Japanese land prices rose for the first time in 14 years in 2005, signalling an end to the persistent asset deflation that had dragged the nation’s economy into recession in the early 1990s.

Data released on Tuesday by the National Tax Agency also showed that price gains were spread across Tokyo and four other cities – Chiba, Aichi, Kyoto and Osaka – underlining the strength of the recovery and alleviating concerns that it was limited to a few patches in the nation’s capital. In 2004, Tokyo had been the only prefecture in which land prices rose.