The Act on the Review and Regulation of the Use of Real Estate Surrounding Important Facilities and on Remote Territorial Islands was promulgated on June 23, 2021, and came into full force and effect on September 20, 2022. Based on this act, the Prime Minister is proceeding with the designate as monitored areas and special monitored areas in order to prevent adverse acts （meaning acts that impede the functions of important facilities and remote territorial islands） against the important facilities and remote territorial islands and is also conducting a review of the status of use of real estate （land and building） located in a monitored area or special monitored area. This article describes the background to the enactment of this act, its outline, and the status of its enforcement.

The Act on the Review and Regulation of the Use of Real Estate Surrounding Important Facilities and on Remote Territorial Islands is designed to acquire the personal information of real estate users by sanction to regulate the acts impeding national security and others in the designated areas and to correct them by recommendation, order and penalty. The impediments the act assumes, however, are already covered by existing laws such as the Penal Code so that it is unclear what is newly covered by it and thus it lacks effectiveness. Besides, the act is fraught with problems by allowing the government to easily acquire the information about thought and conscience of people because the prerequisites of the act are ambiguous and their interpretation is unlimitedly widely delegated to Cabinet Order and Cabinet Office Order. So the Diet needs to closely monitor the implementation of the act and to repeal it as soon as possible once its adverse effects come up.

The Law Concerning Investigation and Regulation of Land Use around Important Facilities and in Remote Border Islands （hereinafter referred to as “Important Land Investigation Law: ILIL”） is intended to regulate the use of land and buildings that endanger national security through government investigation of land use that is important from the perspective of national security. This paper will review the background and outline of the enactment of the ILIL, and examine how far and in what manner the freedom of land ownership can be restricted on the grounds of the national security as a part of public welfare, through specific issues under the ILIL. Then, in light of the philosophy of the land ownership system, the future direction of the ILIL will be discussed.

"The Act on the Review and Regulation of the Use of Real Estate Surrounding Important Facilities and on Remote Territorial Islands ", which came into effect in September 2022, requires the Prime Minister to protect defenserelated facilities from the perspective of security. The law imposed an obligation to investigate whether land is being used in a way that impedes the functions of "important facilities". This law obligates the Prime Minister to make efforts to purchase land if it is necessary to maintain the functions of "important facilities". It can be evaluated that this law does not force any changes to the system of private property rights, but rather focuses on the fact that private property rights are extremely strongly guaranteed by law, both in terms of their content and the enforcement of rights.

This paper examines the legal status of domestic land transactions by foreigners, using the content of the author's previous papers. This paper takes the first step toward elucidating the tension between international land transactions and domestic land legal systems, and exploring the ideal legal system for domestic land transactions by foreigners.

This paper analyzes the background of the implementation of the act on use of real estate surrounding important facilities and on remote territorial islands and discusses its implications in the land policy.

This article explains the public reactions and realistic impacts caused by "forest land acquisition by foreign capital" based on a nationwide web-based survey and the current situation in mountainous areas. It then reports recommendations and challenges for building a positive social system for the sustainable management of water and forest resources.

Abstract： This paper describes the development of international real estate transactions and explains what kind of friction is occurring. From the perspective of economics, I will explain how land ownership by foreigners and foreign corporations affects the welfare level of Japanese people. After these studies, we will attempt to evaluate Act on the Review and Regulation of the use of Real Estate surrounding Important Facilities and on Remote Territorial Islands.

In general, diversity of market participants is essential for market function. As for Japanese real estate investment market, overseas investors involve a certain amount of market transactions, and it has contributed to the price stability of real estate market. Promotion of market transparency is important in order to maintain and facilitate market participants’ diversity, and is therefore beneficial to sustainable development of real estate market.

As a result of recent security concerns over the acquisition of land on remote islands by foreigners, the Important Land Survey Act （Act on the Review and Regulation of the Use of Real Estate Surrounding Important Facilities and on Remote Territorial Islands） was implemented in 2022. This development can be interpreted as a form of securitization, and the transformation of Japan’s borderlands into a "fortress". However, as the Act only mandates a "survey," it will be necessary to keep an eye on whether it will lead to further restrictions on land acquisition by foreigners.