Foreign buyers snapped up 382 hectares of privately owned forest in Japan in 2024, the Forestry Agency reported yesterday, renewing concerns that the country’s lack of restrictions on overseas ownership could leave woodlands vulnerable to commercial and energy projects.
Of that total, 48 transactions by parties listing overseas addresses accounted for 171 hectares, with Hokkaido alone recording 36 purchases covering 162 hectares in resort and ski hubs such as Furano, Niseko and Kutchan. Many buyers in Hokkaido were individuals from China and Hong Kong who told authorities they regarded the parcels as “long‑term asset” holdings, the agency said.
In one high-profile deal, a Singapore-based corporation paid for 93 hectares in Shiranuka Town, reportedly to develop a solar power project. A German firm bought two hectares in Hita City, Oita Prefecture, stating it planned to build a solar facility. Smaller, visible purchases included 0.2 hectares in Karuizawa and 0.1 hectares in Hakuba Village. Foreign‑affiliated companies already operating in Japan acquired 37 properties totalling 211 hectares in 2024, signalling a steady inflow of overseas capital into the sector.
Using ownership notifications filed with local municipalities, the Forestry Agency traced 794 transactions from 2006 through 2024 that transferred 10,396 hectares of forest to foreign individuals or entities — the equivalent of more than 2,200 Tokyo Domes but only about 0.07 per cent of Japan’s 14.31 million hectares of privately owned forest. Officials cautioned that records for purchases before 2006 are incomplete and “the actual situation remains unknown.”
The purchases have intensified scrutiny because Japan imposes no special restrictions on foreign ownership of forest land. “For foreign individuals or corporations, buying forest land is treated the same as purchasing any other property,” a Forestry Agency official said. “There are currently no restrictions in place.”
Critics argue that regulatory parity enables land acquired as passive investments to be repurposed with only standard prefectural approvals, a pathway that can leave gaps in oversight as renewable-energy development and other commercial pressures intensify. Environmental groups and local authorities warn that unmonitored transfers of forestland risk eroding conservation goals, weakening watershed protection and diminishing community control over land use.
The conversion of remote woodlands into solar farms and other installations has also raised concerns about habitat loss and increased fire risk, as well as whether municipal review processes have the capacity to assess large-scale land-use changes in areas popular with overseas buyers. For now, officials point to existing property and planning laws as the governing framework, but the new data have reignited debate in Tokyo and rural prefectures over whether tighter rules are needed when ownership crosses national borders.
