Buying farm land in Japan

Hello all. Great thread here and nice to see such commitment to the idea of farming. I recently came to Japan and it is my idea to farm as well. Yes, it is very hard work; rewards are great though. Perhaps not monetarily speaking, but in other ways. Bringing food to the tables of the world. In my case, I plan to work some small piece of land in Kyushu somewhere, (just started looking) and I know it will be a hard road. Anything worth living for is usually not an easy endeavor. Respecting the traditional methods is very important. Learning from someone first hand would be the best way to learn these techniques. If you have ever worked the soil, then you know this will not be easy. I have never worked on a large farm using machinery but instead have always used my hands. Always been 100% organic. It isn't easy. You might give up. But at the very least; try. It involves work. And more work. Best to you all, Peter ‚ª‚ñ‚΂Á‚ĉº‚³‚¢

Consider finding a place where you can rent a house and farm some rented/borrowed land for a while to see how you like it before committing to buying land! It's not like the land will grow in value. Buying real estate in rural Japan is not a money-making venture. It is probably most practical to just rent/borrow farmland at first.

Hi Matt, its good that you are following your dreams! That's inspirational. thankyou!

Hey guys-I'm actually the original poster (Mr. Matt guy) and I forgot my log in stuff so I had to create a new account. But just to keep everyone updated i figured I'd post my progress.

I know its been quite a while since I've posted on these boards-and a lot has happened. Oh man...where to begin ...

Well, I'm in my senior year at college and have switched my major to nutrition. I've even had a chance to do a study abroad in japan and do some research in nutrition. Though I was only there for 4 weeks-I loved every minute of it. I got to meet with some local farmers and it was truly awesome and I had a blast.

I even went and got married recently-and found a wife who shares my interest in japan (though maybe not quite to the degree I do )

Well, I'll answer any questions anyone has and after a couple more years of graduate school-maybe I'll be on my way. Perhaps not a move over there-maybe even a summer home I'll buy-but I'll get there

an old article on rural living in japan...
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam15/Homesteading_In_Japan.html

service for foreigners to buy cheap real estate...
http://www.foreclosedjapan.com/

source of above service, in japanese...
http://bit.sikkou.jp/

Those are great resources, thank you!

Update on the progress--
I'm still cracking away at school and will get my undergrad degree in the Spring. From there, I will go to PA school and look to learn japanese in the process. My hope now is to either make enough money to buy a small home in japan as a Summer vacation house, or move to Japan and practice medicine. I guess I will see where things take me.

I hope to be able to come back to this thread at the very least once a year until I have reached my goals, and will provide pictures as proof. One day at a time.

Hey everyone, I'm back to update this thread which nobody looks at, but maybe it will provide some useful info or maybe I'll just use it as something to chronicle my progress-either way works.

Well, I finally got my Bachelors Degree in Sociology (Applied research) and am either going to start doing some prereqs for PA school or I'll go to japan and teach English via the JET program. My wife is totally on board with the Japan English teaching idea and I feel I would regret not doing it a few years down the road, so I think I'm going to take the plunge. I have a year or so before I'll apply, so for now I'm just learning some Japanese and living life.

If anyone has any question thus far let me know. I'll likely update this soon, especially if I arrive in Japan sooner than expected. If I do, I'll be sure to include some pictures and/or video of my progress. I'll be back!

Hi Matt. I have read through this thread and I think my experince may be helpful for everyone. I'm a half-japanese with a Japanese passport so I had no trouble staying in Japan. My father is from hokkaido so we decided to search for areas in hokkaido. We also tried to find some good areas in mainland but we really felt good in hokkaido. Hokkaido farmers are very kind and considerate to new generation trying to learn farming. I visited a few organic farms in naganuma, ashoro, biei, akaigawa, furano, shimukappu and oonuma. They were all very supportive and most of them were willing to take me in as an intern so that I can learn their practices. Even in hokkaido, you have to go through the yakuba and the nougyouinkai to purchase a piece of agricultural land. A lot of laws are entwined with this type of land but apparently those that they classify as "genya" have more loose law restrictions. They are cheap and road accessible. The problems are the overgrowth of shrubs, trees and grass. I met a farmer who bought a genya and raised organic goats. He was able to convert a genya to an arable land through goats. Basically if you want to have more freedom with your farming methods, and you have time and capital, I think considering a genya is good.

I was an intern in an organic farm in naganuma for more or less a year and made lots of connections in that short span of time. Hokkaido is a cold place maybe that's why people are very warm to each other.