Glossary
Manshon (concrete condominium)
A reinforced-concrete condominium building — not a luxury mansion, just the standard durable apartment type.
Despite the English borrowing, a manshon is simply a reinforced-concrete or steel-frame condominium, the workhorse of the Tokyo investment market. The label distinguishes it from an apaato, which is a lighter wood or steel-frame walk-up that's cheaper, less soundproof, and depreciates faster. Manshon units hold value better, attract more financeable buyers, and dominate the central-ward stock foreigners actually buy. When you see a listing call something a manshon, read it as a construction and quality tier, not a statement about grandeur — a 25-square-meter studio is still a manshon if the building is concrete.