global Alternatives. "Many foreigners want to get exposure to Japanese real estate because the Bank of Japan is on a different schedule" to other central banks, he said. [Extracted from the article]

Star Mica Co., a Tokyo-listed real-estate company founded by an ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker, plans to double returns from apartments using Airbnb to house tourists from abroad. Shinichi Tatebayashi, the chief executive officer of the startup Squeeze, said he decided to establish the company because of his experience renting out an apartment in Japan while working in Singapore. [Extracted from the article]

Land prices have surged to record in Ginza as of Jan. 1 Japan's negative interest rate policy is prompting investors looking for regular income to flock into the real estate market, raising concern that Tokyo property prices are overheating. Investment yields on prime Tokyo offices exceed the benchmark 10-year government note yield by the most since at least 2007, encouraging investors to put ever more cash in property and causing a surge in prices. [Extracted from the article]

Apartment offerings in city drop 10% in 2015 as prices soar 9% Rich buyers taking advantage of record low borrowing costs have pushed prices in Tokyo beyond the reach of many ordinary buyers, taking the wind out of property sales. [Extracted from the article]

A Chinese investor paid the highest price for two newly built Tokyo houses in more than a decade as residential property values in the Japanese capital accelerate. That is the most expensive price for a new house in Tokyo since at least 2004, according to data from the Tokyo-based Real Estate Economic Institute Co. [Extracted from the article]

AXA's caution about further investment in Japanese real estate prompted the recent departure of Hidetoshi Ono, the former head of the Japan Core Fund at AXA Real Estate Investment Managers in Singapore. AXA Real Estate also manages a couple of debt funds, which lend to real estate buyers, and invests in Japanese real estate on behalf of AXA's insurance division and other investors. [Extracted from the article]