My research interests encompass empirical studies on urban and housing issues with a particular focus on empty homes in urban areas. I am currently investigating the impact of the proximity to empty homes on housing prices, taking potential endogeneity into account. Moreover, I am also interested in economic analyses on other related topics, such as the impact of empty homes withdrawn from the housing market on a deterioration in housing affordability, a taxation policy to get empty homes back into use, determinants of housing supply, built environment, land of unknown ownership and public transport.

Before joining LSE in 2024, I have worked for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Government of Japan. In my capacity as an administrative official, I have been responsible for a range of initiatives pertaining to infrastructure and transport. These include regulatory reforms in the construction industry and international cooperation in railway projects in Asia, Australia, the United States, Latin America and Europe (including HS2 and Elizabeth Line in England). Apart from my job at the ministry, I was also engaged in my doctoral research at Waseda University from 2022 to 2024.

Prior to this, I obtained my Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics in 2020 and 2018, respectively, from Waseda University, where I majored in environmental economics and urban economics. My previous publications are based on my undergraduate and master’s theses on the topic of empty homes in Japan.

Selected publications

• Kanayama, Y., & Sadayuki, T. (2021). What types of houses remain vacant? Evidence from a municipality in Tokyo, Japan. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 62, 101167. Read paper.
• Sadayuki, T., Kanayama, Y., & Arimura, T. H. (2020). The externality of vacant houses: The case of Toshima municipality, Tokyo, Japan. Review of Regional Studies, 50(2). Read paper. 

Prizes/awards/scholarships/funding

• The British Council Japan Association Scholarship (2024)
• Research Funding Supported Collaborative Research, Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo (2024)
• Outstanding Joint-Research Award, Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo (2023)
• Valedictorian, Graduate School of Economics, Waseda University (2020)
• Dean's Academic Award for the Best Master’s Dissertation, Graduate School of Economics, Waseda University (2020)
• SES Presentation Award, Society of Environmental Science, Japan (2018)