You find a cheap akiya that comes with an attached rice paddy or farmland. What’s the catch?
Question 4 of 5
Japan's Agricultural Land Act (nouchi-ho) requires any transfer of designated farmland to be approved by the local Agricultural Committee, regardless of the buyer's nationality. Buyers typically must demonstrate a genuine plan to farm the land or meet other qualifying conditions, and foreign buyers often face extra scrutiny. This is one of the most common reasons akiya deals involving attached farmland fall through for first-time overseas buyers. If you don't actually want the farmland, options include asking the seller to split the lot boundary (bunkatsu) before closing so only the house and residential plot transfer, or pursuing a formal land-use conversion (tenyo tenkan) to residential zoning, a separate and often lengthy administrative process worth budgeting extra time for.
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