The amendment of the Investment Trust Act enables the creation of J-REITs.

Since REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust) originated in the United States in 1960, various countries have introduced them. In Japan, it became possible to form REITs in 2000 with the amendment to the Act on Investment Trusts and Investment Corporations which enabled investment trusts to invest in real estate.

Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) creates the J-REIT market.

With the amendment to the Act on Investment Trusts and Investment Corporations, the TSE developed the rules for creating the J-REIT market. With the TSE’s preparation, the environment was ready for J-REITs to be listed on the TSE.

The first and only case of delisting after filing for civil rehabilitation proceedings occurs in J-REITs.

On October 9th 2008, New City Residence Investment Corp. filed an application for civil rehabilitation proceedings. The main reasons for this application were not the problem of the leasing business but the cash-flow issues such as financial arrangements for the settlement fund for asset acquisition and for repayment of debt. Owing to this, a guiding principle was set which demanded prudent approach to “forward commitments (postdated sales contracts)” considering the influence on financial affairs. The guideline contributed to the sound development of the J-REIT market.

ARES holds the 1st J-REITs Fair for Individual Investors.

Since the visibility of J-REIT among individual investors was lower than other financial products, ARES started holding the J-REIT Fair for Individual Investors with the aim to make J-REITs attractive with their stable dividends and the possibility to invest with small amounts. From 2009 through 2019, ARES held this fair every year, which was well received by individual investors as an information platform on J-REITs.

The Real Estate Market Stabilization Fund is established to secure funding for the J-REIT market.

Due to the global financial market turmoil and the effect of the credit crunch, J-REITs faced with the tight financing conditions. The Japanese government considered that the malfunction of the J-REIT market might affect adversely not only the real estate market but also the Japanese economy. Therefore, by a unified public and private sector effort, the government established the Real Estate Market Stabilization Fund as a part of the Policy Package to Address Economic Crisis. This action had a significant announcement effect on market stabilization.

BOJ establishes the Asset Purchase Program for purchasing J-REITs.

The BOJ declared the introduction of an Asset Purchase Program in order to accelerate monetary easing. Through the program, BOJ planned to purchase various financial assets including J-REITs to encourage a decline in longer-term market interest rates and a reduction in various risk premiums.

J-REIT market capitalization reaches 10 trillion yen.

On November 28th 2014, the market capitalization of J-REIT exceeded 10 trillion yen for the first time. ARES set the market size 10 trillion yen as one of the goals because it considered that the expansion of the market scale was important to attract various investors and stabilize the market.

TSE REIT Index (including dividend payment) exceeds the highest record of 2007.

The TSE REIT Index has been calculated by total return and price return like other indices such as TOPIX. Exceeding the high of 2007 in total return meant that for the investors who had invested in J-REITs at that time, the balance turned positive in terms of investment unit price and dividends received. Therefore, it can be said that dividends contribute greatly to the investment performance of J-REITs.

Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ securitizes loan to J-REITs.

Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ(BTMU) securitized loan to J-REITs for the first time and sold them to institutional investors. This provides new investment opportunities to investors who have been struggling with asset management with the ultra-low interest rates. At the same time, it drives a new trend for BTMU which leads to reduction of the risk of loans. Afterwards, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank followed the similar approach as BTMU.

Green Bond and Green Loan of J-REIT

Currently, Global investors and market players are increasingly interested in ESG (Environment, Society, and Governance). For that reason, J-REITs are expanding efforts on ESG. Green bonds and green loans are methods of raising debt capital by using funds for projects with consideration for the environment. J-REITs carried out those methods for the first time in 2018.

The TSE REIT index falls sharply due to the turmoil in the financial capital market triggered by the spread of COVID-19 infections.

The TSE REIT index hits the year's high of 2,250.65 points on February 20, but falls to 1,145.53 points on March 19.

FTSE Russell begins to include J-REITs in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS).

The Inclusion of J-REITs into the FTSE Global Equity Index Series begins in September 2020 and will be implemented in four tranches by June 2021. The inclusion is expected to expand the range of investors of J-REITs.

First hostile takeover bid for a J-REIT is launched.

Starwood Capital Group launches a hostile takeover bid for Invesco Office J-REIT, Inc. in an unsuccessful attempt to take the REIT private.

Japanese government and Bank of Japan (BOJ) conduct dollar-selling, yen-buying intervention for the first time in 24 years.

In October, the yen weakened past 150 per dollar, reaching a new 32-year low.

Bank of Japan (BOJ) revises its Yield Curve Control (YCC) policy.

The Bank of Japan decided to revise its yield curve control (YCC) policy at its July 28 Monetary Policy Meeting, raising the de facto ceiling on long-term interest rates from 0.5% to 1.0%. Furthermore, in October 2023, the BOJ revised the YCC again, allowing long-term interest rates to remain above 1% to a certain degree.