Tsukasa Miyamoto advises landlords on maximizing rent

Thank you, Takenaka-san, for that warm introduction. It’s a pleasure to speak today with the “2024 Tokyo Landlord Symposium.”

Hello everyone. My name is Tsukasa Miyamoto and I am Deputy Head of Sales Division #2 of Japan Creative Naming Advisors.

You don’t need me to tell you. The Tokyo housing market is red hot! Land prices are skyrocketing, rents are way up, and unit owners like you are cashing in!

But what more can a landlord do to ensure he or she maximizes the rent people will pay for a property?

Before I begin, let me briefly let you know what Japan Creative Naming Advisors can do for you, Tokyo’s apartment and mansion owners.

At Japan Creative Naming Advisors, we specialize in helping landlords name their buildings! Now you might be thinking, that’s it? You help slap a name onto the units I’m bringing to market? Why, uh, anyone can do that!

Turns out that’s not the case. While Chinese from Fujian Province will literally buy or rent almost anything made from staples and glue, the success of your property—the money that fills your pocket over time—will really come down to the lasting, homegrown enthusiasm and hunger of Japanese renters.  

And we think that the name of the property can make the difference between being rented for decades to come or standing as vacant as a Fukui Prefecture youth rec center.

But here’s the good news. There is a simple trick to picking a mansion name that will indeed deliver. Names of residences need to be highly aspirational in this city packed with, well, people who dream of lives that they have a bit better than a snowball’s chance in hell of ever grasping.

Let’s take a look at a few slides.

A+ for effort! I’m seeing foreign shores, aspiration, and McSnooty Pants neighborhood all over this one.

This is one of our clients. We threw the kitchen sink at this one.

Yes, a spelling error. But I’m feeling the energy and optimism of youth, university, and intellectual challenge at this address.

Good name, with some “Maison” European feel. But I’d rather not see all that kana and kanji. Too hopeless.

So what do I really mean by aspiration? How can this be conveyed in a property name? Here is an example.

Without professional advice and creative input, an owner named Matsuyama may name his new building Matsuyama Apartments. Well, that’s just great for Mr. Matsuyama who now finds his name on his 32-unit waterfront-facing building in Odaiba. But where is the dream for his renters?

Matsuyama Apartments may be modern, spacious, and have Pacific views to the horizon but does the name say any of that? No.

I’d actually tell him forget the water and view—neither score really well with Japanese, probably due to liquifaction and tsunami concerns. I would rather advise Mr. Matsuyama to name his building “[something] [something] Green.” Then, if he really wants to top out on rental income, he could toss the word “Hills” in there for good measure.

See what we’ve done? Now we have a new apartment unit surrounded by natural greenery, and residents are perched on a high bluff comfortably above the riff raff they so desperately want to look down upon!

Believe you me, ‘Something Green Something Hills’ is a prize property! And know what? Mr. Matsuyama can even keep his name in there—just shove it in anywhere among the money-shot terms. Matsuyama Green Hills! Hills Matsuyama Green! Nobody’s grading grammar here.

You might be thinking, but what if the apartment is actually built on a flat-as-the-eye-can-see stretch of concrete surrounded by 6 square kilometers of other concrete buildings largely blotting out the sun? What if the closest tree is 37 kilometers away in Saitama Prefecture?

I’d say that’s even more reason to go with aspiration! Put this down in your notes, landlords: the more dire the property, the more sprinkles needed.

Imagine you are the potential renter. Do you want to be living on an asphalt pancake or up in the rolling, lightly wooded hills, gazing down upon the millions of lesser-fortunate shimojimo enviously squinting up at you from their cardboard-and-paste Amazon Box homes?

It’s not even close.

I have great news to report. You have many more choices than simply Green or [something] [something] Hills. At Japan Creative Naming Advisors we come armed with data!

Let’s look at a few of Tokyo’s key historical trends to get deeper insight.

As you can see from this graph, Tokyo in the 1980s and 1990s was also obsessed with light. Heights, Hills, and Terrace were thus often used in combination with Open, Sunshine, and Sunrise. In fact, 97.4% of new housing starts in that decade used one or more of these terms…in any word order.

Sunheim, which I’m not sure means anything, was really big. In fact, in 1991 over 1,200 apartment starts were named Sunheim in Nakano Ward alone.

Then came a change. From the middle of the Heisei Era, we saw a shift into what I call cultural—particularly European—names. Maison, Chalet, Academie, Lumiere, and Residencia all were liberally sprinkled across this city as Japanese fondly recalled their most recent overseas 3-day vacations.

“Ah, that Sunday, Monday, and half a Tuesday we spent in Venice… Next time I hope to get four days off.”

“Villa de Maison Tokyo Residencia Opportune,” built in 2008 and located in Naka-Meguro, is one of mine. I am happy to report that the owner is still today taking 310,000 yen in rent for 1DKs with partial views of the Family Mart and the #12A bus stop out front. He still sends me seasonal fruit baskets in appreciation, I’ll have you know.

[Acknowledge applause.]

So, what are we seeing now over the past four or five years? Japan Creative Naming Advisors feels we have entered the “I Want to Quit My Soul-less Job at [insert name] to Work at Google” era.

I urge you to consider embracing this trend. Knowing full well that your renters will still continue to drudge at Shingawa Denki K.K. each night until 11pm or until 10 minutes after the boss goes home—whichever comes first—and never once in their lives enjoy a bagel bar in the office nor co-share an ergonomic “workspace” that enhances “collaboration,” they can always dream can’t they?

We find that the word “Soho” scores well with this modern Japanese audience. Other terms you may consider popping in there are Share, Habitation, Craft, and Trend. Gold, I tell ya!

I recently advised on a new development featuring 220 cut-and-paste units of 15-square-meters living space each. A real hamster Habi-Trail. The building is located a 1 hour and 18-minute walk from Yoyogi Park so it was clear we had to use “Park” in the name.

Soho Park Flex-Life Yoyogi was thus born and it’s waiting list only for renters!

[Acknowledge applause.]

I could go on, but you get the message. My Japan Creative Naming Advisors colleagues and I are here at this conference through Friday and would be happy to discuss more with any landlord determined to secure the rent he or she deserves.

Remember. Mitsubishi Estate, our nation’s top developer, says, “A Love of People. A Love of City.” We can’t think of anything more aspirational than that.

Thank you for your attention.