Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. Ltd. (8403.TO) said Monday it has agreed with France's AXA S.A. (CS.FR) to set up a real-estate fund in Japan in 2010, joining the growing number of institutional investors restarting investment in Japan's property market following the global economic downturn.

The Japanese trust bank said the pair expects the fund to raise about Y50 billion from investors in Japan and abroad interested in office building assets in central Tokyo.

Sumitomo Trust said in a statement it has been strengthening real-estate investment services and studying a new fund operation for overseas investors. AXA has been expanding real-estate management operations in Japan as part of its overall Asian business strategy.

-By Kazuhiro Shimamura, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6895-7566; kazuhiro.shimamura@dowjones.com