Japan Plans National Database to Track Foreign Property Ownership From Fiscal 2027

A nationwide record of who owns Japanese property

Japan is preparing a national database to record the nationality of property buyers, with a possible launch as early as fiscal 2027. The system would cover land and buildings, from urban condominiums to forests and farmland, and help authorities identify who ultimately controls some purchases made through companies.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed ministers on November 4 to establish the extent of foreign land acquisitions and examine possible rules. The Cabinet Secretariat, Justice Ministry, Digital Agency and other government bodies are now coordinating a plan that puts better ownership information at the center of the review.

Japan already records legal ownership of property, but nationality is missing from many transactions. Purchases through companies based in Japan and financed from overseas can make the picture harder to understand. Officials want to connect those scattered records through the Digital Agency's real estate base registry, a digital foundation for linking property information.

The push brings together two concerns: housing affordability in expensive city markets and security around defense facilities, remote islands near national borders and water source regions. Officials say clearer records would help them understand where purchases are taking place and decide which locations or types of property need closer attention.

The database forms part of a broader review of immigration, residency controls and land use. An expert panel convened in late November is working toward a basic policy by January 2026. The registry itself would record information; any purchase restrictions, tax changes or other conditions would require further policy decisions.

Which properties and buyers would be covered?

The proposed nationality registration system would reach categories of real estate whose existing records do not consistently capture that information. Its scope extends well beyond apartments in central Tokyo.

• Condominium units, detached homes and other real estate.
• Forests and farmland.
• Large land transactions covered by the National Land Use Planning Law.
• Important land near defense facilities and on border islands designated under the security related land use law brought fully into force in 2022.

Corporate buyers could face additional disclosure requirements for forests, large parcels and strategically important land. Authorities are considering asking them to declare the nationalities of principal shareholders and executives. This would help show whether a company registered in Japan is being used to channel overseas funding into a purchase.

A company's name on a property record identifies the legal owner. Understanding control can require looking further, at the people or businesses behind that company. The proposed disclosures would give authorities more information about those connections in the categories covered by the rules.

Ministries are also examining an expansion of transaction notifications under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law, which governs capital transactions by nonresidents. Together, nationality records and broader notifications could give the government a more complete view of both ownership and investment flows.

Why the existing register leaves gaps

Japan's real estate registration system, known as Toki, is managed by the Legal Affairs Bureau. It records the property itself and its legal owner, providing the foundation for reliable title and secure transactions.

Each asset has a title section listing its location and attributes. A separate rights section records the owner's name and address, the date and reason for registration, and other rights, including mortgages. Anyone can obtain copies for a fee.

Nationality, however, is generally absent from condominium records and many other property categories. Farmland already carries a nationality reporting requirement, while most urban residential property does not. This uneven coverage makes it difficult to measure foreign ownership consistently across the country.

Inherited property presents another problem: ownership records can become outdated when a change is not registered. Japan began addressing that gap in April 2024 by requiring registration of ownership changes arising from inheritance. More accurate ownership records help authorities identify current owners, while nationality information requires its own reporting arrangements.

The Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law operates separately from the property register. When a nonresident acquires real estate for certain purposes, the purchase can qualify as a capital transaction. The buyer must then notify the authorities through the Bank of Japan within a set period, subject to exceptions.

Those notices serve a different function from a nationwide record of buyer nationality at registration. The planned database would bring nationality information, and in specified cases information about control through a company, into a system that authorities could use across jurisdictions and property types.

What Tokyo's prices and buyer figures show

A government survey found that 3 percent of buyers of new condominiums in Tokyo during the first half of 2025 had overseas addresses. The figure measures buyers living offshore. Foreign nationals living in Japan fall outside that measure, and many corporate ownership structures are also excluded.

Private research and sales figures from individual developments suggest considerable variation between locations. Some expensive buildings in a few wards have recorded shares of offshore buyers well above the average. Many suburban and regional projects attract much less foreign interest. Without nationality data at registration, Japan has limited ability to separate these patterns across the market.

Central Tokyo's new condominium prices reached fresh records in 2024, with average prices in the core wards exceeding 110 million yen. Rising construction costs, limited supply and new projects at the expensive end of the market have contributed to the increase, alongside demand from both domestic and overseas buyers.

A weaker yen, interest rates that remain very low by global standards and the recovery in travel after the pandemic have made Japanese property attractive to overseas investors. Their purchases include offices, hotels and luxury condominiums.

Local households face affordability pressures in those expensive urban markets. Much of rural Japan faces a different challenge: population decline and a growing stock of vacant homes, known as akiya. Policymakers are trying to address risks in city districts with tight supply while retaining investment that can support purchases and renovation elsewhere.

Security concerns extend beyond city housing

Japan's security related land use law became fully effective in 2022. It allows authorities to examine how land and buildings are used around Self Defense Forces facilities and on remote islands near national borders, and to penalize activities that could undermine security functions.

The law focuses on oversight and notification rather than prohibiting foreign nationals from buying property. The proposed database would add information about ownership nationality at the time of purchase, giving authorities another way to understand transactions in sensitive locations.

Water source regions have also become part of the public debate. Some communities fear unregulated groundwater extraction or exports when ownership is difficult to trace. Clearer records would help prefectures and ministries assess buyers, monitor land use and enforce existing rules where they apply.

Officials argue that visibility is the best starting point for managing risks that differ by location and property type. A parcel near a defense facility, a forest containing a water source and a condominium in an expensive city district raise different policy concerns.

Japan's commitments to nondiscrimination under global trade rules also shape the choices. Targeted measures for national security or public order remain possible, but outright bans on foreign buyers would be difficult to justify. Policymakers have indicated that reporting requirements, purchase conditions and taxation are more likely approaches, with security laws addressing the most sensitive zones.

Which reporting and tax rules are under review?

Ministries are considering whether more purchases by foreign buyers or nonresident investors should trigger notification under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law. The review also covers nationality declarations for principal shareholders and senior executives when companies acquire forests, large parcels or strategically important property.

Tax proposals include higher acquisition or holding taxes for nonresident owners in overheated urban markets, conditions on purchases in designated zones and levies on vacant property intended to discourage speculative buying. Officials have also discussed fiscal measures that distinguish between Japanese and non Japanese owners in defined markets or property categories.

No decisions have been made on those measures. Their design would need to account for effects on legitimate investment and housing supply, as well as the problems officials intend to address. Recording nationality would provide information for that process; separate decisions would determine whether and how taxes or purchase conditions change.

Japan is reviewing property rules in Canada, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan to inform its proposals. Approaches used internationally include extra stamp duties for foreign buyers in major cities, screening individual nonresident purchases, temporary bans affecting certain buyer categories and vacancy taxes intended to discourage rapid resale and empty homes.

The government aims to compile findings on overseas regulations by the end of the current fiscal year. The basic policy planned for January 2026 is expected to set out the domestic real estate framework within the wider review of foreign resident and immigration measures.

Connecting ownership records without losing accuracy

The Digital Agency's real estate base registry would provide a common foundation for the new system. Property identifiers from the Legal Affairs Bureau's register would be connected with additional information, including buyer nationality and, for specified corporate purchases, the nationalities of key shareholders and executives.

Standardized records could help officials identify concentrations of ownership within a ward or near a particular facility. Over time, the same system could build a clearer national picture instead of leaving ministries to work with separate records covering different kinds of land.

Data design will determine how useful that picture becomes. Nationality entries need consistent formats. Corporate declarations need enough detail to help identify control where ownership runs through several companies. Connections to tax records and investment notifications could provide further information for enforcement.

Authorities will also have to decide access arrangements for the information. Public access can improve market transparency, while publication of nationality and other personal details creates privacy concerns. Countries with ownership databases face similar choices about which information should be visible to the public and which should be available only to authorized users.

International evaluations have found that property ownership information is often fragmented and that the people ultimately controlling assets can be difficult to identify. Japan's project offers an opportunity to set consistent standards as the system is built.

Preventing money laundering is another consideration. Property can be used to move and conceal illicit funds. Clear checks for brokers, lawyers and developers, combined with faster access to ownership and corporate control information, could help authorities detect suspicious transactions.

Records that computers can process, standard forms and reliable property identifiers would support those checks. The government says it wants better oversight without delaying legitimate purchases, making the practical steps of registration as important as the legal requirements.

What buyers and property businesses could face

Most buyers would be expected to provide nationality information alongside the identification and address documents already used at closing. Buyers using a judicial scrivener to handle registration would provide the extra information through that process.

Companies purchasing property in specified land categories may also need statements about the nationalities of principal shareholders and executives. The additional administrative cost is expected to be small compared with transaction values, while giving authorities much more information about ownership.

Banks, developers and brokers could use clearer rules to organize their compliance checks. Lenders could align checks with the database fields, while developers marketing new projects could establish screening and disclosure procedures that reduce surprises late in a transaction.

Stronger checks against money laundering can also make the process more predictable for legitimate buyers. A transparent set of requirements can move transactions forward more smoothly than uncertainty about which documents or disclosures are needed.

Market effects would vary by location. Greater visibility could discourage purchases intended for quick speculative gains in some expensive districts. Across much of the country, particularly areas losing population, transactions are expected to face less disruption.

Buying property in Japan does not grant a visa or permanent residency. Foreign purchasers should plan for the same taxes as Japanese owners, including annual fixed asset taxes. Nonresident owners need a tax agent in Japan to handle filings.

Existing notification requirements under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law continue to apply to nonresident purchases that fall within its scope. Those requirements are among the rules the government is considering broadening.

The dates shaping the government's work

The timetable combines policy decisions, research into overseas rules and the technical work needed to connect government records. A launch in fiscal 2027 depends on legal preparation and systems readiness, with several ministries needing to change procedures and align their databases.

• April 2024: Japan began requiring registration of ownership changes resulting from inheritance.
• November 4, 2025: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed ministers to establish the extent of foreign land acquisitions and examine possible rules.
• Late November 2025: An expert panel convened to consider changes within the broader policy review.
• January 2026: The government aims to prepare a basic policy on foreign resident and immigration measures, including the expected real estate framework.
• End of the current fiscal year: Officials aim to complete findings on foreign property regulations overseas.
• Fiscal 2027: The database and nationality fields could begin operating, subject to legal and technical preparations.
• Fiscal 2028: An electronic travel authorization system is planned as part of a wider move toward closer integration of border, visa and property transaction data.

The January 2026 policy target would leave about a year for legal drafting and systems work before the earliest intended launch period. Coordination between the Cabinet Secretariat, Justice Ministry, Digital Agency and other bodies will be needed to turn the proposed framework into working registration procedures.

Balancing public concern with investment

The government says it wants to address public anxiety while preserving investment and growth. That balance matters because the review brings together security concerns, housing costs, immigration policy and transactions that may support local economies.

Some voices warn that poorly framed rules could encourage hostility toward foreigners or strain sectors that rely on overseas capital. Others argue that a clearer registry and targeted measures are overdue because ownership information has remained incomplete.

The database would give policymakers a stronger factual basis for choosing between different responses. Records showing where purchases occur, what properties are involved and who controls corporate buyers could help distinguish pressure in expensive urban markets from investment in places seeking buyers and renovation.

Japan's immediate objective is therefore better visibility. The proposed system would make nationality and specified corporate ownership information easier to identify nationwide, while the wider review determines which reporting, tax or purchase rules should follow.

What to Know

• Japan plans a national database recording the nationality of property buyers, with a possible start in fiscal 2027.
• The Digital Agency's real estate base registry would connect records covering homes, forests, farmland, large land deals and sensitive locations.
• Corporate buyers in specified categories may have to disclose the nationalities of principal shareholders and executives.
• A government survey found that 3 percent of buyers of new Tokyo condominiums in the first half of 2025 had overseas addresses.
• Average new condominium prices in Tokyo's core wards exceeded 110 million yen in 2024.
• Officials are reviewing broader transaction notifications, possible tax changes and conditions for purchases in designated areas.
• The government aims to prepare its basic policy by January 2026 and complete research into overseas property rules by the end of the current fiscal year.
• The registry would support security oversight, checks against money laundering and more targeted policy decisions while seeking to preserve legitimate investment.