To check Japan property sold prices, use the government's free Real Estate Information Library (不動産情報ライブラリ, "reinfolib"), run by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). Search the district of your listing, pick the matching property type, and read the recent transaction prices, land areas, and building ages. Then convert the asking price to a price per square meter and compare it with those sales. The data comes from questionnaires, is shown only at town or district level, and is thin in rural areas, so it tells you a plausible range rather than a verdict. This guide shows the steps, the Japanese labels, and how to judge whether a cheap house in Japan or an akiya is fairly priced.
The reinfolib home page describes the site as an MLIT portal offering information on real estate transaction prices, land price indicators (公示地価), disaster-prevention data, urban planning, and nearby facilities. It has a Japanese/English language switch. The top page is at reinfolib.mlit.go.jp, and the English menu names the two relevant tools "Data Search/Download" under transaction prices and "Data Search" under land prices (English page).
MLIT's own explanation of the transaction data is on its real estate transaction price information page. It says the information is built from questionnaire surveys of real estate transaction parties (不動産取引当事者へのアンケート調査), that the location is given at town or district level (所在地（町・大字レベル）), and that the transaction price is shown to two significant digits (取引価格（有効数字２桁）). The same page reports about 5.47 million transaction records accumulated since April 2006, as of March 31, 2025. The reinfolib search page itself is titled "不動産価格（取引価格・成約価格）情報の検索・ダウンロード" (search and download).
Practical consequences: you will not see a street address or an exact sale price, and the figures are self-reported. MLIT's materials also describe the release as periodic, with new quarters added roughly every three months, so the newest sales may lag by several months. Check the site for the latest quarter it covers.
The screens are mostly in Japanese even on the English pages. The labels below are the ones to look for. Exact wording can change when MLIT updates the site.
Note that 前面道路 and 都市計画 are useful side checks. A narrow road or an urbanization control area often explains a low price, as covered in our guides to saikenchiku fuka (rebuilding prohibited) lots and urbanization control areas.
Three different "land price" numbers get confused in English searches for Japan land price data. They answer different questions.
| Transaction prices (取引価格情報) | What buyers and sellers reported for real deals, from questionnaires. Includes houses, land, and condos. Best for "what do similar properties actually sell for here?" |
|---|---|
| Published land prices (地価公示 / 公示地価) | Appraisal-based prices at fixed survey points, for land only. MLIT describes the published price as an assessment of vacant land (更地評価) and as an unbiased price (かたよらない価格) on its land price publication page. Good as a neutral benchmark for land, but the survey points are sparse and mostly urban. Prefectural land price surveys serve a similar purpose at other points, and reinfolib's land price section lets you search them. |
| Rosenka (路線価) | A per-road value used to calculate inheritance and gift tax. The National Tax Agency describes it as the value per square meter of a standard residential lot facing a road (NTA No.4602). Maps are on rosenka.nta.go.jp. It is a tax valuation, not a sale price, so do not use it as a price target. |
In short, published land prices and rosenka value land, not your particular house on it. Transaction prices are the closest thing to "sold prices" for a house with land, and they are the right first stop.
A purely illustrative, made-up example: suppose an akiya lists at 8,000,000 yen on 200 m² of land, or 40,000 yen per m². If ten hypothetical nearby house-and-land sales cluster between 15,000 and 30,000 yen per m², the listing is above that range and it is worth asking why. If the cluster runs 35,000 to 50,000, the asking price looks in line. These numbers are invented to show the method, not real market data.
Higher than comparable sales can mean the seller is anchoring on an old valuation, or that the property has real advantages: better road access, a flat and regular lot, recent renovation, or a desirable location. Ask the agent to justify it, and see our list of questions to ask the agent. Asking prices in Japan are often negotiable, particularly on properties that have sat unsold.
Much lower than comparable sales is a signal to look for the reason before celebrating. Typical causes are no legal rebuilding, a flood or landslide zone (see our hazard map guide), leasehold land, shared or private road access, structural damage, or an unmentioned disclosure item. Sometimes there is no reason beyond a motivated seller, but that should be a conclusion, not an assumption.
Reinfolib is free to use. Your time cost is a few hours the first time you learn the screens. Beyond the price, remember other one-off costs such as brokerage fees, registration, taxes, and inspection. Amounts vary widely by price and location, so treat any estimate as a range and confirm it with the agent and a licensed professional.
Start with the free 12-point akiya risk checklist, then see the overview in how to check a house in Japan before buying. If you would rather have the lookup done for one specific property, the $49 risk report pulls the official zoning and hazard data for that exact lot and also references nearby transaction prices from reinfolib, so you can see where the asking price sits.
Yes. MLIT's Real Estate Information Library has a Japanese/English language switch. Menus and navigation are translated, but many result fields, place names, and notes remain in Japanese, so knowing the labels above helps.
They come from questionnaire responses, not registry records. MLIT states that location is shown to town or district level and that prices carry two significant digits, so you get an approximation of the local market rather than an exact record of one sale.
Convert the asking price to yen per m² or per tsubo and compare it with recent transactions in the same district, of the same type, with similar land area and building age. A gap is a reason to ask questions about road access, zoning, hazards, and condition, not proof of a bad deal.
Have a specific listing in mind? Get the official zoning, hazard and transaction data for that exact lot — plus the questions to send the agent — in one report.
Get a $49 risk report Free 12-point checklistThis guide is general information based on public sources cited above. It is not legal, tax, or real-estate brokerage advice. Confirm every item for a specific property with the agent, the municipality, and licensed professionals.