Foreign Parties Acquired 175 Hectares of Japanese Farmland, 0.004% of the National Total — and Not One Hectare Went to a Foreign Corporation or a Foreign National Living Abroad

On 16 September 2025, two annual surveys of land acquisition by foreign parties were published on the same day: one on farmland and one on forests.

The headline figures sit in the titles. Farmland acquired by foreign parties in 2024 came to 175 hectares, 0.2% of all farmland acquired in a year (74,103 hectares, five-year average) and 0.004% of the 4.27 million hectares of farmland in Japan[1]. Forests came to 382 hectares, 0.003% of the 14.31 million hectares of private forest, with a cumulative 10,396 hectares since 2006, or 0.07%[2].

Both sit far under 1%. What this piece is about, though, is not the size but the breakdown.

Nothing went to foreign corporations or to foreign nationals living abroad

The 175.3 hectares are set out by category.

Foreign corporations accounted for 0 companies and 0 hectares; foreign nationals living abroad for 0 people and 0 hectares[3].

Not one acquisition in 2024 was made by a party outside Japan. Cumulatively since 2017 the figure is one person and 0.1 hectares[4].

174 of the 175.3 hectares went to people living in Japan

So where did the rest go? Foreign nationals resident in Japan accounted for 377 people and 95 hectares, and companies where such a person is a major shareholder or director for 32 companies and 79 hectares[3]. Together 174 hectares, or 99.3% of the total.

The remaining 1.3 hectares went to three companies in which a foreign corporation or a non-resident foreign national is a major shareholder: 0.9 hectares in Namegata, Ibaraki; 0.2 in Koshu, Yamanashi; and 0.2 in Saijo, Ehime, all with Chinese nationality recorded[3].

The ministry states the reason

Why it comes out this way is written into the release.

“Under the Agricultural Land Act, approval is conditional on making efficient use of all the land acquired, so land cannot be acquired for investment purposes; most acquisitions are therefore by foreign nationals resident in Japan.”[1]

The system blocks acquisition for investment. Buying farmland requires showing that all of it will be worked, and getting approval. That is hard to satisfy from abroad.

Nationalities are published too

Among the 377 resident foreign nationals, nationalities were China 102 (27%), South Korea 42 (11%), Brazil 42 (11%), the United States 27 (7%), Vietnam 24 (6%), Sri Lanka 15 (4%), France 11 (3%), Pakistan 10 (3%) and others 104 (28%, across 34 countries and regions)[3].

Brazil, Vietnam and Sri Lanka sit near the top. That tracks the distribution of people who have been working in agriculture. Less a movement of capital than people who live and work here acquiring land.

The forest survey publishes purposes

The forest survey records what the land was bought for. Of the 48 cases and 171 hectares acquired in 2024 by foreign corporations or individuals believed to reside abroad, most were for asset holding, with others for solar power installations, residential site development, holiday homes and housing developments[5].

And then this sentence appears.

“No case has to date been reported of development for the purpose of water intake or groundwater extraction on forest land acquired by foreign parties.”[2]

Against the story of water-source forests being bought up, the survey says no such case has been reported. This is a survey that has run every year since 2010.

The acquisitions cluster around ski resorts

Where the buying happened explains the purpose. Of the cumulative 415 cases and 3,044 hectares acquired by foreign corporations and individuals resident abroad, Hokkaido accounts for 317 cases and 2,211 hectares[6].

Within that, Niseko accounts for 120 cases and 193 hectares, Kutchan for 98 and 406, Rankoshi for 30 and 166, and Rusutsu for 17 and 110[6]. In Nagano, Karuizawa accounts for 8 cases and 13 hectares and Hakuba for 7 and 2[6].

These are ski resort towns. Not remote watersheds but the ground around property that carries a price.

The figures are assembled sideways from filings

How the numbers are made matters. The forest survey draws on filings under the Forest Act (required of anyone becoming the owner of forest land, whatever the area), filings under the National Land Use Planning Act (from one hectare upward outside city planning areas) and registrations under the Real Property Registration Act, collected through the prefectures[5].

The farmland survey works from approvals issued under the Agricultural Land Act, collected through municipal agricultural committees[3].

Neither runs off a dedicated register; both count sideways from filings gathered for another purpose. An acquisition with no filing, or one where nationality is not apparent, does not enter the figures. The surveys themselves use the phrase "believed to be."

Foreign capital and foreign nationals have to be told apart

The vocabulary of the categories does work here. The farmland survey counts in four categories: foreign corporations, non-resident foreign nationals, companies in which those are major shareholders, resident foreign nationals, and companies in which those are major shareholders.

The forest survey splits in two. Acquisition by foreign corporations and individuals resident abroad came to 171 hectares; acquisition by parties believed to be foreign-affiliated companies inside Japan came to 211 hectares[5]. Cumulatively the first is 3,044 hectares and the second 7,352, so domestic foreign-affiliated companies account for more than twice as much.

A foreign-affiliated company inside Japan means a company where the shareholding by non-residents or foreign corporations, or the proportion of non-resident directors, exceeds half[7]. That includes companies incorporated under Japanese law with offices in Japan.

Say "foreign capital bought it" and the figure differs threefold depending on which category is meant.

What to watch when placing the US figures alongside

Both releases carry a US comparison. Foreign ownership of forest in the United States runs at 5.0%[2], and foreign ownership of farmland in the United States runs at 2.8%[1], both calculated from US Department of Agriculture publications.

On the farmland side the ministry attaches its own caution: the US figure covers land owned rather than land acquired in a year, and the definition of foreign parties differs from that used in this survey, which must be borne in mind[1].

Japan's 0.004% is what was bought in one year; the US 2.8% is what is currently held. They are not comparable as printed. The forest figures are closer, since Japan's cumulative 0.07% is also a stock, but the definitional gap remains.

Three places where the figures part company with the story

Set the numbers together and they diverge from the usual account in three places.

The first is who. On farmland, acquisition by parties outside Japan was zero; on forests, seven-tenths of the cumulative total went to foreign-affiliated companies inside Japan. Less "buyers arriving from outside" than parties already here.

The second is why. The most common purpose recorded for forest acquisition is asset holding, and development for water intake or groundwater extraction has never been reported.

The third is where. Most of the Hokkaido total sits in Niseko, Kutchan, Rankoshi and Rusutsu. This is the property market around ski development.

The shared structure of programmes that fail to reach people（このサイトの記事） dealt with a gap between a system and reality. This gap runs the other way: the story is larger than the statistics.

Why the counting still matters

A small share is not a reason to stop measuring. Both agencies write the same thing.

Forest acquired by foreign parties around facilities important to national security will be handled in coordination with surveys under the Act on the Regulation of Land Use around Important Facilities[2].

The overall share and one particular parcel are different questions. 0.003% answers the first, not the second. What is happening to a single hectare next to a base or a power station does not show up in a ratio of areas.

What has to be counted before the next decision

The surveys show the number of acquisitions that surfaced in filings, their area and their purpose. Two things are missing.

The first is how much acquisition never surfaces in a filing. The surveys count parties "believed to be" foreign, and acquisitions where nationality is not apparent fall outside. Nothing measures the size of what is missed.

The second is what happened after acquisition. On farmland, a note records that 5.3 of a cumulative 74.61 hectares have since been sold on; on forests, nothing published follows subsequent use. The moment of purchase is counted; the use is not.

As the scheme for handing inherited land to the state（このサイトの記事） showed, Japan's grasp of who owns which land is weak to begin with. Before nationality can be counted, ownership has to be.

Further Reading

• Jinko Genshou Jidai no Tochi Mondai (Land Problems in an Era of Population Decline)（外部サイト、新しいタブで開きます） by Shoko Yoshihara (Chuokoron-Shinsha). Traces, from the institutional side, why Japan's registries fail to capture who owns which land. Useful for understanding why these surveys have to count sideways from filings.

References

Farmland Acquired by Foreign Parties in 2024 Amounted to 0.004% of National Farmland — Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Agricultural Land Policy Division (2025). Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Forest Acquired by Foreign Parties in 2024 Amounted to 0.003% of National Private Forest — Forestry Agency (2025). Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

About the Survey of Forest Acquisition by Foreign Parties — Forestry Agency (2025). Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Survey of Forest Acquisition by Foreign Parties — Forestry Agency (2026). Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries