RESEARCH REPORT

Flexible Office Market Survey 2024
The reality of flexible offices in major cities across Japan
March 12, 2024

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Survey Overview
In recent years, companies have been reconsidering their employees’ work
styles and workplaces due to work style reforms and the spread of teleworking
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These developments have drawn
attention to workplaces that can be used flexibly in terms of time and place asneeded (“flexible offices”), leading to rapid growth in their market.
To quantify the flexible office market, every year since 2020, Xymax Real
Estate Institute (“Xymax REI”) has collected and analyzed quantitative data on
flexible offices in the 23 wards of Tokyo (hereinafter, “Tokyo 23 Wards”), suchas the number of offices, floor area, and number of operators. In this 5thsurvey, we have expanded the coverage and compiled the reality of thenumber of flexible offices in major cities across Japan.

PeriodNovember 2023–January 2024

TargetWorkplace services provided by operators primarily tocorporations and self-employed individuals under various forms ofcontract, including service contracts and fixed-term building
leases, rather than a general office lease.
* Excludes teleworking arrangements by karaoke stores, hotels, eatingand drinking establishments, etc.
* Includes one-person private booths.
* Totals may not add up due to rounding.
* The figures in this report are aggregates at the time of the survey. Datais added and updated on a daily basis.

Coverage

Tokyo 23 Wards and ordinance-designated cities with apopulation of more than 1 million (Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya,Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kawasaki, Kobe, Kyoto, Saitama, Hiroshima,Sendai)

MethodOnline survey, inquiries and interviews with service operators

The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does notguarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without priorpermission of Xymax Real Estate Institute<Related surveys>
・Flexible Office Market Survey 2023, released on February 7, 2023
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20230207.pdf
・Classification of Flexible Offices by Type, released on May 2, 2023
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20230502.pdf

2© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

Target Flexible Office Overview
Flexible offices encompass a diverse and segmented range of services and are referred to by a variety of names depending on the operator, such as rental offices,
shared offices, serviced offices, satellite offices, and co-working offices. In this report, we use the term “flexible office,” which is the subject of the survey, as a genericterm for workplaces provided by operators primarily to corporations and self-employed individuals under various forms of contract, including service contracts and fixedterm building leases, rather than a general office lease.
In this survey, we have also categorized flexible offices by office format into “multi-location,” which refers to a brand of flexible office that operates in multiple locations,and “single-location,” which refers to offices that operate independently, as shown in the following chart. “Multi-location” is further subdivided into the “one-person privatebooth type,” the use of which is limited,*1 and the “normal office type.”*1 Also see Classification of Flexible Offices by Type, released on May 2, 2023, which categorizes flexible offices by type of major function.

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Capturing the Market from the Number of Flexible Offices in Major Cities Across JapanThe number of flexible offices in Greater Tokyo
was 1,724, about 6.2 times the number in theKansai area (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Number of Flexible Offices in Major Cities Across Japan

Within Greater Tokyo, the number of flexible officesin the Tokyo 23 Wards was 1,437, about 10.6
times the number in Osaka City. Of these, 928
were located in the 5 central wards, indicating thatthe main supply is in central Tokyo, where offices
are concentrated. The second largest number offlexible offices after the Tokyo 23 Wards was inYokohama, with 154.
Meanwhile, we have also identified several dozen
flexible offices in each major city outside of GreaterTokyo, which shows the spread of flexible officesupply across Japan.
The total floor area (including estimates) of flexible
offices in the Tokyo 23 Wards (1,437 offices) was
about 255,000 tsubo (1 tsubo = approx. 3.33 sqm),
accounting for about 1.9% of the office stock(13.11 million tsubo).*2*2 Office Stock Pyramid 2024, released on January 17,
2024

Greater Tokyo breakdown

Kansai area breakdown

5 central wards

928 Tokyo 23

Osaka City136

18 peripheral wards

509

Kyoto City

80

Yokohama City

154

Kobe City

61

Kawasaki City79

Total

277

Saitama CityTotalWards

1,43754
1,7244© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

Flexible Offices in the Different Areas of Greater Tokyo
In Greater Tokyo, the proportion of “multilocation (total)” was high in all areas,accounting for about 90% (Figure 2). In
particular, the multi-location “normal officetype” accounted for the majority.

Figure 2: Number of Flexible Offices – Greater Tokyo, By Office Format

In Yokohama, Kawasaki, and Saitama, theproportion of the one-person private boothtype was relatively higher. A possible reasonfor this is that these cities have more major
train stations with large numbers ofcommuters and large retail properties nearby
than the Tokyo 23 Wards, where there are
more office buildings and the supply of thenormal office type is larger.

5© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

Flexible Offices by Office Format in (Regional) Areas Outside Greater Tokyo
Among the eight cities outside of Greater
Tokyo, the cities with a relatively large officemarket, namely Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka,
have a higher proportion of “multi-location(total)” (80% to just under 90%) than othercities, a similar trend to Greater Tokyo thatwas shown in Figure 2 (Figure 3). On theother hand, “single-location” accounted forthe majority in Kyoto, Kobe, Sapporo, Sendai,and Hiroshima.

Figure 3: Number of Flexible Offices – Outside Greater Tokyo, By Office Format

Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka also share withthe cities in Greater Tokyo the fact that themulti-location “normal office type” accounts
for the majority. Furthermore, Fukuoka has asmaller proportion of the one-person privatebooth type. This is likely due to the smaller
number of train stations than in Osaka andNagoya, and the difference in commuting
methods of office workers.*3*3 Metropolitan Areas Office Worker Survey 2023
(1) Work Style Reality and Needs, released on
December 13, 2023, [Figure 2]. In Fukuoka, moreworkers commute by bus or car than by train.

6© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.