The author makes certain that buildings (condominiums) are highly incomplete information goods and that structure design of buildings is also incomplete information service. So it is clear that a string of structure design deception cases are archetypal examples of the market failure.
The author analyzes the reasons why building officers in local governments and approved private inspectors who must function as a guardian of the market could not find the deception in building plans and the building permit by the private sector is well-received by housing developers.
The government now proposes a structure design review system by third-party organizations as one of important countermeasures. However the author recommends a professional education of the building control at the same time. And finally the author make following suggestions of the countermeasures based on the analysis.
a) to establish clear lines of responsibility in housing business instead of naked promises
b) to establish insurance schemes for guarantee
c) to establish governmental fund for crime-victim protection.

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This paper discusses the mechanism of chained negligence on the part of construction and related companies. The Japanese Construction Standard Law designates the minimum standard of building quality including anti-earthquake structure. However, the quality of condominium is hard to judge even after the use of building. Therefore, penalties on the low quality do not work in advance to ensure the quality, because monitoring institution does not have incentive to work hard. Incentive contract should be considered in ensuring the quality of buildings.

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Prospective buyers of a new building cannot fully observe the safety of its structure. As a result, problems of adverse selection arise. This paper considers how consumers and government deal with this adverse selection problem. We show that sometimes prospective buyers deal with asymmetric information with signaling and screening. We also show that government can complement screening strategy by promoting building performance information.

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In order to raise the safety of an apartment, the improvement in capability of the person in charge of a construction check organization should be measured. Tightening up penal regulations is unavoidable at the same time. Four structural calculation standards of the Building Standard Law need to have consistency. For the buyer protection, it is not appropriate to concentrate the responsibility on a municipal corporation. It is required to solve in the process of construction and dealing, and the seller takes out an insurance policy compulsorily for that purpose. The buyer should admit paying the expense.

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The Development Land market is a market in which a few sellers and buyers participate and each player has incomplete and asymmetric information. Therefore this market is uncompetitive market and each player's reservation prices vary widely from high to low. This market becomes, in general, a bargaining market in the search market, or some sellers sell the development land by auction when buyer's reservation prices vary widely. Transaction prices of development land are uncertainty and vary widely.
In this paper, we analyze theoretically pricing mechanism of development land, using bargaining theory and auction theory.

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The general concern about the relation between building performance and price has risen through the camouflage problem on new condominium structures. Three approaches; cost approach, market approach and income approach, are usually used in real estate appraisal, but none of them valuate the building performance straightly. The fourth approach focus on building performance is needed.
The price valuated through the performance approach is useful to increase used building transaction, to develop building conversion and to promote property management. The performance approach contributes to realize the sustainable society.

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Some people in Japan say that residential mortgage in the U.S. is non-recourse to borrowers.
However, borrower are fully liable for the amount owed under the note, although some states restrict or control deficiency judgments that force borrowers to pay the deficiency even if the sales price of the property fails to satisfy the entire debt.

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After an event of faking earthquake-resistance design by a 1^st class architect occurred last November, a legislative bill to amend the Building Standard Law aiming at preventing the same event from happening again was submitted to the Diet on March 31. This paper introduces the outline of the bill by focusing on two legally significant issues, as well as touching on the discussion in the Council for Infrastructure.
First, it analyzes where the responsibilities lie if the newly introduced bodies for checking appropriateness of structural calculation for buildings have defects on their inspection.
Second, the paper explains background and rationality to tighten control by the designated administrative agencies (DAAs) over the designated confirmation and inspection bodies (DCIBs). In this course the decision delivered by the Supreme Court in June 2005 that the DAAs, even though it was given a limited control over the DCIBs under the current law, could satisfy eligibility for defendant stipulated in the Law concerning State Liability for Compensation regarding any defects performed by the DCIBs is also taking into account.
Other issues briefly mentioned in this paper are what a qualified architect system should be, and how defect liabilities by housing developers should be strengthened, both of which are currently under discussion.

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Land Readjustment Act was promulgated on December 27, 2004 in Thailand, partly as a result of technical cooperation of Japanese government for some 15 years. Thailand has a clear and firm land registration system which started in 1901, while its public land management system is very inflexible. Land Readjustment Act was required to provide a special treatment for such public land management as one of the crucial keys for land readjustment implementation in Thailand.
In this study land registration system and public land management system in Thailand are analyzed in comparison to Japanese system, and the need for enactment of the new Land Readjustment Act is focused in relation to the special treatment of public land management in land readjustment implementation.

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The aim of this study is to develop a practical index of environmental sustainability of the city in case of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Area in Japan. The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) developed in this study is composed of three factors of “Natural Environment”, “Resource Utilization”, and “Environmental Management” and the calculation of Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) of the city is carried out by comprehensive evaluations of these three factors.

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