This week, the information density from Japan is high, and it is recommended to understand it along three lines:
A) Expansion of the "declaration obligation" for foreign purchases of real estate (from investment purposes to covering residential purchases):
- The Ministry of Finance has indicated that it will expand the rules/declaration scope for foreign purchases of real estate to more comprehensively grasp the situation of foreign participation in the real estate market.
- AIAIG perspective: This is a typical case of "first datafication, then differentiation." In the short term, it does not equate to a purchase ban, but it will make document preparation more upfront, and the statistical and public opinion pressure in hotspot areas will become more quantifiable.
B) Collection of nationality information during registration/application processes (the policy was widely reported in 2025-12, with implementation in the 2026 fiscal year):
- Multiple media outlets and news agencies have reported that Japan will require the provision of nationality information when handling real estate-related registration/application processes (and emphasized that the information may be used as internal government system data, not necessarily publicly displayed in the externally visible parts of the registry).
- AIAIG perspective: For compliant investors, the incremental complexity in the process is usually not significant; the real change is that "foreign/ specific nationality buyers" are moving from statistical blind spots to being trackable.
C) New system for "proof of real estate holdings list" (effective from 2026-02-02):
- The Japanese Ministry of Justice has introduced a system that allows for querying/proving registered real estate holdings by "person" rather than by "address," enabling the issuance of proof documents listing one's real estate holdings.
- This is crucial for inheritance, asset inventory, compliance audits, and cross-border family asset management: in the future, when providing asset proof or handling inheritance and tax matters, the tools will become more standardized.
D) Broader trend of stricter economic security reviews:
- Japan also plans to revise laws related to foreign investment reviews, granting stronger retrospective disposal powers in situations involving economic security risks.
- AIAIG perspective: For "sensitive assets/sensitive areas" and real estate with "infrastructure attributes" (such as data centers, port surroundings, and key facility surroundings), it is necessary to increase the risk weighting.