That’s not the real reason housing in Tokyo remains affordable. The real reason is they allow developers to build enough housing to meet demand. Places that were small hamlets filled with single family homes 30 years ago are now very densely populated and filled with midrise apartment buildings. Good luck trying to get anything like that built anywhere in America, or most of the western world.
This is basically how it is in Japan and why Tokyo is actually affordable to live in. https://youtu.be/d6ATBK3A_BY
Of course, this might not be implementable anywhere else.
That’s not the real reason housing in Tokyo remains affordable. The real reason is they allow developers to build enough housing to meet demand. Places that were small hamlets filled with single family homes 30 years ago are now very densely populated and filled with midrise apartment buildings. Good luck trying to get anything like that built anywhere in America, or most of the western world.
Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/opinion/editorials/tokyo-housing.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SE0.FEn5.DUkcV7dCs21X&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare