TOKYO — For the first time in at least 13 years, average land prices in Tokyo rose this year, Japan's tax agency said yesterday, signaling a turnaround in a property value slide that began in the early 1990s with the collapse of the nation's speculative bubble.

Land along selected streets in the sprawling capital edged up 0.4 percent from 2004 to 460,000 yen, or $4,107, per square yard as of Jan. 1, 2005, the National Tax Agency said. The survey monitors land prices only, not real estate, which includes buildings.

This year marks the first time average land prices in Tokyo have risen since the agency began measuring them in 1992.

Agency officials refused to speculate on the cause of the gain, but it comes amid signs that Japan's economy may be emerging from more than 10 years of inconsistent growth. The jobless rate in June fell to 4.2 percent, its lowest in 7 years, and industrial output rose 1.5 percent.

The land price trend, however, was limited to Tokyo. Nationwide, land prices fell for the 13th straight year to the equivalent of $1,000. The rate of decrease, however, was 3.4 percent — the lowest since the agency began the program.

Despite the long slump, land is still a pricey item in densely populated Japan.

A plot of land in Tokyo's glitzy Ginza area topped the list of Japan's most expensive parcels of land for the 20th year running, at 15.1 million yen, or $135,000, per square yard, up 9.9 percent from the previous year.

At the height of Japan's property bubble in 1992, the prized location was valued at 36.5 million yen, while the national average land price stood at 367,000 yen.

Prime locations in the major cities of Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, and Fukuoka also saw price increases.