Abstract
In the USA, farm and forest land ownership by aliens must be reported to the federal government. In some states, the restrictions are stricter than in others. By analyzing the code of each state, this study reveals that these states control aliens’ land ownership by limiting their acreage, confining the eligibility of business entities, or checking the citizenship of landowners and that some states prohibit the ownership of public land by aliens. Therefore, most of the farmland in the Midwest and the western states is protected from alien ownership.
In the USA, land ownership by aliens is observed mainly on forest land.In order to achieve the proper use of farm and forest land, Japan should replicate the US land management system that controls alien land ownership. One important implication is that farm and forest land should be controlled integrally, not separately.
