Japan councils, particularly in Hokkaido, have passed laws that could make it more difficult for foreigners to buy land in the area. Other prefectures on the main island of Honshu are also considering doing the same.
This move was triggered after Chinese investors bought land in the forested mountains of Niseko, near a ski resort that was bought by Australians in 2004. Aside from Hokkaido, other prefectures including Saitama, Gunma, and Ibaraki have planned to release similar ordinances while Yamagata, Fukui, Nagano and Yamanashi are looking into creating their own regulations.
Chinese investment has been strong and stable in Japan. However, because of the current tensions over the Senkaku Islands, Japan decided to take precautions and enforce some rules over their lands. In Niigata, in western Honshu, China announced plans to build a consulate in the city, which was rejected consistently.
However, Hokkaido governor, Harumi Takahashi cleared that the laws forcing buyers of land particularly in river catchments to apply for permission were not only aimed at Chinese buyers or investors. If enforced, this will be applied to Japanese buyers as well. He adds that first and foremost, the ordinance will be enforced to protect and conserve water resources.
Reports say that the new ordinance is not a ban, but it requires the buyer and seller to inform the government three months before the sale including the details of their plan for the land. Same rules go for all watersheds, which makes up 70% of Hokkaido.
Though the criteria for judging the sale has yet to be made clear, governor Takahashi said that if governments won?t support the ordinance, the sale can still proceed but organizations and the prefecture will make the opposition public. Locals and opposition parties have also conducted investigations on foreign land purchases and found that 1039ha of forest have been bought by Chinese and Hong-Kong based entities. Because of this, locals and concerned citizens? support of creating the ordinance have grown stronger.
One of the recent cases is the purchase of 292ha of forest north of Hokkaido by a Hong Kong-based ?manufacturing tycoon which is reported to be possibly be turned into a ski or golf resort. Hokkaido MP Masaru Onadera, from the Obihiro area raised the issue in 2010. He stressed on his blog the need to protect Hokkaido lands at all costs. He also told ?The Australian? that Chinese buyers tended to on-sell the land they bought to compatriots, which leads to difficulty in discovering who the true owner of the land is. There were even reports that suggest that chinese investors use Japanese individuals or companies as fronts to invest. There was even a case stated in The Yomiuri Shimbun about a 40-year old Chinese investor who bought 14ha of land in Niseko, but used his Japanese real estate firm?s name, in fear of protests from locals.
Hokkaido is ?made up of untouched wilderness with a 5.5 million population. However, due to a fast growing aging population, owners of forested areas are considering to sell their properties as they are too old to harvest timber and develop the land.
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