Land zoning/classification

Finding land, working a small plot or anything else countryside related
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gonbechan
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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by gonbechan »

We can make it a member view only thread for you, and you can use a fictitious location and animal names for parties involved, but I really do think that your experience with buying farming land would be an invaluable read for many, many other people.

At least think about it, please, pretty please.

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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by CYEK »

The situation is before the courts so I'm limited on what I can actually write for the time being.

It's getting to the point where I'm about to block access for other farmers to gain access to their fields as they need to go through my place to get to theirs. If they wont help me why should I continue to let them use me.

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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by Funasshi »

It has been two months or so since you posted the above, and I hope your problems are solved by now....
For what it's worth, Good Luck CYEK. :pray:

And I am also super interested in what kind of issues or conflicts you got into... without knowing the names or places. :shhh:
Thanks

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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by BK How »

I read through some posts and I understand that the rules for a foreigner to buy/rent a property vary from prefecture to prefecture. Does anyone know the requirements to buy/rent a agriculture land in Nagano and Shiga prefecture? Do we need to be a registered farmer to buy/rent the land? And what is the requirements to be a registered farmer?

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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by Zasso Nouka »

To buy and sometimes to rent farm land you generally have to be a registered farmer, to become a registered farmer you quite often have to 'control' 1500 tsubo but some municipalities will waive that requirement and sign you up as a registered farmer. It's impossible to tell what the requirements are unless you contact each and every municipality you are interested in individually, this will also give you a chance to gauge how helpful the agricultural department for that city is and how keen they are to accept new farmers. There are rules that are supposed to apply nationally but each city interprets them in a way to suit itself.

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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by BK How »

Ok, but to contact the municipal seems to be a bit hard for me because I don't speak Japanese, and I don't think they speak English, do they? I checked some websites and those municipal provides only tel number, I was hoping they have email then I could have some way to translate it into Japanese.

Zasso, are you in Chiba prefecture? What's the requirements to be a registered farmer?

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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Last time I checked (and this was a couple of years ago) you need to 'control' 1500 and complete a three year course in agriculture, that is a nationwide requirement but each individual city seems to interpret that in a way that suits themselves. Some follow the national guidelines some don't, it can be quite confusing. We spent a long time visiting each city agricultural department in this part of Chiba to assess which places were helpful and interested in newcomers and which were not.

The other thing to bear in mind is that local (ie city) civil servants rotate departments around every three years and that can change the character of a department totally, you may get more helpful staff where previously they were not or you may get less helpful ones, so every year a few staff in each department will change. Several years ago half of the staff in our local agricultural department moved which meant that a wealth of experience just disappeared and the new staff took a long time to get acquainted with their new roles.

You may be able to find email addresses for each city (rather bizarrely email doesn't seem that popular a form of communication with many local council offices, they'd rather fax you somethig than email it, seems all a bit 20th century to me) but I would suggest actually talking to them in person as that is far easier to gauge how helpful they are going to be. Now I realise that isn't currently possible for you but you've got time to enrol in Japanese lessons and do some intensive self study so by the time you are ready you will be equipped to speak to them face to face.

Most of Nagano can be pretty cold during the winter with plenty of snow that may make farming there a challenge in the colder months. Prefectures around the Seto Inland Sea may offer more opportunities for year round farming.

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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by BK How »

Hmm...looks like I need to be more patient. I was actually planning to start farming asap, now the barrier is the agriculture experience and language. I wonder if I start to work with a farmer and also start farming on the new land, it could help to waive the 3 years agriculture course requirement :shock: .

Talk about the weather, I don't know much about Seto Inalnd but if I can I would prefer Okinawa, but that island seems to be expensive on their properties even it is far away from the main land. I also quite interested in Kumamoto as things are cheaper there.

Anyway, thanks for your explanation. I will need to get a new job first and study Japanese as much as I can. Hope I could visit your farm someday :D .

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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by Zasso Nouka »

BK How wrote:Hmm...looks like I need to be more patient. I was actually planning to start farming asap, now the barrier is the agriculture experience and language. I wonder if I start to work with a farmer and also start farming on the new land, it could help to waive the 3 years agriculture course requirement :shock: .
You really would need to contact the area you would like to move into and find out from them if that is the case. The last thing you want to do is spend several years working and then find out that was unacceptable. Areas that are currently undergoing significant depopulation are more likely to waive some of the requirements.
BK How wrote: I also quite interested in Kumamoto as things are cheaper there.
Southern Kyushu might be an area willing to expedite someone wishing to become a farmer. Bear in mind that you don't need to be a full on registered farmer to buy or rent land classed as '山林' (mountainous forest land), that doesn't have to be in the middle of nowhere or even on a mountain.
BK How wrote:I will need to get a new job first and study Japanese as much as I can. Hope I could visit your farm someday :D .
Good luck and study hard.

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gonbechan
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Re: Land zoning/classification

Post by gonbechan »

BK How, I am curious as to why you want to farm in Japan, where there are so many loopholes to jump through to even just buy land.

You would probably have to pay cash for the land, or have a permanent residence visa (or a Japanese spouse).

Japan also works pretty much on the senpai system, so even if you were able to farm without needing a farming license (by purchasing mountain/forest land) you would still need to cultivate mentors of a kind before you could find places to sell your produce.

I don't mean to discourage you but am just being nosey.

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