Sun Realty, a pioneer in real estate business for foreigners in Japan

Sun Realty & Insurance Co. was established in 1954 as a pioneer in the real estate sector that caters exclusively to the international community. Today, 90 percent of its clients are foreigners.

"Our office was located next to the U.S. military officers' housing, where Tokyo Midtown now stands. The military housing was soon fully occupied and the officers needed to find homes outside the military complex. Our president,

Shizuko Tani, who is fluent in English as her father served as an English teacher for the Japanese Navy, started to offer a real estate service to the U.S. military personnel," explains

Takao Murayama of Sun Realty. "There was a long line in front of the office. We worked 365 days and had a 100 percent contract rate because there was no competition. The first priority of the U.S. military people was that the property had to have a flush toilet, and the age and size came next."

Today, the company's client list reads like a foreign embassies and Fortune 500 who's who. "When the American Embassy reconstructed its staff housing, we took care of the relocation of 200 households," Murayama says. "In the 1980s, we also helped more than 500 IBM staff to find homes when the company first came to Japan. Those were crazy and exciting days."

The company's philosophy is to provide the finest quality homes coupled with attentive service and good property maintenance. Sun Realty's sales representatives are all bilingual and experienced. Because they don't work on a commission basis, the sales staff have no reason to push properties that are unsuitable for the client. The company considers that a contract marks the beginning of a longterm relationship that lasts until the client moves out of their home. If there are any problems, the staff are just a phone call away, even on weekends.

Work and play: Royal Pine Residence, located in Ochanomizu, Tokyo, is the latest property in the Homat series. The 17-story office and residential complex has 18 residences, ranging from one to four bedrooms.

Sun Realty is known for a low employee turnover rate. "I've stayed with the company because of President Tani. I have great respect for her," says Murayama. "She's still working energetically in the field and never seems to slow down. She has a great personality and is very considerate. Many of our clients have been with us for a long time because of her."

As many as 90 percent of the premier homes and apartments built, and owned by Kowa Real Estate Co. and Homat Homes are listed solely with Sun Realty. Since its founding in 1954, Homat Homes has developed customdesigned Western homes with Asian flair in some of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Tokyo.

Jiro Matsumura, former president of Homat Homes who also served as a longtime vice president of the Tokyo American Club, oversaw the company's development of more than 3,000 single family houses and apartments mainly in central Tokyo. Constructed with the highest quality materials and the most advanced techniques, houses and apartments that are more than 40 years old are as charming and as sound as the day they were built.

The long history and tradition of Sun Realty, along with its partnership with Homat Homes, has established a first of a kind brand in the real estate business for foreigners in Japan.

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