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Owner checklist · 2026

2026 checklist for overseas owners of Japanese property

Japan tightened the rules for property owners between 2024 and 2026, and several of them hit owners who live abroad hardest: you cannot rely on the automatic address update, you need a domestic contact, and from 5 October 2026 you declare your nationality when you register. Each card below says who it applies to, the deadline, the penalty, what to do, and the official page it comes from.

Last checked: 27 September 2026Sources: Ministry of Justice, MOF / Bank of Japan, National Tax Agency, MLIT, Cabinet Office, municipalities

Key dates at a glance

DateWhat changesCard
1 Apr 2024Inheritance registration becomes mandatory; owners living abroad must give a domestic contact; new address-proof rules for foreign nationals abroad2
1 Apr 2026Address and name change registration becomes mandatory; FEFTA report: buying a home to live in is no longer exempt1
5 Oct 2026Nationality is declared (with proof) when you register as an owner4
31 Mar 2027Last day to register inheritances that happened before 1 April 20242
31 Mar 2028Last day to register address/name changes that happened before 1 April 20261

Watching the rules for foreign buyers? See our foreign ownership rules tracker (what is decided, what is only proposed).

The checklist

Tick the cards you have dealt with (the ticks stay on this device only). If a card does not apply, skip it.

1. Update your registered address or name 2. Register an inheritance 3. Name a domestic contact in Japan 4. Declare your nationality when you register 5. Report the acquisition under Japan’s foreign exchange law (FEFTA) 6. Fixed asset tax and a local tax representative 7. Tax on rental income 8. Empty houses: keep it maintained 9. Land near defence sites and border islands 10. Selling while living abroad 11. Paperwork that commonly goes wrong

1Update your registered address or name

From 1 Apr 2026

Applies to you if
The name or address on the land register () is not your current one: you moved (including moving abroad, or between two foreign addresses), changed your name, or your company changed its name or head office.
Deadline
Within 2 years of the change. Changes made before 1 April 2026: by 31 March 2028.
Penalty
Civil fine () of up to ¥50,000. The registry first sends a reminder; the fine applies if you still do not file without good reason.
What to do
  • Owners living abroad do not get the automatic update. Japan now lets the registrar update addresses automatically (“smart change registration”), but the Ministry of Justice says owners living abroad are not covered even if they submit their search information. You must file the change yourself.
  • File an address/name change registration () at the Legal Affairs Bureau. Registration tax is ¥1,000 per property (each land parcel and building counts).
  • Prove every step from the address on the register to your address today. Japanese nationals abroad normally use a Certificate of Residence () from the embassy or consulate; foreign nationals abroad use a government address certificate from their country, or a notarised address statement plus a passport copy. Confirm the exact set with a judicial scrivener.
  • If your new address is outside Japan, the change registration also records a domestic contact (card 3).
  • Selling or mortgaging later? The registered address must match your documents, so this has to be done first anyway.

Official source: Ministry of Justice: address change registration · MOJ: search information (overseas residents not covered by automatic update) · MOJ (English)

2Register an inheritance

Since 1 Apr 2024

Applies to you if
A registered owner has died and you inherited Japanese land or a building (or were left it by will as an heir), including inheritances before April 2024 that were never registered.
Deadline
Within 3 years of the day you knew of the inheritance and that you acquired the property. Inheritances before 1 April 2024: by 31 March 2027 (or 3 years from when you found out, if later). After an estate division: within 3 years of the division.
Penalty
Civil fine of up to ¥100,000.
What to do
  • Register the transfer to the heirs (). Registration tax is 0.4% of the assessed value.
  • If the heirs cannot agree in time, file a Declaration of Heir (): free, possible online, and it counts as meeting the obligation. You still need a full registration before you can sell or mortgage, and within 3 years of a later estate division.
  • Which country’s inheritance law applies depends on the nationality of the person who died, so cross-border estates usually need a scrivener who handles international cases.
  • A non-resident heir also files the FEFTA report (card 5) and gives a domestic contact (card 3).

Official source: MOJ: mandatory inheritance registration · MOJ: Declaration of Heir · MOJ (English)

3Name a domestic contact in Japan

Since 1 Apr 2024

Applies to you if
You live outside Japan and you are becoming the registered owner (purchase, gift, inheritance), or you are registering a move to an address outside Japan.
Deadline
At the same time as that registration: it is part of the application.
Penalty
No separate fine, but the application is incomplete without it.
What to do
  • Give the name and address of a person or company in Japan who agrees to be your contact, for example a property manager, real estate company or judicial scrivener, with their written consent and their seal certificate (or electronic signature).
  • If you have nobody, you can register that there is no domestic contact.
  • The contact is recorded on the register as a point of contact. It does not give them power to sell or sign for you.

Official source: MOJ: registrations from 1 April 2024 (domestic contact) · Real Property Registration Act, Art. 73-2 (e-Gov)

4Declare your nationality when you register

From 5 Oct 2026

Applies to you if
You become the registered owner of land or a building (purchase, gift, inheritance, new build) with an application filed on or after 5 October 2026, whether you live in Japan or abroad, and whether you are Japanese or not.
Deadline
With the registration application.
Penalty
No fine. The registrar asks you to correct the application; if you still do not, it records the nationality shown in your documents.
What to do
  • State your nationality (country, or Taiwan) and attach proof. For foreign nationals this is typically a copy of your passport, which you certify as a true copy yourself.
  • The passport must be unexpired. An expired passport cannot be used as proof.
  • If you hold two or more nationalities and the documents show them, all are recorded.
  • Nationality is kept as internal data. It is not shown on the public register, but it is expected to be shared between government agencies.
  • Existing owners do not have to do anything; you may add it voluntarily.
  • This is a reporting rule, not a ban: there is still no nationality restriction on buying property in Japan.

Official source: MOJ Civil Affairs Bureau notice No. 872 (4 Sept 2026, PDF) · MOJ: search information

5Report the acquisition under Japan’s foreign exchange law (FEFTA)

Changed 1 Apr 2026

Applies to you if
You are a non-resident for foreign-exchange purposes (a foreign national is generally a non-resident unless working at an office in Japan or in Japan for 6 months or more) and you acquire Japanese property by purchase, inheritance, bequest or gift, or build it, at any price, even ¥0.
Deadline
Within 20 days of acquisition (the contract date, transfer date or date the inheritance was settled can be used). If day 20 is a Bank of Japan holiday, the next business day.
Penalty
Up to 6 months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to ¥500,000 for not reporting or for a false report.
What to do
  • Submit Form 22 (in Japanese) to the Minister of Finance through the Bank of Japan. A resident agent, such as your broker, can file it for you online.
  • Since 1 April 2026 buying a home to live in is no longer exempt when you acquire ownership. The remaining exemptions (home for you, family or staff; non-profit use; your own office) now cover only rights such as leaseholds. A holiday home never counts as a home. Buying from another non-resident is no longer exempt.
  • Missed it? File anyway, as soon as possible, and note the reason in the margin.
  • Owners who already reported do not report again unless they acquire more property or rights.

Official source: Ministry of Finance: real property acquisition reports · MOF FAQ (June 2026, PDF) · MOF (English)

6Fixed asset tax and a local tax representative

Every year

Applies to you if
You own land or buildings in Japan on 1 January. The owner on that date pays the whole year’s tax.
Deadline
Bills come from the municipality, payable in instalments on dates it sets. Appoint a tax representative as soon as you own property in a municipality where you do not live (Yokohama, for example, asks for it 10 days before you leave Japan).
Penalty
Late-payment charges; unpaid local tax is collected through the normal enforcement process.
What to do
  • Standard rate 1.4% of the assessed value, plus city planning tax of up to 0.3% in some areas. Our tax calculator estimates it.
  • If you have no address in that municipality, the Local Tax Act requires you to appoint a tax representative () and notify the municipality (Art. 355), unless it approves another arrangement.
  • Keep your mailing address current with every municipality where you own property; tax bills and vacant-house letters go there.

Official source: Yokohama City: fixed asset tax for owners living abroad · Local Tax Act, Art. 355 (e-Gov)

7Tax on rental income

If you rent it out

Applies to you if
You live outside Japan and receive rent from Japanese property.
Deadline
Tenants withhold from each payment. You file a Japanese income tax return for each calendar year by 15 March of the following year.
Penalty
Late-filing and late-payment penalties and interest under national tax law.
What to do
  • Company tenants, and individuals who rent it for business, withhold 20.42% of the rent and pay it to the tax office. An individual who rents it as their own (or their family’s) home does not withhold.
  • File a return on the net rental income; the withheld tax is credited against it.
  • Appoint a tax representative () with the tax office if you need to file, receive documents or get refunds.
  • From January 2027 the special income tax mix changes, but the combined 20.42% stays the same.

Official source: National Tax Agency No. 2880 (rent paid to non-residents) · NTA No. 1923 (tax representative)

8Empty houses: keep it maintained

If it sits empty

Applies to you if
Your house stands empty for long periods. This is common with inherited family homes and holiday houses.
Deadline
Act when the municipality sends guidance. A formal recommendation removes the tax reduction.
Penalty
If the municipality treats it as a poorly managed vacant house (, since 13 Dec 2023) and issues a recommendation, the land loses the residential-land reduction (land tax base cut to 1/6 on up to 200 ㎡), so the land tax can rise several times. Worse cases (“specific vacant houses”) face stronger orders.
What to do
  • Arrange regular checks, airing, weeding and repairs. A local property manager can do this.
  • Answer letters from the municipality. Your tax representative or domestic contact should forward them.
  • Note: a holiday home never gets the residential-land reduction in the first place, because a second home is not a “house” for this tax.

Official source: MLIT: 2023 amendment of the Vacant Houses Act · MLIT: Vacant Houses Act information

9Land near defence sites and border islands

Designated areas only

Applies to you if
Your land is in an area designated under the Important Land Survey Act (around defence facilities and other important sites, and on border islands). Check the government web map.
Deadline
In a Special Attention Zone: before signing a contract to sell or buy land or a building of 200 ㎡ or more. Both seller and buyer notify.
Penalty
Up to 6 months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to ¥1 million for not notifying or for a false notice.
What to do
  • Check your address on the map.
  • In any designated zone the government can investigate how the land is used and, for harmful use, issue recommendations and orders.
  • Tell your broker early: a notice sent by post must arrive before the contract date.

Official source: Cabinet Office: notifications · Important land web map

10Selling while living abroad

When you sell

Applies to you if
You live outside Japan and sell Japanese property.
Deadline
The buyer withholds tax when paying you. You file a return by 15 March of the following year.
Penalty
Any tax not covered by the withholding is still due, with late-filing penalties.
What to do
  • The buyer withholds 10.21% of the price and pays it to the tax office, unless the buyer is an individual buying it as their own or family’s home for ¥100 million or less.
  • Capital gains tax depends on how long you owned it as of 1 January of the year of sale: more than 5 years is the long-term rate, 5 years or less the short-term rate. Resident rates are 20.315% and 39.63% including local inhabitant tax; non-residents generally do not pay inhabitant tax. Confirm with a Japanese tax accountant and file a return to settle the withholding.
  • First make sure the registered address is current (card 1) and your seal or signature certificates are fresh (card 11).
  • Land of 200 ㎡ or more in a Special Attention Zone needs a prior notice (card 9).
  • Rough numbers first: what is my Japanese property worth? and how much will I receive after tax and costs?

Official source: NTA No. 2879 (buying from a non-resident)

11Paperwork that commonly goes wrong

Common snags

Applies to you if
You sign Japanese registration documents from abroad.
Deadline
Before the application; allow several weeks for consulate appointments and courier time.
Penalty
A rejected or delayed registration, and possibly a missed deadline on the cards above.
What to do
  • Seal certificates expire for registration purposes. A Japanese seal certificate () attached to a registration must have been issued within the last 3 months.
  • No registered seal? Japanese nationals abroad use a signature certificate (, often called a “sign certificate”) from a Japanese embassy or consulate; foreign nationals use a signature certification by a notary in their country. Ask your scrivener how recent it must be. To be safe, get a new one for each transaction.
  • Address proof: Japanese nationals abroad use a Certificate of Residence (). Since April 2024, foreign nationals abroad need a government-issued address certificate, or a notary-certified address document plus a passport copy, with a Japanese translation of the key parts.
  • Broken address chain: the proof must link the address on the register to today’s. Owners who moved several times often need extra documents.
  • Expired passport: cannot be used as nationality proof from 5 October 2026 (card 4).
  • Name spelling: check that the name on the register, your passport and the signature certificate match, and ask the scrivener before you sign if they do not.

Official source: MOJ: when you cannot get a seal certificate because you live abroad · MOJ: address proof for foreign nationals abroad · Ministry of Foreign Affairs: signature certificates · Real Property Registration Order, Arts. 16 and 18 (e-Gov)

Thinking of selling?

If the checklist is pushing you towards selling an inherited or unused property, start with rough numbers. Both tools use official transaction data and the 2026 tax rates.

Estimate the sale price Estimate net proceeds after tax and costs

Ask a licensed agent or judicial scrivener

Tell us what you need to sort out and we will pass your question to a licensed real estate broker (for selling or managing) or a judicial scrivener (, for registrations). We are not a law firm or broker and do not give legal or tax advice. We do not charge owners, and we receive no fee for introductions to judicial scriveners.

Privacy

Sources

  1. Real Property Registration Act, Arts. 73-2, 76-2, 76-3, 76-5, 76-6, 164 (e-Gov): laws.e-gov.go.jp; Registration and License Tax Act, Appended Table 1, 1(14) (¥1,000 per property)
  2. Ministry of Justice: address change registration, Q&A, search information, inheritance registration, Declaration of Heir, domestic contact, address proof, no seal certificate, notice No. 872 (PDF), English summary
  3. Ministry of Finance: real property reports, FAQ June 2026 (PDF)
  4. National Tax Agency: No. 2880, No. 2879, No. 1923
  5. Local Tax Act Art. 355 (e-Gov); Yokohama City (tax representative)
  6. MLIT: Vacant Houses Act amendment; Cabinet Office: Important Land Survey Act notifications, map
  7. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: signature certificates

Last checked: 27 September 2026. Rules, forms and municipal practice change. Check the linked official pages and confirm with a judicial scrivener, tax accountant or licensed broker before acting.

Disclaimer. General information only, not legal, tax or registration advice. Japan House Prices is not a real estate broker () or a judicial scrivener. If you ask, a licensed professional handles your case. We may receive a referral fee from a broker; we receive nothing from judicial scriveners, and owners pay us nothing.