Amid spying fears from hostile nations, the Japanese government is mulling over creating a land registration system to track sales near military bases and civilian structures owned by foreign powers.
For years, there has been a growing concern that countries such as China, Russia and North Korea have been purchasing property close to important military facilities operated by the Japanese or the US militaries.
Additionally, the authorities suspect that the foreign powers are also buying properties near airports, seaports, nuclear plants, dams and key bridges.
By introducing the new system, Tokyo is also attempting to limit property owned by sanctioned foreign individuals. According to reports, 60 locations with critical importance to national security have already been identified and the government.
Japanese opposition parties have been demanding the government bring such legislation which allows it to identify the true owner of the property, which, in most instances is hidden behind a series of shell companies.
The system, if implemented, is modelled on a legislation brought in by the UK earlier this year for a similar purpose.
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The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 which came into force in March provides greater power to the authorities to take “enforcement action and impose penalties on persons that breach sanctions restrictions, through the introduction of a “strict liability” test”.
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“I was amazed to discover the effectiveness of Britain’s new law that obliges overseas entities to reveal their beneficial owners,” said Jin Matsubara, a member of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
“The UK has set an important precedent for the world and I was delighted to know that the Japanese government has made it clear it will set up a system to collect information on beneficial ownership of properties in Japan,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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