The government intends to establish a new law to strengthen the monitoring of foreign purchases of land on remote islands and near important security facilities such as Self-Defense Forces bases, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Based on investigations to determine the nationality and other details of owners of land near the facilities, the government plans to set up a framework that will lead to tighter security countermeasures.
An expert panel will be established as soon as this month to discuss details of the legislation, with a bill likely will be submitted during next year's ordinary Diet session.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met with National Public Safety Commission Chairman Hachiro Okonogi, who is also in charge of territorial issues, at the Prime Minister's Office, where he approved Okonogi's plan to consider enacting the new law.
Land acquisition by foreign capital has created concern within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that such locations "could be used as bases for terrorist or criminal activities," with calls among some members to immediately address the issue.
The new law would designate remote islands used as reference points for Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, SDF-related facilities, nuclear power plants and other locations as "important security facilities," and the surrounding land will be subject to investigation. The government will consider requiring prior notification of all planned purchases of such land.
Some government members have floated a proposal that the probe include details of the landowners, including their nationality, possible connections to foreign countries, and purpose for acquiring the land. The survey is expected to be carried out by a contractor, who, as in the case of the national census and other surveys, will be subject to a confidentiality obligation with penalties for violations.
There has been a string of cases of foreign capital buying up land on remote Japanese islands and near SDF bases. South Korean capital has purchased land near a Maritime Self-Defense Force base on Tsushima island, Nagasaki Prefecture, and in Hokkaido, it is known that Chinese money has snapped up water sources and tracts of forested mountain areas.
However, the central government has no authority to collect personal information about owners of private property. Changing names on property registration records is voluntary, so getting an accurate grasp of these land transactions has been problematic. The new law will give the government a legal foundation to conduct an investigation for national security reasons.
This government intends to flesh out the details of the new legislation after receiving proposals from the expert panel, expected by the end of this year. The panel is expected to address such issues as how the government will investigate the landowners, and the extend of enforcement the state will have.
During his meeting with Okonogi, Suga instructed the chairman, "Move ahead on this matter so that tangible results can be produced."
Depending on the findings from the investigations, the government might consider additional legislation to regulate land purchases by foreign capital. However, some government insiders are being cautious on tightening rules for buying land over concerns that it could result in restrictions on private rights.
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