New rule on land sales not aimed at Chinese, Hokkaido governor says

The governor of Hokkaido has defended new legislation covering land sales in the Japanese prefecture, introduced amid growing concern over purchases by foreigners including mainland Chinese and Hong Kong buyers.

Harumi Takahashi, who has served as governor of the most northerly main island in the Japanese archipelago for 12 years, said in a speech yesterday that the new rules were not designed to specifically target mainland or Hong Kong buyers. The rules require a three-month notice period before land purchases.

But there was concern across Hokkaido that land snapped up by overseas investors would not be developed sympathetically.

The biggest concerns, Takahashi said, revolve around large-scale tourism developments that might damage forests critical to the islands' water supplies.

"The ordinance went into effect in April, but it took us three years of discussions to prepare it," she said. "Hokkaido has abundant amounts of pristine water and forests that serve to maintain our water supplies. But recently, interest in Hokkaido by foreigners has increased."

The island covers more than 83,000 square kilometres and some 1,039 hectares have been purchased by foreign companies. Of the 57 known foreign purchases, 21 involved companies from mainland China, eight from Singapore and five from Australia. Prefectural officials said they believed nine sales were to Hong Kong firms, but they were not sure because the transactions were completed through the tax haven of the Virgin Islands.