Japan land prices fall for 1st time in 6 yrs due to pandemic

Land prices in Japan fell 0.5 percent on average in 2021 from a year before, down for the first time in six years due to loss in demand by foreign visitors amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. The data released by the National Tax Agency showed that land prices as of Jan. 1 fell in 39 of the country's 47 prefectures, with metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Aichi, and 10 other prefectures suffering a setback after rising in the previous year. Shizuoka saw the steepest decline of 1.6 percent, followed by Gifu and Ehime, both down 1.4 percent. Many other prefe...