Aerial imagery for Tokyo real-estate transactions
For overseas investors, asset managers and capital-markets teams. A Tokyo-based licensed pilot who handles the Densely Inhabited District (DID) permits, the police notifications and the building manager's consent — and delivers files your Offering Memorandum and your investment committee can use. Confidential by default.
Now booking flights from 1 October 2026.
1 Oct 2026 to 30 Sep 2027
A note from Jiro
Jiro Kumakura — pilot and producer
Hello, I am Jiro Kumakura. I have filmed in Japan for overseas broadcasters and brands since 2018, and I have held Japan's national drone licence since 2024. I started this service because the aerial part of a Tokyo transaction is usually the part nobody on the deal team can do themselves: the permit is filed in Japanese, the building manager wants paperwork, and the police need a notification before the day. I do that part, and send you files you can drop into an Offering Memorandum or a board pack.
Send me an address and I will tell you within a day whether it can be flown and what it will cost. If it cannot, I will say so.
Background. Filming in Japan for overseas broadcasters and brands since 2018. Second-Class Unmanned Aircraft Pilot (national licence) since 2024. Producer of testimonial and executive films for overseas companies at jirokumakura.com. Registered operator of DJI Mavic 3 Pro. Based in Tokyo.
If I cannot fly. If I cannot fly on the agreed date (illness, aircraft fault), I tell you within 24 hours and move the date, or refund your deposit in full if the new date does not work for you. I do not subcontract your flight to a pilot you have not been told about.
Services
Aerial deliverables for the two stages that need them: marketing and renovation progress.
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| Service | What's included | From |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior Stills for Offering Memorandum | Half-day flight, 12 colour-graded stills in OM-ready ratios, English flight record. Flight under our blanket permit, police notification, observer and insurance included. Video on the same day is an add-on: clips +US$800, or clips with a 60-second edited teaser +US$1,600. | US$1,600 |
| Renovation Progress Monitoring | Camera positions agreed with you at the first visit; each visit delivers 8 comparison stills from the same angles and a one-page English shoot note in a shared folder. The note records what is visible; it does not assess the works. You set the interval between visits, for example monthly or at each stage of the works. | first visit US$1,800, then US$1,200 per visit (minimum 3) |
Prices are for buildings in Tokyo's 23 wards within our blanket permit (Densely Inhabited District, below 30 m from structures, daytime, visual line of sight), launched from the roof or the site with the building manager's consent. Buildings beside an expressway, a heavily used road or a railway, buildings near Haneda Airport (typically parts of Ota, Shinagawa, Minato and the Koto waterfront; we check each address against the airport's height-limit system) and flights above 150 m need an individual permit: +US$1,000 and four weeks' notice. We tell you which applies within 24 hours of receiving the address. Portfolios of 3+ assets and monitoring beyond 6 visits are quoted individually. Full pricing and terms: Pricing.
What we can fly in Tokyo
Central Tokyo is a Densely Inhabited District: every flight needs a permit from MLIT (Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) and the building manager's consent, and we notify the local police before each flight. We handle all three. This is what our experience says before you ask.
Possible
- Your roof, your site
- Launch with the manager's consent. The normal case.
- Central Tokyo (DID)
- Blanket permit, 7 days' notice.
- Beside an expressway, a heavily used road or a railway
- Individual permit, 4 weeks.
- Neighbouring roofs
- With that manager's consent. If refused, we shoot from your side.
- Lobby, atrium, ballroom
- No MLIT permit. Venue consent, propeller guards, insurance.
- Event or crowd on your site
- Individual permit, extra observers, 4 weeks.
- Near Haneda Airport, or above 150 m
- Individual permit, 4 weeks. Height stays under the airport's cap.
- Early mornings
- Fewer people below, cleaner light, calmer wind.
Restricted, not possible or not offered
- About 1,000 m of the Imperial Palace, Diet, PM's Office, embassies, defence sites, nuclear facilities, airports
- Restricted (Drone Act): the owner's consent and a police notification 48 hours ahead are required by law. We tell you at the feasibility check.
- Public road or pavement launch
- Not possible.
- Tokyo's public parks
- Not possible, as a rule.
- Over Tokyo Bay
- Not possible, as a rule.
- Above the Haneda height cap
- Not possible. The cap applies even with a permit.
- Wind over 5 m/s, rain
- We stop. Reserve day.
- Night
- Not offered.
- Inspection, certification, thermal
- Not offered.
- Publishing your asset
- Never without written consent.
Feasibility
Where the building is decides what applies and how much notice we need.
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| Where the building is | What applies | Notice we need |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo 23 wards, away from expressways, heavily used roads, railways and Haneda Airport, launch from roof or site | Blanket permit + police notification + building manager consent | 7 days |
| Beside an expressway, a heavily used road or a railway | Individual MLIT permit | 4 weeks |
| Near Haneda Airport (typically parts of Ota, Shinagawa, Minato and the Koto waterfront); we check each address against the airport's height-limit system | Individual MLIT permit + airport coordination | 4 weeks |
| Within about 1,000 m of the Imperial Palace, Diet, embassies, defence sites, nuclear facilities | Restricted under the Drone Act: the owner's consent and a police notification at least 48 hours ahead are required by law, in addition to the MLIT permit. We say at the feasibility check whether we can fly | On request |
| Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka | Same rules; travel at cost. Quoted individually. | 2 weeks |
If your deadline is inside that window, send the address now. We confirm the fastest route within 24 hours.
How a permit gets filed
- T-28Enquiry & feasibility
- T-21Site check & flight plan
- T-10 business daysMLIT filing (individual permits only)
- T-7Police notification & consent
- T-0Flight
The day counts above are for an individual permit (4 weeks). Step 3 applies to individual permits only. Under the blanket permit the flow is 1 → 2 → 4 → 5 and takes 7 days in total.
Case notes
Work we have done, described without naming the assets.
Office towers, Osaka and Tokyo, for a Hong Kong-based real-estate investor (2021)
Roof-launched aerials of two assets in Densely Inhabited Districts. Flight notifications filed with Sonezaki and Mukojima police; coordination with the building manager. Delivered exterior stills and clips for the investor's marketing.
Gala dinner inside a Roppongi hotel ballroom for a US investment bank (2024)
Indoor flight with propeller guards for a 300-guest meeting; supplied registration, licence and insurance documents the hotel required. Shows how we work inside a managed building.
“A BIG THANK YOU once again on your time and work. Client was very happy with the B-roll filming and a lot of good footages for us to produce their highlight video.”
Paperwork and rights
For forwarding to legal.
Before the flight
- NDA on request
- Building-manager consent form (EN/JP)
- Police notification filed by us
- Certificate of insurance (¥100M third-party liability)
- Pilot licence and aircraft registration translations
Vendor pack
- English corporate extract (Kumakura Jiro Jimusho K.K.)
- W-8BEN-E
- Bank confirmation
- Insurance certificate
- MLIT flight permit
- Licence and registration translations
Rights
- All deliverables transfer to you on final payment
- Source files deleted 90 days after delivery unless you ask us to keep them
- We do not use your asset in our marketing, including anonymised descriptions, without written consent
Liability and terms
- Liability cap: the contract value
- Governing law: Japan
- Terms: 50% deposit, balance net 30, USD bank transfer
FAQ
Can our own team fly a drone in Tokyo?
Rarely. The aircraft must be registered in Japan with Remote ID; drones bought abroad often use radio frequencies the Japanese Radio Act does not allow; and central Tokyo is a Densely Inhabited District where the operator must hold an MLIT permit. We fly; you brief the shot list.
How much notice do you need?
7 days where our blanket permit applies; 4 weeks beside an expressway, heavily used road or railway, near Haneda Airport, above 150 m or over event grounds. We tell you which within 24 hours of receiving the address.
Will our asset appear on your website?
No. Nothing is published without written consent, including anonymised descriptions. NDA on request before we receive the address.
Do you launch from the roof?
Yes, with the building manager's consent; we bring the consent form in English and Japanese and file the police notification. If the roof is not usable we propose a site launch or a neighbouring roof.
What insurance certificate can you provide?
A certificate for ¥100M third-party liability per occurrence (bodily injury and property damage combined, zero deductible), underwritten by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance. The certificate is issued in Japanese; we send it with our own English translation for reference.
Payment and paperwork?
50% deposit to confirm dates, balance net 30, USD bank transfer. Vendor pack available: English corporate extract, W-8BEN-E, bank confirmation, insurance certificate, MLIT flight permit, licence and registration translations. See the vendor pack
Weather and refusals?
Flights stop above 5 m/s wind or in rain. Moving to the reserve day is free when we postpone on the forecast by the day before; if a flight is called off on site on the day, we charge for the observer and travel at cost (US$250). If MLIT refuses a permit we refund everything except the itemised permit-preparation work (US$600, detailed on the invoice; the filing itself is free).
Contact
Now booking flights from 1 October 2026. Tell us about the building and the timeline. We reply within 24 hours to say whether the blanket permit applies and what notice we need.