Guides

Questions that no single metric answers, written up as a table of stacked conditions plus an explanation of what the numbers mean. The tables and the figures in the text come from the latest aggregation of the public data.

Low-hazard, low-price towns within 150 km of Tokyo #1 みなかみ町 (18,050 JPY/m²), #2 那須塩原市 (20,500 JPY/m²), #3 日光市 (21,050 JPY/m²). The 11 municipalities within 150 km of Tokyo Station whose expected flood area stays at or below 5.0% and whose 30-year probability of Shindo 6-lower shaking stays at or below 30.0%, ordered from the cheapest residential land.
Low-hazard, low-price towns within 100 km of Tokyo #1 みどり市 (24,550 JPY/m²), #2 甲州市 (29,100 JPY/m²), #3 鳩山町 (32,300 JPY/m²). The 7 municipalities within 100 km of Tokyo Station whose expected flood area stays at or below 5.0% and whose 30-year probability of Shindo 6-lower shaking stays at or below 30.0%, ordered from the cheapest residential land.
Low-hazard, affordable towns across Japan #1 北秋田市 (6,520 JPY/m²), #2 曽於市 (8,280 JPY/m²), #3 潟上市 (8,770 JPY/m²). 126 municipalities nationwide with expected flood areas at or below 5.0% and 30-year probability of Shindo 6-lower shaking at or below 30.0%, ordered from the lowest residential land price.
Low-hazard, low-price towns within 120 km of Osaka #1 吉野町 (14,150 JPY/m²), #2 日野町 (14,800 JPY/m²), #3 甲賀市 (16,650 JPY/m²). The 24 municipalities within 120 km of Osaka Station whose expected flood area stays at or below 5.0% and whose 30-year probability of Shindo 6-lower shaking stays at or below 30.0%, ordered from the cheapest residential land.
Low-hazard, low-price towns within 100 km of Nagoya #1 日野町 (14,800 JPY/m²), #2 甲賀市 (16,650 JPY/m²), #3 中津川市 (28,600 JPY/m²). The 7 municipalities within 100 km of Nagoya Station whose expected flood area stays at or below 5.0% and whose 30-year probability of Shindo 6-lower shaking stays at or below 30.0%, ordered from the cheapest residential land.
Reading the 30-year earthquake probability, with medians by prefecture #1 Shimane (2.1%), #2 Nagasaki (2.5%), #3 Tottori (3.4%). For each of the 47 prefectures, the median 30-year probability of Shindo 6-lower shaking across its municipalities, with the lowest and highest municipality in each. The nationwide median over 1,892 municipalities is 19.3%.
What the flood inundation area ratio means and how to read it #1 渋谷区 (21.8%), #2 目黒区 (23.5%), #3 文京区 (24.6%). Settle Map's flood metric is the area expected to flood in a worst-case (L2) rainfall divided by the area of the municipality. This page lists the 23 wards of Tokyo from the lowest ratio, with land price and earthquake probability alongside.
What an akiya bank is, and how to reach one from Settle Map #1 Ishikawa (100.0%), #2 Fukui (100.0%), #3 Gifu (100.0%). An akiya bank is a municipal listing of vacant homes and vacant land. Settle Map carries the official URL for 1,085 of Japan's 1,892 municipalities (57.3%). This page lists the coverage by prefecture.
Towns with a mild winter and a low earthquake probability #1 南大東村 (0.2%), #2 北大東村 (0.2%), #3 青ヶ島村 (1.3%). The 17 municipalities with an average January temperature of 8.0 ℃ or above and a 30-year probability of Shindo 6-lower shaking of 15.0% or below, ordered from the lowest probability.
Are cheap towns dangerous? Flood area ratio versus land price Municipalities grouped into four bands by flood area ratio, compared on median land price and earthquake probability. 931 municipalities with at least 4 land price samples. Land price is 36,675 JPY/m² for up to 5.0% and 93,500 JPY/m² for over 70.0%.
How to shortlist towns: add one condition at a time and count How to narrow 1,892 municipalities by adding four conditions in turn: flood, earthquake, land price samples and distance from Tokyo Station. The table counts how many municipalities remain after each step. 11 remain at the end.
A checklist for visiting a town you have shortlisted 7 things to check in person after narrowing candidates with Settle Map's data. For each topic, what the data tells you is set beside what you can learn only by going there.