Minato-ku (港区) recorded a median condominium transaction price of ¥1,925,000 per square metre in Q3 2025, according to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism data covering 199 registered transactions. That figure sits approximately 11% below the typical asking price on listing platforms, which averaged around ¥2,156,000/㎡ over the same period. For a buyer acquiring a 120㎡ unit, that gap represents roughly ¥27.7 million in potential negotiating room — a number worth understanding before any offer is made.

The ward’s 2026 公示地価 (koujichika, the government’s officially published land price) rose 5.8% year-on-year, more than double the national average of 2.8%. Minato-ku has appreciated 107% over the full available MLIT transaction period, and new-build replacement cost is currently estimated at approximately ¥2,974,729/㎡. These are not projections. They are recorded figures from Japan’s national property registry.

What Minato-ku Actually Is, and Why It Prices the Way It Does

Minato-ku is one of Tokyo’s five central wards, covering roughly 20.37 square kilometres between Tokyo Bay and the Shibuya-ku (渋谷区) border. It contains Azabu (麻布), Hiroo (広尾), Shirokane (白金), Roppongi (六本木), Toranomon (虎ノ門), Shiba (芝), Takanawa (高輪), and Minami-Aoyama (南青山), among others. Each sub-district carries a distinct price tier, but the ward as a whole is structurally undersupplied relative to demand.

The ward population has grown from approximately 160,000 in the early 2000s to around 260,000 as of 2024, a 62.5% increase driven in large part by the successive opening of Roppongi Hills (2003), Tokyo Midtown (2007), Toranomon Hills (2014), and Azabudai Hills (麻布台ヒルズ, opened November 2023). Each of those developments added premium residential inventory but also pulled in residents, corporate tenants, and international institutions, compressing supply further in the surrounding streets.

Minato-ku’s foreign resident population stands at roughly 26,000, approximately 10% of total ward population, the highest proportion among Tokyo’s 23 wards. That concentration reflects the presence of multinational headquarters, diplomatic missions, and international schools, all of which anchor demand for high-specification residential space within commuting distance of Roppongi-Itchome, Kamiyacho, and Toranomon stations.

Price Stratification by Building Age

Building age is the single most consequential variable in a Minato-ku acquisition after location. The MLIT Q3 2025 dataset shows a counterintuitive pattern that catches many first-time buyers off guard: buildings in the 31-to-40-year cohort trade at a median of ¥2,800,000/㎡, higher than the 11-to-20-year cohort at ¥1,610,000/㎡. This is not a quality premium. It reflects land-value dominance in the most sought-after addresses, where older low-rise buildings on prime plots command prices that have almost nothing to do with the structure itself.

The seismic dimension matters here. Japan enacted the 新耐震基準 (shin-taishin kijun, the revised seismic building code) in June 1981. Buildings completed before that date were engineered to a materially lower standard. The practical consequences for buyers are two: first, financing is harder to obtain on pre-1981 structures, with several major lenders declining to extend mortgage products on them at all; second, resale liquidity is lower, because the same financing constraint applies to future buyers. A building in the 40-plus-year cohort may appear attractively priced at ¥1,360,000/㎡, but the exit is constrained.

For buyers operating at the ¥300 million-and-above level, the 0-to-10-year cohort at ¥3,069,444/㎡ and the 11-to-20-year cohort at ¥1,610,000/㎡ represent the clearest risk-adjusted positions. New-build depreciation runs approximately ¥36,775/㎡ per year of building age on MLIT’s modelled basis, which gives buyers a framework for evaluating whether a resale is priced to reflect actual condition or simply riding the ward’s land appreciation.

Holding Costs: Fixed-Asset Tax, Management Fees, and the Tower Condo Correction

Foreign buyers frequently underestimate the annual carrying cost of a Minato-ku マンション (manshon, Japanese usage for a freehold condominium, distinct from the English word ‘mansion’). The two primary recurring taxes are 固定資産税 (kotei shisan-zei, fixed-asset tax) at 1.4% of assessed value and 都市計画税 (toshi keikaku-zei, city-planning tax) at 0.3% of assessed value. For a premium resale unit in Minato-ku, combined annual tax typically falls in the ¥400,000 to ¥600,000 range; larger or higher-floor units in newer towers will sit above that band.

Buyers acquiring units in buildings exceeding 60 metres in height, roughly 20 storeys and above, should note the 階層別専有床面積補正率 (kaisou-betsu senyuu yukasekimen hosei-ritsu, the floor-level area correction rate) that has applied since FY2018. Each floor above the first adds approximately 0.256% to the assessed value used for tax calculation. A unit on the 40th floor therefore carries roughly 10% higher fixed-asset tax than an identical unit on the first floor of the same building. On a ¥600,000 annual baseline, that is ¥60,000 per year in additional tax attributable solely to floor position.

New-build buyers receive a partial offset: the building portion of fixed-asset tax is reduced by half for the first five years post-completion, or seven years for units certified as 認定長期優良住宅 (nintei chouki yuuryou juutaku, certified long-life quality housing). The practical planning implication is that tax liability effectively doubles in Year 6 or Year 8. Buyers modelling a seven-to-ten-year hold should build that step-change into their cost projections from day one.

Management fees (管理費, kanrihi) and repair reserve fund contributions (修繕積立金, shuuzen tsumitate-kin, the mandatory fund for future building repairs) add a further ¥30,000 to ¥80,000 per month in most premium Minato-ku towers, with older buildings that have deferred maintenance often carrying higher reserve contributions by board resolution.

Capital Gains Tax and the Exit Arithmetic for Foreign Owners

Japan imposes capital gains tax on real property regardless of the seller’s nationality or residency status. The rate structure turns on holding period, measured from the date of acquisition to the date of the sale agreement in the year of sale.

For properties held five years or less (short-term), the combined rate is 39.63%, comprising national income tax at 30%, resident tax at 9%, and the 復興特別所得税 (fukkoo tokubetsu shotoku-zei, the reconstruction special income surtax) at 0.63%. For properties held more than five years (long-term), the combined rate falls to 20.315%, comprising national income tax at 15%, resident tax at 5%, and the surtax at 0.315%.

A worked example using Minato-ku figures: a buyer acquires at ¥200 million, sells at ¥400 million after six years, and incurs ¥20 million in acquisition and transfer costs. Taxable gain is ¥180 million. Long-term tax at 20.315% produces a liability of approximately ¥36.6 million. That is real money, and it arrives as a lump-sum obligation in the tax year of sale.

Japanese residents may apply the 居住用財産の3,000万円特別控除 (jyuukyouyou zaisan no sanzen-man-en tokubetsu koujyo, the ¥30 million special deduction for a primary residence), which reduces taxable gain by up to ¥30 million. Non-residents must verify eligibility carefully. The deduction is linked to actual residential use, and its availability to non-resident sellers is not automatic. Buyers who anticipate spending significant time outside Japan during their holding period should obtain a clear opinion on this point before signing.

For buyers who hold Japanese property and repatriate capital on sale, the yen exchange rate at the time of the transaction adds a second layer of currency exposure. That is a portfolio-level consideration, but one that belongs in the same conversation as the tax rate.

Foreign Ownership: What the Rules Actually Say

Japan imposes no restrictions on foreign ownership of real property. There is no visa requirement, no residency requirement, no citizenship requirement, and no approval process. A non-resident foreigner acquires a Minato-ku apartment on exactly the same legal basis as a Japanese national. The purchase process, the contract form, the 重要事項説明 (juuyou-jikou-setsumei, the statutory pre-contract disclosure meeting conducted by a licensed specialist), and the 登記 (touki, the transfer of legal title recorded at the Legal Affairs Bureau) are identical in both cases.

Mortgage access is the practical constraint. Most Japanese banks will not extend yen-denominated mortgage products to non-residents, and even permanent residents (永住権, eijuuken, Japanese permanent residency) may face more restrictive loan-to-value terms than Japanese nationals. Buyers without PR who intend to finance a portion of the acquisition should engage a specialist mortgage broker before selecting a property, not after. Several foreign-capital banks operating in Tokyo do offer products for non-resident buyers, but the terms, documentation requirements, and processing timelines differ substantially from the domestic market.

For buyers operating in the ¥300 million-and-above range, cash acquisition is common and removes the mortgage constraint entirely. It also strengthens negotiating position: sellers and their agents in this segment treat a cash buyer with a clean timeline differently from a financed buyer whose completion is contingent on bank approval.

At Koukyuu, a licensed 宅建士 (takken-shi, Japan’s licensed real-estate transaction specialist) personally handles every stage of the transaction, from the initial brief through viewings, negotiation, due diligence, the statutory 重要事項説明, contract execution, and 登記. Most Tokyo agencies route clients through unlicensed salespeople until the closing day, bringing in a takken-shi only for the signing formality. That model creates gaps in advice quality at precisely the stages, due diligence and negotiation, where specialist judgment matters most. Koukyuu’s minimum transaction floor is ¥300 million, with no exceptions, and the licensed specialist is present throughout.

Rental Benchmarks and the Buy-versus-Lease Calculation

For buyers who are evaluating whether to purchase or continue renting while they assess the market, the Minato-ku rental data provides a useful reference frame. The ward average sits at approximately ¥5,317/㎡/month across all unit types, according to current listing data. That figure masks a wide distribution.

At the entry end, a 21-to-25㎡ 1K unit in Hamamatsucho (浜松町) lists at ¥148,000 to ¥155,000 per month plus a 管理費 (kanrihi, monthly management fee) of approximately ¥7,500. A 57-to-60㎡ one-bedroom in Shinagawa (品川) or Takanawa runs ¥350,000 to ¥400,000 per month. Premium serviced apartments and luxury tower units in Roppongi (六本木) and Nishi-Azabu (西麻布) regularly exceed ¥1,000,000 per month, driven in part by corporate housing allowances from foreign-capital firms that set a floor under asking rents in those sub-markets. Current rental listings for Minato-ku apartments illustrate the spread across the ward’s sub-districts.

For a buyer considering a ¥400 million acquisition with annual holding costs of roughly ¥1.2 million in tax and ¥600,000 in management fees, the implied gross rental yield on a comparable unit at ¥800,000 per month is approximately 2.4%. That is not a yield play. Minato-ku buyers at this level are acquiring for capital preservation, currency diversification, and residential utility, with appreciation as the medium-term driver. The 107% ten-year price appreciation and the 5.8% YoY land price increase in 2026 are the relevant comparators, not the rental yield in isolation.

Buyers who want to review the current resale inventory before opening a conversation can browse apartments for sale in Minato-ku as a starting point for understanding the public-market supply. The curated inventory available to private buyers through an advisory relationship is typically distinct from what appears on public platforms.

Koukyuu is a private buyer’s advisory for distinguished Tokyo residences in Nishi-Azabu, Azabudai Hills (麻布台ヒルズ), and Kita-Aoyama (北青山), focused exclusively on transactions of ¥300 million and above, with a licensed 宅建士 personally managing every stage of the engagement from first consultation to title transfer. Book a private consultation) to begin.