Buying Land in Ibaraki with "１０年特例用地" Rule

[Teflon]

Okay, so a coworker was telling me about some lovely land he had bought in Ibaraki for a ridiculously low price. Out of curiosity, I decided to see what's out there and searched Suumo for plots of land for sale in Ibaraki. I noticed that there were some results showing very large lots in desirable areas for suspiciously cheap prices that came with the label "１０年特例用地". Google translate says this means "10-year special site".

Searching Google for the term "１０年特例用地" yielded multiple web sites with detailed explanations in Japanese. However, even with Google translate, none of the explanations seemed to make much sense to me. Would anyone be able to give me a brief summary of this "１０年特例用地" rule and tell me how difficult it would be for a random foreigner to build a house on such a designated plot of land? Not planning on buying anytime soon but it's always fun to do research and this one has me super confused.

Thanks!

[beanhead]

You need to have been living in that town or an adjacent area for 10 years, it seems.
Only 'locals' can build there...

https://www.legend-home.com/blog/5792.php

[Teflon]

You need to have been living in that town or an adjacent area for 10 years, it seems.
Only 'locals' can build there...

https://www.legend-home.com/blog/5792.php

Okay, thanks. I was hoping there might some kind of loophole in the system. It sure seems strange to offer land for sale that excludes 99% of the potential buyers. Oh well!

[Gulliver]

You need to have been living in that town or an adjacent area for 10 years, it seems.
Only 'locals' can build there...

https://www.legend-home.com/blog/5792.php

Okay, thanks. I was hoping there might some kind of loophole in the system. It sure seems strange to offer land for sale that excludes 99% of the potential buyers. Oh well!

From the research I’ve done this stems from a fear of a mainly Chinese fifth column infiltrating Japan. China could pull a Putin and claim it it it was trying to protect Chinese citizens.

Unfortunately, this type of law is broad sweeping, banning all foreigners. For diplomatic reasons they don’t want to put up a big “No Chinese” sign. I’m guessing the interest of foreigners from more desirable countries is very small so it’s not an issue for them.

[RetireJapan]

Unfortunately, this type of law is broad sweeping, banning all foreigners.

It'a not banning 'foreigners' though, is it? Just non-locals. Presumably a non-Japanese resident could live there for ten years then quality to buy the land.

[captainspoke]

Pretty long ago I visited Ishigaki--a couple times, actually. I was kind of 'looking for a friend', but was interested myself, too.

I didn't hear anything like the above-mentioned 10-yr condition, but it seemed land was not free to use however you might want. And this was not ag land, it was just overgrown and not being used for anything. Probably the reason that some big plots were so cheap.

I haven't looked, but since then the new airport went in, that may have affected values up that way.

[Gulliver]

Unfortunately, this type of law is broad sweeping, banning all foreigners.

It'a not banning 'foreigners' though, is it? Just non-locals. Presumably a non-Japanese resident could live there for ten years then quality to buy the land.

OK I can change that to “effectively banning” if that makes the implications of a 10 year waiting period on a foreign investor easier to understand.

[zeroshiki]

I guess the point is they don't want you to invest there. They want you to live there.

[Gulliver]

I guess the point is they don't want you to invest there. They want you to live there.

Huh? Pretty sure you have to invest in a property to live on it. They are not going to give it to you for free.

The point is they don’t want Chinese owning the property and in the process they have made it nigh impossible for any other foreigners to purchase it.

[RetireJapan]

The point is they don’t want Chinese owning the property and in the process they have made it nigh impossible for any other foreigners to purchase it.

You keep making these assertions of racism that are not based in reality. This town has decided they only want locals to buy this very cheap land. This excludes people who are not locals, regardless of what their nationality is. It also excludes Japanese people from other areas.

There are many examples of racism in Japan, but throwing the word around when it is not warranted makes it harder to call out actual instances of it.