The Japanese government is planning to create a centralized database to identify and manage foreign ownership of real estate.
The Japan News, citing unnamed “multiple government sources,” reports the creation of a nationality registration system is designed to make property acquisitions more transparent. The database would encompass property registrations for condominiums and other residential real estate, along with forests and farmland, large-scale land transactions under the National Land Use Planning Law, and “important land” designated by the government — including border islands and areas surrounding defense-related facilities.
The government is also planning to require corporations that acquire forests and large-scale land parcels to declare the nationalities of principal shareholders and executives.
The new database comes in the wake of growing public concerns over increasing foreign acquisitions of Japanese land and water sources. There is also growing sentiment that speculative buying by foreigners has sparked the uptick in condominium prices.
