Release notes from MAPRISE, the reasoning behind our data-integration calls, event participations, industry analysis, and hiring updates. An RSS feed is available.
- ·15 min readResearch
Don't Choose a Cliff-Top Home on View and Elevation Alone: Retaining Walls, Disclosure Rules, Land Prices and Yellow Zones, City by City (Part 2)
A sequel to our article on the Zushi slope collapse. Maintaining a retaining wall is the responsibility of the person who holds the land, not the government or a management company. We sort out what is covered in the pre-contract property disclosure and what the statutes do not mention, then compare land prices, elevation and sediment disaster warning areas (yellow zones) in residential areas of Sapporo, Kobe, Minoh and Setagaya.
#retaining wall #sediment disaster warning area #yellow zone #property disclosure #land price #hill #view #Act on Regulation of Residential Land and Specified Fill #structure liability #Sapporo #Kobe #Minoh #Setagaya #colored contour map #split view
- ·14 min readResearch
Did the Rich Move Uphill to Avoid Floods? Testing 'Yamanote vs Shitamachi' in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka with Four Maps
Japan has an old saying: the wealthy live in the 'Yamanote' (uptown hills) and ordinary people in the 'Shitamachi' (lowland downtown). Did the rich simply move to high ground to avoid floods? We lined up elevation, land prices, crime and zoning in MAPRISE's 4-way split view for four cities, with numbers.
#Yamanote #Shitamachi #Elevation #Land prices #Crime #Zoning #4-way split view #Tokyo #Nagoya #Osaka #Fukuoka
- ·21 min readResearch
Who Looks After the Slope and Retaining Wall Beneath a Cliff-Top Property? ― The Zushi Accident, and Yellow Zones Across Japan on a Split-Screen Elevation Map
In 2020 a slope on a condominium site in Zushi collapsed and killed an 18-year-old high school student walking on the road below. A property on a cliff comes with a view, and with a heavy duty to look after the ground beneath it. Using MAPRISE's 2-split view, we put a colored contour map next to sediment disaster warning areas (yellow zones) for the same area and looked for steep drops in Tokyo, Yokohama, Zushi, Kamakura, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Sendai, Hiroshima, Onomichi, Matsuyama, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka and Kanazawa.
#retaining wall #sediment disaster warning area #yellow zone #steep slope #elevation #colored contour map #split view #Zushi #Kamakura #Onomichi #Kagoshima #Matsuyama #Fukuoka #Kanazawa #Tokyo #Yokohama #Osaka #Kobe #Hiroshima #Nagasaki #Kyoto #Sendai #liability
- ·6 min readRelease
Where Do Airplanes Actually Fly? Haneda, Narita, Kansai, Itami and Fukuoka on the Aircraft Overflight Layer
MAPRISE now has an "Aircraft Overflight Frequency (Reference)" layer. For each cell of about 500 m, it shows by color how many aircraft per day pass nearby. We display five airports — Haneda, Narita, Kansai, Itami and Fukuoka — and look at how they differ.
#Aircraft overflight #Aircraft #Airports #Haneda #Narita #Kansai International #Itami #Fukuoka Airport #New layer
- ·5 min readRelease
How Do Airports on the Sea Look on a Map? Kansai and Centrair on the Aircraft Overflight Layer
Last time we looked at Haneda, Narita, Kansai, Itami and Fukuoka on the Aircraft Overflight Frequency (Reference) layer. This time we display the two airports built on reclaimed islands, Kansai International and Chubu Centrair, and talk about the routes that run out over the sea, the night share, and the limits of the map.
#Aircraft overflight #Aircraft #Airports #Kansai International #Chubu Centrair #Centrair #Offshore airports #New layer
- ·17 min readResearch
Musashi-Kosugi, Then and Now, and Where Its Hazards Stand Today ― Re-reading the Location Through Elevation, Landform and History
A new JR station and a skyline of residential towers made Musashi-Kosugi one of the most talked-about districts in Greater Tokyo. In 2019 a typhoon brought flooding that made the news. We lay elevation maps, landform classes, a late-1940s aerial photo and the national flood inundation assumptions side by side to explain how the land was formed and how the location looks now that countermeasures are in place.
#Musashi-Kosugi #Kawasaki #Tama River #elevation #colored contour map #flood inundation assumptions #hazard map #land history #stormwater #drainage sluice #location assessment
- ·11 min readRelease
Nagasaki Station at 1 m: What a Hillside City Really Looks Like ― Colored Contour Maps Built from Nagasaki Prefecture's Point Cloud
MAPRISE's colored contour map now covers the area around Nagasaki Station at 1 m resolution. Here is how we asked Nagasaki Prefecture whether we could use its open 3D point cloud, and what appeared when we placed it beside an ordinary map: reclaimed-land relief, small channels, graded school grounds and valleys.
#Nagasaki #contour #colored contour map #point cloud #open data #elevation #1 m mesh #hillside city #Open Nagasaki
- ·9 min readResearch
Why Some Towns Are Full of Pre-1981 Buildings — Five Japanese Areas on the PLATEAU Seismic-Standard Map, and the History of the Land
MAPRISE colours buildings by seismic-standard generation using construction years from PLATEAU. We captured five areas across Japan where pre-1981 buildings stand out (Mojiko, Wakamatsu, Kanazawa Higashiyama, Kyoto Nishijin, Takamatsu) and read them against the history of each place.
#PLATEAU #Seismic standards #Pre-1981 buildings #Land history #Due diligence #3D city model
- ·8 min readTutorial
Closed Lines Have Histories Too — Tracing Coal, Factory and Streetcar Lines on a Four-Panel Map
Railways were laid not only for people but to carry coal, timber and factory goods. Using MAPRISE's four-panel view, we line up the former-railway layer, today's map and aerial photos from two eras to trace a line that became a cycling path, a coal railway in Yubari, a freight line through Amagasaki's industrial district, and a Kitakyushu streetcar that disappeared in the Heisei era.
#Former railways #Railway history #Aerial photos #Four-panel view #Coal mining #Streetcars
- ·9 min readResearch
Minpaku Rules Differ From Town to Town — Strict Areas and Patchwork Areas on the Minpaku Ordinances Layer
Minpaku (private lodging) arranged through a smartphone widened the choice of places to stay, but it also led to regulations across Japan. Using MAPRISE's layer that color-codes minpaku ordinances by municipality, we look at Hyogo, where every municipality is strict, Tokyo's 23 wards, where rules differ ward by ward, and Osaka, where special-zone minpaku is mixed in.
#Minpaku #Private lodging #Ordinances #Special-zone minpaku #Hyogo #Tokyo
- ·8 min readResearch
Can We Still See the Dam of the Bitchu Takamatsu Water Attack on a Map? ― Looking for Kuroda Kanbei's Embankment in MAPRISE, 440 Years On
Bitchu Takamatsu Castle is famous for the water attack of 1582, said to have been proposed by Kuroda Kanbei. Does the embankment built then still show on a map? We plotted the castle site and the Kawazugahana embankment remains on a trial-development screen of MAPRISE (a hillshade and a colored contour map planned as a future layer) to find out.
#Bitchu Takamatsu Castle #water attack #Kuroda Kanbei #Kawazugahana embankment #hillshade #colored elevation #contour #Okayama #Sengoku period #terrain
- ·10 min readResearch
Reading Takeda Shingen's Flood Control and the Shingen Levee on a Map ― Ryuo's Terrain, Meiji-Era Paddies and Kai City Today (MAPRISE)
Takeda Shingen, the 'Tiger of Kai', left his mark on flood control and water use as well as on the battlefield. Using hillshade, colored elevation, Meiji-era wetlands, land use, flood-depth assumptions and aerial photos from the same data MAPRISE uses, we looked at the Shingen Levee in Kai City, Yamanashi.
#Shingen Levee #Takeda Shingen #flood control #water use #Kai City #Ryuo #Kamanashi River #Mikuri River #hillshade #colored elevation #Meiji-era wetlands #flood depth #Sengoku period
- ·16 min readResearch
Reading Chiba's Flooded Areas with MAPRISE Layers — Meiji-Era Wetlands, Geology, Elevation, and Official Hazard Maps
The August 2026 Chiba torrential rain and the September levee breaches around Lake Inba (Typhoon No. 25). We compared the flooded areas reported in the news with Meiji-era wetlands, geology, elevation, and the national flood and inland-flood inundation forecasts, to check how accurate the hazard maps were and where our own map falls short.
#Chiba #Lake Inba #Chiba heavy rain #Typhoon No. 25 #Hazard maps #Flood inundation forecast #Inland flooding #Meiji-era wetlands #Geology #Elevation #Disaster prevention
- ·16 min readResearch
Rivers That Flow Above the City — Ceiling Rivers (Tenjogawa) and Living Behind a Levee (Hanshin, Shiga, Nagoya, and Tokyo's Arakawa)
A river whose bed has risen above the surrounding town after repeated levee raising is called a tenjogawa, or "ceiling river." We compare elevation maps and the national flood inundation forecast for the Ashiya and Sumiyoshi rivers near Osaka and Kobe, the former Kusatsu River in Shiga, the Shonai River in Nagoya, and Tokyo's Arakawa, as a starting point for thinking about disaster prevention.
#Ceiling river #Tenjogawa #Flood inundation forecast #Hazard map #Elevation #Hillshade #Ashiya River #Sumiyoshi River #Arakawa #Shonai River #Disaster prevention
- ·8 min readRelease
Tsunami Disaster Warning Areas, Now Nationwide — Updating Our Preparedness While the Nankai Trough Stays Quiet
Our tsunami disaster warning area data used to cover only six Kyushu prefectures. We surveyed all 47 prefectures and now include 495 municipalities in 31 prefectures. Here is an overview of conditions along the Pacific coast, and why checking the latest hazard information matters.
#Tsunami #Hazard map #Nankai Trough #Disaster prevention #Tsunami warning areas
- ·8 min readRelease
Mapping Where Trains Used to Run — Former Railways and Stations, Slowly Fading
We've added a map layer that shows former railway lines and stations across Japan, year by year. Here's how it differs from our existing railway layer, how former stations are plotted, what you see when you click, and examples from Hokkaido to Kyushu, compared with past aerial photographs.
#Former railways #Former stations #Railway history #Aerial photos #Hokkaido
- ·6 min readResearch
Why Is There a "Suspension Bridge" in an Underground Passage in Tenjin? — An Unexpected Link to the Hizen Moat, Found with Old-Map Layers
The Kirameki-dori underground passage, which leads from the Tenjin underground mall toward Iwataya, has a strange bridge-like structure. A hunch and MAPRISE's old-map layers revealed that the Hizen Moat once flowed right beneath it.
#Tenjin underground mall #Kirameki-dori #Hizen Moat #Old maps #Fukuoka Castle
- ·11 min readRelease
When, Where, and What Kind of Crime — Tokyo's Serious Crime, Mapped by Town Over 17 Years
We've released the Serious Crime (Tokyo, by town) layer, built from the annual recognized-case counts per town published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police (2009–2025). Here's a mostly visual tour: switching years, filtering by crime type, a 17-year history on click, and a side-by-side view with our earlier crime map.
#Crime #Public safety #Tokyo #Open data #Time series
- ·7 min readTutorial
Japan's Calderas in Black-and-White Hillshade and Colored Elevation ― Aso, Mashu, Toya, Hakone and More
Calderas are the huge depressions left by giant eruptions. Using MAPRISE's split view, we placed a black-and-white hillshade next to an elevation map colored by height. The outlines of Aso, Lake Toya, Lake Shikotsu, Lake Towada, Lake Kussharo, Lake Mashu and Hakone stand out in both.
#Lake Mashu #Hakone #caldera #hillshade #elevation #Aso #Lake Toya #Lake Shikotsu #Lake Towada #Lake Kussharo #split view #terrain
- ·11 min readResearch
Solar Panels on Former Golf Courses ― How Many Have Closed, and Seven Places in Japan in a 4-Panel View
The number of golf courses in Japan is about 10% below its peak. We looked at seven former courses across the country where solar panels now cover the land, using MAPRISE's 4-panel view: AI panel detection, today's aerial photo, a past aerial photo (or past land use), and a color elevation map.
#golf courses #solar power #mega solar #land use #aerial photos #color elevation map #4-panel view
- ·9 min readResearch
Solar Panels and the Future of Mountain Forests ― Kansai and Chukyo in a 4-Panel View, and Thoughts on Lifespan, Policy and Forests
As a sequel, we look at solar panels on slopes in Kansai and Chukyo (and neighboring Tokai) in MAPRISE's 4-panel view. We also gather, gently, what we found about panel lifespan and replacement timing, the policy at the time mega solar spread, the burden on consumers, and the forests left behind.
#solar power #mega solar #FIT #renewable surcharge #forest environment tax #forests #Kansai #Chukyo #4-panel view
- ·7 min readTutorial
Solar Panels on Slopes and Cliff-Collapse Warning Zones in a 4-Panel View ― Places to Watch in Heavy Rain
Using MAPRISE's 4-panel view, we line up AI-detected solar panels, aerial photos, elevation and steep-slope (cliff-collapse) warning zones. Prompted by the damage to solar facilities reported after the heavy rain of September 2026, we look at eight sites in Kyushu and Kita-Kanto where panels on slopes sit close to warning zones.
#solar power #landslide #steep slope #4-panel view #aerial photo #elevation #Kyushu
- ·10 min readRelease
Sun and Shadow on the Map — Buildings, Mountains and Elevated Structures, from Winter to Summer Solstice
By combining PLATEAU 3D buildings, GSI elevation data and the heights of elevated roads and railways, MAPRISE reproduces shadows at the winter solstice, equinox and summer solstice, hour by hour. A daily sunlight-hours heatmap makes it a handy first check for land acquisition.
#Shadow #Sunlight #Sunlight hours #PLATEAU #GSI #Land acquisition #Developers #Real estate
- ·8 min readRelease
Cemeteries, Mapped — A New Lens on Real-Estate Site Selection
We've mapped cemetery locations nationwide. Here's the data overview, why cemetery proximity matters as a (non-mandatory) factor in real-estate site selection, and a look at how burial practices in Japan have changed over time — including a small number of dedicated cemeteries that accommodate Muslim burial.
#Cemeteries #Real estate #Open data #Nationwide #Burial practices
- ·8 min readRelease
Religious Facilities, Mapped — From Shrines, Temples, and Churches to Mosques and 'Other Religious Facilities'
We've mapped Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, Christian churches, mosques, and other religious facilities across all 47 prefectures. Here's the data source breakdown, how we grouped the five categories, what you can see by clicking a point, and — honestly — why the map looks different from region to region.
#Religious facilities #Open data #Regional understanding #Nationwide #Local history
- ·10 min readRelease
Active Faults, Mapped — From the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake's Source Fault to the Kego, Uemachi, and Tachikawa Faults
We've implemented an active-fault layer based on Japan's Geospatial Information Authority (GSI) 'Urban Area Active Fault Maps.' Using the Futagawa Fault Zone (source of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake), the Kego Fault running through central Fukuoka, the Uemachi Fault Zone that shaped Osaka's Uemachi Plateau, and the Tachikawa Fault Zone as examples, here's how to read the layer and how it relates to real-estate disclosure.
#Active faults #Urban Area Active Fault Maps #Disaster preparedness #Kumamoto earthquake #Terrain
- ·7 min readRelease
There's an Invisible Ceiling Near Every Airport — We Mapped It
Near any airport, there's a legal 'invisible ceiling' hanging over the city below it. We've now implemented a map layer for Japan's Civil Aeronautics Act height-restriction surfaces (six types, including approach and horizontal surfaces). Along the way: why buildings near Hakata Station tend to be short, nationwide coverage of airports and heliports, and a casual walkthrough of the legend.
#Aviation law #Height restrictions #Real estate disclosure #Nationwide #Fukuoka
- ·8 min readRelease
That Land Might Actually Be Fill — We Mapped Fill-Land Regulation Zones and Large-Scale Fill Land
After the 2021 Atami debris-flow disaster, Japan enacted a new law regulating dangerous fill land. We've now mapped both the regulation zones that law created and a separate map of existing large-scale fill land (valley-fill and slope-attached). They look similar but are actually different things. Here's how they work, with real examples from Fukuoka City and the Kansai region, plus their relevance to real-estate disclosure.
#Fill-land regulation #Large-scale fill land #Disaster risk #Real estate disclosure #Nationwide
- ·7 min readRelease
Before You Buy or Develop Land, Check for 'Watch Areas' and 'Special Watch Areas' — Now on the Map
Around Self-Defense Force bases and Japan's border islands, there are 'Special Watch Areas' where selling or buying land requires advance notification to the Cabinet Office. This is also a mandatory item in real-estate disclosure statements. Here's an explanation for real-estate professionals and developers, plus how we've mapped it.
#Important land survey act #National security #Real estate disclosure #Land acquisition #Kyushu
- ·11 min readRelease
Special Zones and Protection Zones Under the Natural Parks Act, Mapped (Nationwide)
We've mapped 'Natural Park Areas (boundary),' 'Special Zones,' and 'Special Protection Zones' under Japan's Natural Parks Act — plus Vulcanz LLC's own reference layer for 'Ordinary Zones' — across 46 of Japan's 47 prefectures (all but Okayama). Here's the legal background, how it ties to real-estate disclosure, and what real-estate, development, finance, professional, and government users should each watch for.
#Natural Parks Act #Environmental regulation #Real estate disclosure #Land acquisition
- ·8 min readRelease
Is That Land Contaminated? — We Mapped Soil Contamination Designated Areas
We've mapped designated areas under Japan's Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act — both 'action-required areas' and 'notification areas' — nationwide. What people using well water or home vegetable gardens should know, how this relates to real-estate disclosure, and what corporations and individuals should each watch for.
#Soil contamination act #Environmental risk #Real estate disclosure #Nationwide #Land acquisition
- ·4 min readRelease
We Added Distance and Area Measurement ― Basic GIS Features Deserve Just as Much Care
We've added a new tool for measuring distance and area directly on the map. It's a standard feature in pretty much any GIS tool, which is exactly why we focused on making it something you can use without a moment's hesitation. Click the Measure button at the bottom of the screen, pick distance or area, and click your way across the map.
#Measurement #UI/UX #Map interaction
- ·6 min readRelease
Just Type an Address, and the Official Roadside Land Price Map Opens Instantly
Japan's roadside land price maps (rosenka), used to value land for inheritance and gift tax, are published on the National Tax Agency's site — but reaching one normally means clicking through prefecture, municipality, and a specific sheet number. MAPRISE now jumps straight to the right map from a single address. Here's what rosenka actually is, and who ends up using it.
#Rosenka #Inheritance tax #Data quality #Nationwide
- ·7 min readRelease report
Where Are the Solar Panels, Actually? ― Trying to Draw Their Outlines with AI
In the Kyushu 7 prefectures alone, small-scale FIT-certified solar facilities number 63,416. Their location data is only accurate to the neighborhood level. Here's the record of trying to fill that gap with AI-based panel-coverage estimation — and how, in the end, machine learning alone wasn't enough, so we visually checked hundreds of cases by eye.
#Solar power #FIT #AI #Data quality #Kyushu
- ·7 min readRelease report
We Couldn't Map Water. We Could Map City Gas — a New Layer Born from One Comment
When we showed MAPRISE to a working real-estate professional, they asked whether the water and gas sections of the legally required disclosure statement could also be mapped or included in reports. We looked into it — water turned out not to be feasible, but city gas service areas across the Kyushu 7 prefectures could be mapped. Here's what we could and couldn't do, and the two design decisions we wouldn't compromise on.
#City gas #Real estate disclosure #Open data #Data quality #Kyushu
- ·12 min readRelease report
Two Weeks Harder Than Expected After Going Nationwide — Where 'Just Multiply the Count' Stops Working
In early August we took data nationwide in one push, from Kyushu's 7 prefectures to all of Japan. Over the past two weeks we polished it. Some layers, like appraisal reports and large-scale fill land, scaled by simply multiplying the count. Others, like location-optimization plan areas and historical topographic maps, needed to be checked one by one. Here's an honest record of where that line falls, and the unglamorous work of emailing government agencies when we got stuck.
#Nationwide expansion #Data quality #Location optimization plans #Appraisal reports #Source attribution #Regression testing
- ·9 min readRelease
We Mapped 2,966 Unused National-Owned Properties Nationwide
Using open data from Japan's Ministry of Finance, we've published a map layer covering 2,966 unused national-owned properties nationwide. Here's how location precision works, why book value isn't a sale price, and how this can be used in practice — from homebuilders to municipalities.
#National-owned property #Ministry of Finance #Open data #Real estate #Land acquisition
- ·9 min readRelease report
Eight Layers Nationwide, and the 19-Hour-52-Minute Land-Use Mesh Build
We took eight layers nationwide — borehole logs, flood inundation zones, disaster monuments, real-estate transaction history, and more. The heaviest of the eight, the land-use detailed mesh (all 9 fiscal years, roughly 64GB), took 19 hours and 52 minutes. Here's why, the two incidents we hit along the way, and how we split zero-touch automation from human judgment in the operating design.
#Nationwide expansion #Data quality #Monitoring #Regression testing
- ·6 min readRelease report
Registry Cadastral Maps and PLATEAU — Clearing the Two Heaviest Datasets of Our Nationwide Rollout, During Obon
Of everything we've expanded nationwide, the Registry Office cadastral maps (parcel boundaries) and the PLATEAU 3D city model were by far the heaviest datasets. Here's why they matter, a little about how we shipped them, and how we plan to live with data that never truly finishes.
#Nationwide expansion #PLATEAU #Cadastral map #Data quality #Data updates
- ·5 min readRelease
From 7 prefectures in Kyushu to nationwide - a day spent checking data one sheet at a time
MAPRISE started out covering Kyushu's 7 prefectures. Today, layer after layer - elderly care and disability welfare service providers, census small-area statistics, economic census mesh, foreign population data, crime occurrence records, and the prefectural land price survey - expanded to all 47 prefectures. Here's an honest account of what we found along the way, and where things stand as we aim for nationwide coverage by the end of August.
#Nationwide expansion #Data quality #Open data #Regression testing #Kyushu
- ·7 min readRelease
An agent, not a person, keeps this data current - building attribute disclosure, nationwide land prices, and 24/7 uptime
At MAPRISE, an agent checks for new government data releases every month on its own, and carries the update through retrieval, verification, and publication end to end. We've also built a system that makes clear how much is actually known versus assumed for every building we cover, expanded published land price data to all 47 prefectures, and moved to round-the-clock uptime.
#Data quality #PLATEAU #Land prices #Automated updates #Uptime
- ·7 min readRelease
That intersection might actually be an accident hotspot - we mapped traffic accident and crime data
Everyone wants to live somewhere safe, if they can help it. Using open data published by the National Police Agency and Kyushu's prefectural police, we've plotted over 100,000 traffic accidents (5 years) and over 80,000 crime incidents (7 years) across all of Kyushu, color-coded by type and switchable by year. Here's the story behind it, told frankly, plus a personal take on using maps to cut across the silos in public data.
#Traffic accidents #Crime data #Public safety #Open data #Data democratization
- ·8 min readResearch
Is that building really "steel-frame"? We audited and corrected our building structure data
We found an error in how the PLATEAU building layer's "structure" categories (wood, RC, SRC, steel-frame, and so on) mapped to their underlying codes, and corrected it against the official international code list. Beyond fixing the display in AI chat and PDF reports, this post covers the role MAPRISE plays on top of PLATEAU as a national initiative, plus some layer-overlay ideas we've been dreaming up by industry.
#PLATEAU #Data quality #Building structure #AI #Open data
- ·6 min readRelease
Map nerds start from an area. Real-estate pros start from a pin. The one comment from the field that kicked off a 3-day rebuild of address search
"We always start by typing in the exact address, then work outward from there" - that comment from a real-estate company managing director and a former homebuilder pro reshaped how we think about address search. Over three days we rebuilt it for all of Kyushu down to the parcel level, catching kana variants and shorthand hyphenated addresses along the way. Here's the story of the team catching fire.
#Address search #Geocoding #UI/UX #Data update #Dev story
- ·5 min readEvent
I spoke at a Fukuoka Prefecture entrepreneurship-support training session — insights from those who support founders
In the middle of the second-round document screening for the Fukuoka Yokatoko Business Plan Contest, I received a call from the Fukuoka Prefecture SME Support Office, asking me to present MAPRISE's business plan at a training session for people who support new businesses across the region. Here's how the day went, and what I took away from it.
#Yokatoko Business Plan Contest #Fukuoka Prefecture #Speaking engagement #Entrepreneurship
- ·6 min readRelease
Before You Think "The Water Won't Reach Here" — Disaster Monuments as Letters From the Past
In Japan, disaster and land use have always come as a package. Volcanoes, earthquakes, typhoons. Most of the country is mountains, the rivers are steep, and flat land is scarce. We live on that scarce flat land, or on ground we cut and filled to make. Earlier generations carved what happened into stone. Here is why we put 278 natural disaster monuments across Kyushu on the map, and how to read them.
#Disaster monuments #Disaster prevention #Land history #GSI #Kyushu
- ·5 min readTutorial
You don't need to memorize 50+ layers — one-click Purpose Presets turn on exactly what you need
MAPRISE has more than 50 layers, and picking the right ones for a given purpose, one by one, is genuinely tedious. So we built "Purpose Presets": six buttons, each tuned to a specific business scenario — collateral appraisal, disclosure prep, land acquisition, and more — that switch on the right set of layers with a single click. Here's exactly what each preset turns on.
#Purpose presets #UI/UX #Layer management #How-to
- ·7 min readResearch
Site Selection in Japan, Done With Data: How We'd Evaluate a Business Location in Fukuoka
Search for "Japan market entry" and you get business-etiquette explainers and articles about Tokyo. But what actually decides whether a store or a branch works is a question that comes earlier: can a business survive in this specific spot? Using Fukuoka as the example, we walk through an actual location feasibility check in three steps — 500 m mesh population projections, switching to 250 m resolution, and overlaying station passenger counts with land prices.
#Site selection #Feasibility #Population forecast #Mesh statistics #Fukuoka City
- ·10 min readResearch
Tenjin Big Bang, Mapped: Inside Fukuoka's Skyline Boom While Japan Shrinks
Fukuoka keeps getting called Japan's fastest-appreciating city, and the Tenjin Big Bang redevelopment gets the credit. We checked the claim directly against MAPRISE's land-price and 3D-building data — down to a tower that was still under construction as of its 2025 land-price snapshot, at ¥11.8 million per square meter — and against the population numbers that make the whole thing possible.
#Tenjin Big Bang #Fukuoka #Land price #Urban redevelopment #PLATEAU
- ·8 min readResearch
Japan's own "Great Wall" for defending Dazaifu — chasing the Mizuki earthwork across the map
After its defeat at the Battle of Baekgang, ancient Japan built a massive earthen rampart called "Mizuki" to defend Dazaifu. Line up a standard map, aerial photo, elevation-tint map, and hillshade map side by side in a four-way split, and the same dead-straight artificial ridge jumps out at you in all four. A map nerd digs history out of terrain and can't stop grinning about it.
#Mizuki #Dazaifu #Onojo Castle #Terrain #Hillshade map
- ·5 min readResearch
How TSMC's arrival moved land prices — mapping and charting Kikuyo Town, Kumamoto
TSMC's move into Kumamoto has sent land prices in Kikuyo Town moving fast. Using MAPRISE's price-change-rate map and per-point price trend charts, we compared the Kikuyo Hikarinomori area directly against an ordinary residential neighborhood elsewhere in Kumamoto City. A numbers-first look at the impact of a major plant arriving.
#TSMC #Kikuyo Town #Land price #Semiconductors #Kumamoto Prefecture
- ·3 min readResearch
How MAPRISE Scores Building Collapse Risk — Checking Our Work Against Real Data
We combine ground and building data with academic damage functions to estimate per-building collapse probability, then validate the results against real observation records and field surveys.
#seismic #simulation #beta #validation
- ·7 min readRelease
National Forest Boundaries, On the Map — Species, Stand Age, and Protection-Forest Status Now Visible in the New "National Forest (Sub-compartments)" Layer
Using the Forestry Agency's National Forest GIS Data (FY2024 edition), we've added a layer that displays Kyushu's national forests at the "sub-compartment" level for all 7 prefectures — with species, stand age, area, function type, and protection-forest designation. Here's how it changes what you see, alongside the existing Forest Area layer.
#national forest #forestry #data update #land screening #collateral appraisal
- ·6 min readResearch
Filling in PLATEAU's "unknown use" buildings — why Canal City showed up grey
MLIT's PLATEAU 3D city model leaves over 270,000 buildings across Kyushu with no recorded use — even landmarks like Canal City Hakata. Here's how we combined external data sources to fill in the use classification for 471 of them.
#PLATEAU #3D city model #MLIT #Open data #Case study
- ·6 min readResearch
Chasing the Hizen Moat sleeping beneath Tenjin, with MAPRISE's old-map layers
The "Stone-Paved Plaza" in the Tenjin underground mall quietly carries the memory of the Hizen Moat — a 50-meter-wide canal that once ran east-west between Fukuoka Castle and Tenjin. A map-and-history-obsessed developer went chasing its traces, overlaying the Meiji-era wetland and land-use layers along the way.
#Hizen Moat #Fukuoka Castle #Tenjin underground mall #Meiji-era wetlands #Ground
- ·6 min readTutorial
Reading 1.55 million Kyushu buildings through three lenses — how to use the PLATEAU Buildings layer
Built from MLIT's PLATEAU 3D city model, this layer color-codes roughly 1.55 million buildings across 17 Kyushu cities in three ways — by use, by seismic standard, and by height. We walk through each mode, who it helps across our five target industries, and the AI mode that analyzes six-scenario collapse probability from a single building click.
#PLATEAU #3D city model #Seismic standards #Earthquake simulation #AI
- ·6 min readRelease report
"Could we pull this off?" — plotting listed companies' real-estate holdings from their securities reports
Instead of planning everything out before starting, sometimes you just build and think as you go. That's how this trial came together: plotting the land and buildings that listed companies based in Fukuoka Prefecture disclose in their Annual Securities Reports, right on the map — with a direct link back to the source PDF for each one.
#Trial #EDINET #Annual Securities Report #In development #Listed companies
- ·6 min readResearch
Aging social infrastructure hidden in Japan's urbanized neighborhoods, Part 1 — the retaining wall nobody notices
Almost every neighborhood built by cutting into hills has one: a retaining wall. Concrete's service life, ownership gaps left by inheritance and vacant homes, the slow pace of administrative enforcement. We look at the aging risk sitting quietly underfoot, and how a platform like MAPRISE might help.
#Retaining walls #Aging infrastructure #Vacant-home problem #Disaster prevention #Urban planning
- ·6 min readTutorial
Why every official land appraisal has two appraisers — looking behind Japan's Land Price Publication with MAPRISE
Japan's Official Land Price Publication and Prefectural Land Price Survey actually have two independent real-estate appraisers evaluate every reference point. We walk through why two appraisers, what the "three-approach" valuation method is, and why plotting it all on a map in MAPRISE is so useful — with screenshots along the way.
#Appraisal report #Land Price Publication #Land Price Survey #XCT001 #Three-approach valuation
- ·5 min readRelease
Two ways of looking at "fill land" — Embankment Regulation Zones and Large-scale Fill Land, now added
We've added Land-alteration Work Regulation Areas / Specified Fill-land Regulation Areas (under Japan's embankment regulation law) and Large-scale Fill Land (valley-fill and slope-attached types) layers for all 7 Kyushu prefectures. These look similar but describe two very different things — "regulation on future fill work" versus "ground risk on existing developed land." Here's how MAPRISE displays both.
#Embankment regulation law #Large-scale fill land #Ground #Disaster prevention #Data update
- ·5 min readRelease
"What if it rained even harder?" — seeing flood risk in stages, with the Multi-stage Flood Simulation layer
We've added "Multi-stage Flood Simulation" data — newly compiled as National Land Numerical Information in fiscal 2025 — to MAPRISE. Switch between rainfall scales, from a frequent 1-in-10-year storm to the theoretical maximum 1-in-150-year event, and watch how flood extent and depth change on the map. We walk through it using the Onga River basin as an example.
#Multi-stage flood simulation #Disaster prevention #Hazard #National Land Numerical Information #Data update
- ·4 min readTutorial
"Transaction price" vs. "contract price" — do you know the difference? MAPRISE's real-estate price map now tells them apart by icon shape
Adding contract-price data to MAPRISE gave us a reason to unpack the difference between "transaction price" and "contract price" in Japanese real estate. On the map, ring-shaped icons and filled-dot icons now tell the two apart at a glance — alongside fine-grained filters for year, price band, and property type.
#Transaction price #Contract price #Data update #UI/UX
- ·4 min readRelease
See what's underground before you build — Borehole logs, now on MAPRISE!
We've added borehole-log data for all seven Kyushu prefectures to MAPRISE. Click one of the orange points on the map and the ground elevation, total drilling depth, groundwater level, survey date, and soil profile pop right up — primary-source information for checking what's beneath a site before you build, lease, or buy.
#Ground #Borehole logs #KuniJiban #Disaster prevention #Data update
- ·5 min readResearch
Is that electricity worth a mountainside? — Mega-solar in the hills, and the cost the map reveals
We added a layer of FIT-certified solar PV facilities — about 68,000 across the seven Kyushu prefectures — to MAPRISE. Overlaying the data on the map made one thing visible: facilities built by clearing forests and cutting into slopes. Reduced water retention, landslide risk, glare for nearby residents. Is renewable energy meant to fight climate change quietly destroying another part of nature? Drawing on issues reported on the ground, this is a warning about siting.
#Mega-solar #Solar PV #Deforestation #Disaster prevention #FIT #Data update
- ·6 min readRelease report
Ramen, gyoza, and the everyday on a map — Introducing the Regional Statistics Heatmap
Drawing on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey and the National Survey of Family Income, Consumption and Wealth, we now let you browse city- and prefecture-level numbers for dining out, beverages, staple foods, and durable-goods ownership as a heatmap on a map of Japan. A release note on the Regional Statistics Heatmap.
#regional-statistics #household-survey #heatmap #statistics #release
- ·6 min readCareer
Why I'm Building MAPRISE Solo — Where We Are, and a Note to the People I'll Build With Next
MAPRISE today runs on one founder plus AI development support. Why we started small, what we believe, and when we'll bring in teammates. A direct note to anyone reading this around our company formation.
#founder #hiring #SaaS #story #MAPRISE
- ·3 min readRelease
Phased Migration to a Next-Generation Architecture — Why We're Not Rewriting
MAPRISE is planning a phased migration of its front end toward a more maintainable next-generation architecture. We share the design philosophy behind picking 'phased replacement' over 'rewrite,' and the order in which we'll proceed.
#architecture #design #MAPRISE
- ·5 min readEvent
Applied to the Yokatoko Business Plan Contest — A 4-Week Preparation Log
MAPRISE submitted an application to the Yokatoko Business Plan Contest's first-round screening (deadline May 12, 2026). Here's the preparation log and how we used the contest as a forcing function.
#bizcon #startup #yokatoko #fukuoka #MAPRISE
- ·6 min readResearch
State of GIS Data for Kyushu — An 8-Category Overview of What MAPRISE Integrates
MAPRISE integrates real estate, hazard, demographic, and facility data for all seven Kyushu prefectures into 8 business-oriented categories, with industry knowledge backing the AI chat for legal, geological, and market questions. Here's a business-perspective snapshot of what MAPRISE makes visible as of May 2026, and where we have layers that competitors don't.
#data #kyushu #GIS #real-estate #data-catalog
- ·2 min readAnnouncement
Launching the Data Update History page — what to show, at what granularity
We've published a page where visitors can see at any time which datasets MAPRISE has added or refreshed. Here are the design choices behind it.
#release #data-operations #transparency
- ·5 min readTutorial
5 Steps to Cut Property Due Diligence from a Full Day to 3 Hours with MAPRISE
Zoning, hazards, nearby facilities, transaction comparables, and future population forecasts — all on one split-screen with AI. We walk through the five concrete steps that compress a full business day of property DD into three hours.
#DD #real-estate #tutorial #finance #homebuilder
- ·3 min readRelease report
Expanded the seismic simulation to 6 scenarios — Beppu-Haneyama added
The seismic simulation (beta) now covers 6 assumed scenarios (up from 5), adding the Beppu-Haneyama fault zone in Oita. Major intraplate and subduction-type earthquakes across Kyushu are now jointly covered.
#release #seismic #simulation #beta
- ·2 min readAnnouncement
Introducing the MAPRISE Blog — what we plan to write about
Release notes, how-to articles, event participation, industry analysis, hiring updates — we'll be sharing what MAPRISE is working on, continuously.
#blog #announcement
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