Rent is one of the clearest signals of local rental demand. This site publishes the average private rental rent per square metre for each municipality, from the 2023 Housing and Land Survey. This guide explains how to read it — and where to be careful.
What the rent figure is
The figure is the monthly rent per m² for private rental units (excluding zero-rent units), averaged across all such units in the municipality. It includes older buildings, so it tends to sit below the asking rents you see on listing sites for new or central properties. Use it for relative comparison between municipalities, not as a quote.
On the English pages we show rent as, for example, 1,464 JPY/m²/month with an approximate USD conversion at a fixed build-time exchange rate, noted with its reference date.
The small-sample caveat
In municipalities with few private rental units, a small number of properties can swing the average sharply, producing outliers that do not reflect the real market. When you see an unusually high rent in a tiny town, check the population size and the depth of its rental market before reading anything into it.
This guide explains how to read official statistics and does not constitute legal, tax or investment advice. For decisions on purchasing property in Japan, consult a qualified professional.
Explore the data
FAQ
- Why is the data rent lower than listing-site asking rents?
- It is an all-units average that includes older buildings, whereas listings skew toward newer or central units. Use it for comparison, not as a quote.
- What does JPY/m²/month mean?
- Monthly rent divided by floor area in square metres. Multiply by an apartment's size for a rough monthly figure.
- Why do some small towns show very high rent?
- Small samples: with few rental units, one or two properties can distort the average. Treat such figures as indicative only.
Operator and full source list: About chiiki-data.