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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.

By the end of this month, Miyakoshi plans to gather a group of about 35 Japanese firms that are interested in setting up shop in Shenzhen, Miyakoshi said. JBCC Holdings Inc., a technology-services company based in Tokyo, is one of the several companies currently in talks with Miyakoshi to become a potential tenant. [Extracted from the article]

Agriculture czar Perdue calls EU deal a minimum: Nikkei The U.S. is pressing Japan to cede more ground on trade even before the first round of talks on tariff reductions takes place, prompting pushback from Tokyo. [Extracted from the article]

Junko Otsuka quit her job in Tokyo and headed for the woods, swapping a computer for a bush cutter and her air-conditioned office for the side of a mountain. To increase consumption of Japanese wood products, the government plans to revise regulations by 2016 so that cross-laminated timber, or CLT, can be used for buildings and condominiums, displacing steel and concrete. [Extracted from the article]

Mortgage lender Aruhi targets top spot in loans in five years A little-known mortgage lender is taking on Japan's giant banks, betting it will overtake them in home loans. Aruhi Corp. vows to increase annual originations to more than $11 billion over the next five years to become the top company in the industry, even though the megabanks are at least 90 times its size, according to Hiroshi Hamada, Aruhi's chairman and chief executive officer. [Extracted from the article]

Low euro hedging costs increasing demand for regional assets Japanese institutional investors' appetite for European real estate funds is rising as attractive yields and lower hedging costs lure them away from a potentially peaking U.S. market, according to Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Conversely, still subdued euro-zone interest rates have kept hedging costs for the common currency low, increasing demand for European assets. [Extracted from the article]

Commercial land prices in Japan rose by the most in a decade last year, thanks to a years-long tourism boom and ultra-low lending rates. In Kutchan, a small town near the famous Niseko ski resort in Hokkaido, commercial land was up nearly 36 percent, while residential land prices rose 33 percent. [Extracted from the article]

Real estate arm of Norway's fund manages $25 billion globally The property-investment arm of Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund is keen to buy more real estate in Japan after making its first investment in the country last year. Norges Bank opened its Tokyo real estate investment office in 2015 but has had to be patient about finding suitable deals. [Extracted from the article]

Prosecutors search offices of Kajima, Shimizu as part of probe Kajima spokesman Atsushi Fujino said that the company was fully cooperating with the investigation. [Extracted from the article]

Obayashi, Kajima suspected of wrongdoing on maglev contracts Japanese prosecutors are investigating two of the country's biggest construction companies, Obayashi Corp. and Kajima Corp., for suspected wrongdoing linked to a public-backed $79 billion magnetic-levitation rail network. [Extracted from the article]

"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]

While people fret about robots taking human jobs, machines in Japan are stepping in to fill vacancies amid the worst labor shortage in more than 40 years. While companies such as Amazon.com Inc. have been investing in warehouse automation for years, many Japanese logistics providers are now scrambling to catch up. [Extracted from the article]

Mori Building Co. has started work on a luxury residential development in Tokyo that will include units priced from 1 billion yen ($9 million), betting there is untapped demand for the most upscale apartments in the city. To contact the reporters on this story:Katsuyo Kuwako in Tokyo at kkuwako@bloomberg.net;Gareth Allan in Tokyo at gallan11@bloomberg.net. [Extracted from the article]

Visitors to Okinawa grew 10.5% to 8.77 million in fiscal 2016 While Hawaii has tropical weather year-round, Okinawa has an off-season when hotel prices drop, said Sawayanagi at JLL. [Extracted from the article]

Construction worker commits suicide after excessive overtime He had logged more than 190 hours of overtime in February at the construction company, a builder of foundations for large structures and subcontractor for Taisei Corp. Taisei is taking the incident seriously, and is working with its subcontractors to prevent further cases of excessive labor, the company said in an emailed statement. [Extracted from the article]

Half of Japan properties are owned by Chinese investors: CEO Tujia.com, China's largest vacation rental platform, seeks to boost Japan listings by 10 times in two years as it vies with Airbnb Inc. to capitalize on the nation's tourism boom. [Extracted from the article]

WeWork Cos., a co-working space startup backed by SoftBank Group Corp., is making its debut in Japan with three locations in downtown Tokyo starting February. "SoftBank is bringing instantaneous localization for us", said Hill, who was previously WeWork's chief operating officer. The tenants will probably be a mix between startups, mid-sized companies and large enterprises, he said. [Extracted from the article]

FSA talking to bankers about investment trusts held: officials Japan's regional banks, desperate to boost returns with interest rates around zero, are coming under scrutiny from regulators as they increase purchases of risky investment trusts. [Extracted from the article]

Hisashi Murakawa, 73, who's been retired for 10 years following stints at a bank and a construction firm, is one of the growing ranks of senior REIT investors. REITs allow retail investors to anticipate stable returns based on commercial real-estate holdings and prices are often more resilient to fluctuations in the global financial markets than equities or bonds. [Extracted from the article]

Bank to provide about 15% of fund's $91 million in equity Yields on the dormitory investments will be "at least 5 percent", Takata said, adding that the fund may consider purchasing and renovating existing properties in addition to new developments. [Extracted from the article]

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. is securitizing loans to real estate investment trusts and selling the products to margin-starved smaller banks as lending to Japan's property sector hits record highs. Investing in the products enables smaller banks to get a slice of REIT loans that they are unable to dole out themselves, while MUFG can earn fees and free up capital. [Extracted from the article]

Building boom drives huge gains in land prices in Tokyo, Osaka Now some investors surveying Japan's property market are anticipating price corrections. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Olympic Architect Sees Wood as Answer to Tokyo's Concrete Legacy While the sweeping concrete curves of the Yoyogi National Gymnasium built for 1964 inspired the then 10-year-old Kuma to become an architect, he now sees wood as more representative of contemporary Japan. [Extracted from the article]

EGW Asset Management Inc., which manages about 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in assets, said it has acquired an office building in central Tokyo for about 30 billion yen. The asset manager bought Shinagawa Seaside TS Tower, a 23-story office building, on behalf of an unidentified South Korean institutional investor who is investing in Japan's real estate market for the first time, the company said in an emailed statement. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Japan's Priests Turn to Property Development The bottom line: In Japan's packed cities, shrines and temples control real estate that hotel and apartment developers covet. [Extracted from the article]

Groups say Borneo wood may be used in stadium construction The activists said that the organizing committee has allowed a loophole in its wood procurement policy that exempts formwork plywood used to mold concrete from environmental sustainability and human rights standards. [Extracted from the article]

To contact the reporters on this story:Gareth Allan in Tokyo at gallan11@bloomberg.net;Katsuyo Kuwako in Tokyo at kkuwako@bloomberg.net AttributionAndy Sharp: editor primaryJames Mayger: editor secondaryGareth Allan: by reporterKatsuyo Kuwako: by reporterMarcus Wright: editor responsible. [Extracted from the article]

To contact the reporters on this story:Finbarr Flynn in Tokyo at fflynn3@bloomberg.net;Katsuyo Kuwako in Tokyo at kkuwako@bloomberg.net;Kathleen Chu in Tokyo at kchu2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story:Kazunori Takada at ktakada17@bloomberg.netColin Keatinge Attribution Kazunori Takada: editor responsible Katsuyo Kuwako: by reporter Finbarr Flynn: by reporter Colin Keatinge: editor Kathleen Chu: by reporter. [Extracted from the article]

Kimi Takura, an outlier in risk-shy Japan, plans IPO next year Attribution Tom Redmond: editor Anand Krishnamoorthy: editor responsible Katsuyo Kuwako: by reporter Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam: editor responsible Jason Gale: editor Chris Cooper: by reporter. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the demand for water and water rights in Japan in 2012. Topics include the purchase of Japanese forest land by Chinese and Asian investors, the water resources available in Japan, and the strong possibility that China and India will experience water shortages in the future. Information is provided on the cost of land in Japan, which includes the underlying groundwater.

Hospitals, medical firms rapidly expand into emerging markets Attribution Kazunori Takada: by editor reporter Katsuyo Kuwako: by reporter Brian Fowler: editor responsible Takako Taniguchi: by reporter Feifei Shen: assist. [Extracted from the article]

Okayama-based employee fund beat GPIF six of seven past years Kiguchi's fund delivered higher returns than the Government Pension Investment Fund in all but one of the past seven years, with average annual gains of 7.6 percent, compared with 5.3 percent for GPIF. Kiguchi took over as the Okayama fund's CIO in January 2009 after working for Russell Investments from 1998 to 2008. [Extracted from the article]

The Bank of Japan's shift to controlling bond yields is driving up mortgage rates, prompting Deutsche Bank AG to predict Tokyo apartment prices may fall 20 percent or more by 2018. The BOJ can cut short-term interest rates further if needed, Kuroda said Wednesday in parliament in Tokyo. [Extracted from the article]

Sales of new condominiums in Tokyo have fallen to the lowest since the nation's 1990s property bubble collapse, a sign the real estate boom fueled by Bank of Japan easing is starting to unwind. Attribution Katsuyo Kuwako: by reporter Finbarr Flynn: by reporter Sandy Hendry: editor responsible Ken McCallum: editor Tomoko Yamazaki: editor Andrew Monahan: editor responsible. [Extracted from the article]

Average spending by foreign tourists is falling as yen gains After raising its basic room rates by 10-15 percent last year, the Imperial currently charges an average room rate of 35,000 yen ($343) to 37,000 yen, approaching the average rate in the late 1980s, according to Sadayasu. [Extracted from the article]

Niseko population hits 40-year high as resort economy thrives Not so in Niseko, a ski resort community on the nation's mountainous, northern island of Hokkaido that's prospering in the face of all the demographic gloom. Attribution Anand Krishnamoorthy: editor responsible Kazunori Takada: editor responsible Katsuyo Kuwako: by reporter Brian Bremner: editor Chris Cooper: by reporter. [Extracted from the article]

In 2007, Obayashi acquired a majority stake in San-Francisco based Webcor Builders for an undisclosed price. Attribution Andreea Papuc: editor Katsuyo Kuwako: by reporter Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam: editor responsible Kathleen Chu: by reporter Anna Kitanaka: assist Divya Balji: assist. [Extracted from the article]

Axa liquidated about $200 million Japan office property fund That still compares with yields below zero on Japanese government bonds out to 15 years, and an average yield of 0.1 percent on the nation's corporate debt, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch data. [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]

Japan Bank Zeal Surprises Loadstar "A 50-year loan is abnormal, and the fact banks need to make such loans is problematic", said Takashi Miura, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo. Banks can't make money on short-term loans because of the disappearance of lending margins, so they are offering more long-term, fixed-rate funding, Miura said. [Extracted from the article]

Horiguchi joined Inamori's Seiwa Jyuku school 21 years ago, a few years before he started Sun Frontier, and took part in its Hawaii get-together this year. Attribution Tom Redmond: editor Anand Krishnamoorthy: editor responsible Katsuyo Kuwako: by reporter Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam: editor Chris Cooper: by reporter. [Extracted from the article]

World's oldest country not making full use of older workers Japan's worsening worker shortage also is stark: the number of workers is projected to decline to 56 million in 2030 from 64 million in 2014. One reason many Japanese companies are reluctant to keep older workers in key positions is that they're more costly than younger workers, as seniority is still a major factor in setting salaries in Japan. [Extracted from the article]

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc., the largest publicly-traded trust bank, says downside risks to prices have increased. "We're watching the market carefully because we get a strong sense that the market is being pushed up mainly by a lot of lending", Tokyo-based Fujii said in an interview. [Extracted from the article]

Mitsubishi Estate plans Japan's tallest building in Tokyo Mitsubishi Estate, Mitsui Fudosan Co. and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., the nation's three biggest publicly-traded developers, reported profits this month and disclosed that they had record debt piles that are costing them less to service. [Extracted from the article]

Japan hosted Winter Games in Sapporo in 1972, Nagano in 1998 To contact the reporters on this story:Chris Cooper in Tokyo at ccooper1@bloomberg.net;Katsuyo Kuwako in Tokyo at kkuwako@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story:Brian Fowler at bfowler4@bloomberg.net. [Extracted from the article]

Tokyo Races Against Quake That Will Shake World on "X" Day (1) "It is only a matter of time before a large subduction zone earthquake occurs offshore of Tokyo", said Gavin Hayes, research geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, who was involved in examining this month's Kumamoto quakes. "Eventually that subduction zone south of the Tohoku earthquake will probably generate a very large earthquake". [Extracted from the article]

Diamond Realty gets hotel finance inquiries for Tokyo, Kansai The Development Bank of Japan Inc., Star Asia Investment Corp. and LaSalle Logiport REIT are among companies tapping investor demand for higher returns in the property market at a time when unprecedented central bank easing has lowered sovereign bond yields to below zero. [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]