By Hugh Ashton

Some light at the end of the tunnel?

The Japanese real estate and property developer worlds, like so much of the financial world, appear to be in a state of crisis. Residential property developers, builders, etc. appear to be dropping like flies—almost every day seems to bring news of another failure in this area.

By Ken Worsley

The real estate industry is crumbling, taking down the recently created guarantor services with them. Will the trade survive?

With the yen so strong against other major currencies, what may be good for the housewife FX trader is proving a nightmare for the Japan-based owners of Australian and other international mortgages. Read Now

By Anna Kitanaka -- With an unprecedented number of real estate companies filing for bankruptcy this year, what does the future hold for the shakiest foundations in Japan? With the economic forecast looking gloomy, Japan’s financial institutions have tightened up their spending, hauling in the ropes for stricter lending practices and more stringent control. Now, welcome to the demise of the credit-reliant companies.

By Anna Kitanaka -- J@pan Inc takes a look at the secretive developer, Minoru Mori, his business dealings and his controversial ‘vertical garden cities.’ -- In September 1, the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) finally opened after 17 years of tumultuous development. Initially constructed to be the tallest building in the world, unfortunately for Minoru Mori, 73-year-old property tycoon and owner of half a dozen skyscrapers, the tower failed to retain the title.

Closer to home, Mori had also faced problems, namely due to its controversial Roppongi Hills complex. Opened to the public in 2003, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartments, shops, restaurants, cafés, movie theaters, a museum, a hotel, a major TV studio, an outdoor amphitheater, as well as a few parks.

With property prices still decreasing in rural Japan, J@pan Inc looks at how foreigners can find some great deals and invest, especially with the increase of foreign friendly mortgage deals from Japanese banks.

By Brett Bull -- The bizaar case of yakuza, property rights and fraud -- Given Tokyo’s well-earned reputation as a metropolis of concrete, vacant lots typically do not stay empty for long. But the 3,800-square-meter site halfway between Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown might remain fenced off and covered with dirt for some time.

By Brad Frischkorn -- Taking a look at Japan’s survival after the subprime disaster -- Now entering its second full year, the global banking industry meltdown continues to messily unravel on the back of the subprime mortgage market collapse. While Japan Inc has avoided the worst of the mess, the nation’s financial industry has not been left unharmed. However, any silver lining, if indeed there is one, may still look better from Tokyo than from abroad.

Gordon HattonBy Brad Frischkorn -- How the real estate meltdown is affecting Japan -- With the break of the subprime mortgage crisis in the summer of 2007 and the global scale of its spread, the parade of negative real estate related news has been relentless as financial institutions fall, central banks launch massive credit-easing campaigns, and home foreclosures put many on the street—all with shocking swiftness. After experiencing its own real estate market collapse through the 1990s, Japan is certainly no stranger to this kind of pain. Should the country brace itself for another round of carnage?

Carl EverettBy Peter Harris -- The story of Capital Services Group -- Capital Services Group talked to J@pan Inc about how their business has grown from Japan to the whole of the Asia region and about resetting the agenda in integrated loan servicing, real estate asset management and servicing technology solutions. -- With billion-dollar investors as its clients, CSG can be said to have the last decade of Asian financial history imprinted upon its development. While growth has been driven by the ambitions and triumphs of such investors, the group’s decision to focus on Asia, and build a niche for itself as regional experts, is a success story in its own right.