Japan is weird. They demo/rebuild housing much more than in other places in the world. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/31/how-tos/japans-30-year

Japan is weird. They demo/rebuild housing much more than in other places in the world. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/31/how-tos/japans-30-year-building-shelf-life-is-not-quite-true/#.WlPZnXWnFFQ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/31/how-tos/ja... You'd really want some kind of net housing units measure, rather than housing starts, to compensate this when comparing Tokyo to other cities.