Tokyo - November 19, 2008 - The Nikkei Real Estate Market Report announced new content expanding its Japanese property market knowledge base. This new content, the Closing Rent Survey and an overhauled City Guide, targets institutional investors and has been released with the aim of improving the transparency of the world's second largest real estate market.

The Nikkei Real Estate Market Report, published by Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. (Head Office: Tokyo, President: Yasuo Hirata), offers information on the movement of the Japanese real estate investment market in English.

The Closing Rent Survey provides historical data on closing rents for rental office buildings located in 42 business districts in Tokyo and Yokohama. The database, which has been accumulated over six years from the Nikkei Real Estate Market Report's activities in the commercial real estate industry, is based on actual cases of contracts that have been successfully closed with new tenants. This proprietary data differs from publicly available advertised rents and more accurately reflects actual market values.

The City Guide, a unique guide for real estate investors, also underwent a drastic overhaul through the addition of information on the five regional cities of Sapporo, Sendai, Kyoto, Kobe and Naha. This comprehensive guide to Tokyo and nine major cities provides investors with a basic understanding of historical land price changes and snapshots of major macroeconomic indices. Existing guides to major business districts have also been updated with the addition of information on new developments, lists of major buildings and many photographs.

"Our survey indicates that recently closed rents have clearly hit a ceiling in some parts of central Tokyo, such as the Marunouchi district, which is located in front of Tokyo Station and where rents have been soaring. In addition, despite ongoing market turmoil, it is felt that average rents will continue to increase over the short term for many buildings with existing tenants coming up for contract renewal. Building owners are split between bearish and bullish sentiments," says Taro Tokunaga, editor in chief of the Nikkei Real Estate Market Report.

The City Guide is offered for free to subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Although the Closing Rent Survey is exclusively available to subscribers, it can be accessed by anyone for a limited time.

The Nikkei Real Estate Market Report is the sole online source of information on the Japanese real estate market available in English. Its content geared toward global investors will continue to expand.

About the NIKKEI REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT: An online media by Nikkei Business Publications, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the leading business newspaper publisher NIKKEI, Inc. It offers exclusive news on real estate deals and developments in Japan, as well as in-depth market analysis to the specialists. More information can be found at http://realestate.nikkeibp.co.jp/

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