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2,946 ha of forest acquisition by foreign capital in Hokkaido until the end of 2019

Forest acquisition by foreign capital has increased across Hokkaido. The Hokkaido Government confirmed that the total area of forests acquired by foreign capital until December 31, 2019 had risen to 2,946 ha. Of that total, Shiribeshi Subprefecture accounted for 54.7%. The acquisition was carried out mainly in the Niseko area, a well-known international resort. In recent years, however, foreign capital has also been invested in forests in Toyako Town, Furano City and other areas in Hokkaido.

The Hokkaido Government has announced the status of forest acquisition by foreign capital in Hokkaido every year since 2012. The cumulative total excludes forests that are no longer owned by foreign capital due to resale.

Looking at the changes in forest acquisition, a Singaporean company acquired a forest area of 221 ha in Akaigawa Village in 2016, pushing the total of forests acquired by foreign capital up to 509 ha for 2016. The annual total in Hokkaido decreased to 120 ha in 2017, but after that, it increased steadily. The year 2019 saw the second-largest total area of forest acquired by foreign capital in Hokkaido in a year, highlighting the growing popularity of investing in Hokkaido.

By region, the forest area acquired by foreign capital in Kutchan Town was 575 ha, making Kutchan the most popular area in Hokkaido for foreign capital acquisitions. The total area in Shiribeshi Subprefecture was 1,610 ha (including 289 ha in Niseko Town, 266 ha in Akaigawa Village and 151 ha in Kyowa Town). Most of the acquisition purposes were for asset holding.

An official of Niseko Town said, “I have not heard that there has been development of forests acquired for the purpose of holding assets in recent years. I do not know clearly what the forest acquisition is for.”

Meanwhile, acquisition in areas other than the Niseko area has also become noticeable in recent years. The number of municipalities where forests were acquired by foreign capital in 2014 was 19, most of which were in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, but this figure increased to 41 in 2019.

In Toyako Town, a Chinese company acquired 3 ha in 2016 for condominium construction, and a Taiwanese company acquired 0.6 ha in 2017 for hotel construction. The market has experienced an expansion in the volume of transactions as a Chinese individual acquired 3 ha in 2018, a Samoan corporation 93 ha in 2019 and an Australian corporation 12 ha for asset holding purposes.

In Kamikawa Subprefecture, a Thai corporation acquired 1 ha in Furano City in 2017 for the purpose of development, and a Hong Kong corporation purchased 0.4 ha in 2019. In Kamifurano Town, an individual in Singapore purchased 3 ha in 2019 for the purpose of asset holding. In recent years, there has been a steady trend for forest acquisition around Furano City.

In addition, Eniwa City, Kitahiroshima City and other suburbs of Sapporo experienced forest acquisition for the purpose of solar power generation since they are close to mass-consumption areas.

An official of the Hokkaido Government said, “I don’t know the exact reason, but these forests may have been bought as the second Niseko,” because Toyako Town and the Furano area are very popular among foreign tourists.

(Excerpt from an article on May 19, 2020)

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