Someone who knows more about Japanese culture and tax policy needs to weigh in, but my understanding is that housing is typically not considered a long-term investment vehicle, to the point that houses are expected to be demolished after some number of decades and depreciated accordingly.

This mindset prevents an established base of property owners from blocking subsequent development, resulting in their property values skyrocketing.

America might have a chance of fixing this with national-level zoning, which will never happen as long as current political alliances are the way they are.