Japan · Edition 005Friday, 30 October 2026
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The $500 Ladder

Primary sources. Published arithmetic. No courses.

$500 idea · Edition 005 · pattern break · Japan · Edition 005

Japan prices unwanted land at ¥214,000 a parcel and unlicensed firms charge ¥50,000.

相続土地国庫帰属法第５条第２項 reads 「前項の承認は、土地の一筆ごとに行うものとする。」 [the approval under the preceding paragraph is made parcel by parcel], and the ¥200,000 負担金 of 施行令第５条第１項第４号 attaches to each one, on top of a ¥14,000 審査手数料 the state keeps whatever it decides. The Ministry of Land surveyed the private market in October 2024 and counted 59 firms that will take the same land for a fee of 「約15万円/筆」 and 「2筆目以降5万円」. Nineteen of the 59 — 32.2% — hold no 宅建業 licence, because the Ministry’s own note says 「宅建業法等による規制が及ばない場合も多いと想定される」.

Jump to the ladder

The $500 Ladder — Japan Friday, 30 October 2026 Edition 005 16 sources
Context

Millions of Japanese households have inherited small plots of land in places nobody is moving to — a strip of mountainside, a field behind a village, a patch of a 1970s holiday-home scheme. The land earns nothing, cannot easily be sold, and still has to be registered to a living owner. In 2023 the state opened a counter where an heir can hand such land over, and it set a published price for doing so. This edition reads that price against what private firms charge to perform the same service, and asks which side of that trade a person with $500 should be standing on.

The consensus reading of the 2023 law is that Japan finally built an exit for worthless land. The 法務省’s own return, dated 30 September 2026, says something stranger. Of 6,125 applications filed in three and a half years, 86 were rejected and 103 refused approval — 189 in total. But 1,162 were withdrawn, and the ministry breaks down why: 595 because 「有効活用の見込みが生じた」 [a prospect of putting it to use arose], 415 because the applicant learned they would be rejected anyway, 152 other. A use for the land was found 3.15× more often than the state said no. The commonest discovery made at this counter is that the land was never worthless.

What the counter actually sells is not an exit. It is a published reservation price. Any heir who has read the schedule knows that being rid of one scattered parcel costs ¥214,000 and eight months — the 法務省 sets the 標準処理期間 at 「８か月」 — and that the ¥14,000 is gone either way: 「返還されません。」 on withdrawal and on refusal alike. That is the number every private counterparty is quoted against, and it was the state that published it.

The mechanism is the unit. The statute prices per 一筆; the only relief, 施行令第６条, lets an applicant ask that 「隣接する二筆以上」 of the same category be treated as one — so two parcels that adjoin cost ¥228,000 together, while two that do not cost ¥428,000. The private tariff is the opposite shape: one price for the job, ¥50,000 for each extra parcel inside it. Those two lines cross at 2.78 parcels. Below three adjoining parcels the market is cheaper; above it the state is — but only if they adjoin. Scattered, which is what an estate assembled by a 1970s 原野商法 scheme actually looks like, ten parcels cost ¥2,140,000 at the state counter and ¥600,000 at the private one. The spread is ¥1,540,000, and it is entirely an artefact of how the statute counts.

Who is on the other side? For now, 59 firms, half of them in Tokyo, one of which took roughly 700 properties across 2023–24 and resold about 250. They incorporated a trade body — the 不動産有料引取業協議会, 代表理事 小林弘典 of 株式会社KLC — and published a guideline in March 2026, which is what an industry does when it can see regulation coming. The clock behind all of it is 不動産登記法第７６条の２: every pre-2024 unregistered inheritance in Japan must be registered by 31 March 2027 or the heir faces a ¥100,000 過料. That is five months away, and it ends with several hundred thousand people newly, formally and unavoidably the owner of something they do not want.

The one-line contrast with the country this page is not about: in the United States an unwanted parcel is simply abandoned into tax foreclosure, so no agency ever publishes what it costs to be rid of it.

cost of being rid of N parcels, yen state: 14,000 fee + 200,000 burden / market: 150,000 + 50,000 each further 0 500k 1.0m 1.5m 2.0m 1 3 5 7 9 parcels in the estate state, scattered 2,140,000 market 600,000 state, adjoining 340,000 cross at 2.78 parcels state cheaper only above it, and only if they adjoin At ten scattered parcels the gap is 2,140,000 - 600,000 = 1,540,000 yen. 787,700 yen a month, the $5,000 target, is 1.3 jobs at that one spread.
Three posted prices, all computed from documents. The state’s scattered line is 214,000N, because 第５条第２項 grants approval 「一筆ごと」 and 施行令第３条 charges ¥14,000 for each 筆 asked about. The adjoining line is 14,000N + 200,000, the single 負担金 left after 施行令第６条 combines parcels of one category. The market line is 150,000 + 50,000(N−1), the tariff 国土交通省 recorded in its October 2024 operator survey. Setting 14,000N + 200,000 = 100,000 + 50,000N gives N = 100,000 ÷ 36,000 = 2.78, so the state undercuts the market from the third adjoining parcel — and never for scattered land, where the gap widens by ¥164,000 with every parcel added. The variable the reader controls is not the price of land. It is how many parcels arrive in one conversation.

The evidence

9 findings
Statute相続等により取得した土地所有権の国庫への帰属に関する法律令和３年法律第25号 · 第５条第２項、第10条第１項

The statute prices the parcel, not the estate — 一筆ごと

第５条第２項, in nine words: 「前項の承認は、土地の一筆ごとに行うものとする。」 [the approval under the preceding paragraph is made parcel by parcel]. 第10条第１項 then attaches the charge to each approval: 「国有地の種目ごとにその管理に要する十年分の標準的な費用の額を考慮して政令で定めるところにより算定した額の金銭」. Ten years of notional management cost, per parcel, whatever the parcel is worth.

Regulation同法施行令 · 令和４年政令第316号第３条、第５条第１項第４号、第６条

¥14,000 to ask, ¥200,000 to complete, and one escape clause

第３条: 「法第三条第二項の規定により納付すべき手数料の額は、承認申請に係る土地の一筆ごとに一万四千円とする。」 第５条第１項第４号 sets 「二十万円」 for 「前三号に掲げる土地以外の土地」. 第６条 is the only relief: an applicant may ask that 「隣接する二筆以上」 be treated as one, and only where all of them fall in 「同一のもの」 category. Non-adjoining parcels pay again. Farmland inside a 農用地区域 is worse: 1,000m² costs 1,000×810 + 318,000 = ¥1,128,000.

Regulator filing法務省 · 相続土地国庫帰属制度の統計（速報値）令和８年９月30日現在

595 found a use for the land, against 189 the state refused

6,125 申請件数; 3,231 帰属件数 (52.8%); 86 却下 and 103 不承認. The large number is 取下げ件数 at 1,162 — 19.0% of everything filed — and the ministry publishes the reasons: 「有効活用の見込みが生じた」 595, 「却下・不承認であることが判明した」 415, その他 152. The top 却下 ground is not the land at all: 添付書類の提出がなかった (37), ahead of 境界が明らかでない土地 (23).

Regulator filing国土交通省 不動産・建設経済局不動産業課『不動産取引に係る新たなサービス形態について』 · 令和７年２月

59 firms, 19 of them with no property licence

The ministry’s operator survey, 「調査時点：令和６年10月」: 「事業者数：59社（うち宅建業者38社）」, with 宅建免許 「無 19 32.2%」, 「有 38 64.4%」, 「不明 2 3.4%」; of the 38, 知事免許 32 and 大臣免許 6; 「本社所在地は東京が最多（約５割）」. The tariff it recorded: 「土地：約15万円/筆」, 「2筆目以降5万円」, 「建物：約70万円〜」, and a whole-job range of 「約50〜500万円」. One operator: 「令和５～６年：約700件」 taken, about 250 resold.

Regulator filing同資料 · 「不動産の「引取サービス」について」社会資本整備審議会 不動産部会

The ministry says in writing that its own licensing rules do not reach this

「宅建業法等による規制が及ばない場合も多いと想定されることから、以下のような点が課題とならないか、注視していく必要があるのではないか。」 It also records the limit of its complaint: 「通常の売買と同様に、所有権移転と金銭授受が円滑に行われる限りにおいて、特段の問題はない。」 The three 留意点 it asks consumers to check are registration before payment, comparison against a normal sale, and the acquirer’s management plan after transfer.

Regulator filing法務省 · 相続登記の申請義務化、制度Ｑ＆Ａ

The deadline that manufactures the sellers: 31 March 2027

不動産登記法第７６条の２第１項 gives an heir three years from knowledge; 第164条第１項 makes failure 「１０万円以下の過料の適用対象」. For inheritances already open on 1 April 2024 the transitional deadline is 「令和９年３月３１日まで」 — five months from this edition. On the state’s side of the counter the clock runs the other way: 「標準処理期間は８か月」, the ¥14,000 is 「返還されません。」 on withdrawal and on refusal, and only 弁護士、司法書士、行政書士 may draw the papers.

Live listing不動産有料引取業協議会 · さくらエステート公開事例代表理事 小林弘典（株式会社KLC） · read 30 Oct 2026

The posted line item is ¥500,000 引受料, four times out of five

The trade body incorporated as a 一般社団法人 in December 2025 and published 『不動産有料引取業ガイドライン』 in March 2026; its officers are drawn from 株式会社KLC, 株式会社EINZ, LandIssues株式会社 and 株式会社Albalink. One member publishes five worked cases: totals ¥750,000 (原野商法 parcels in Hyogo and Okayama), ¥850,000 (a 共有持分), ¥950,000 (unsurveyed 山林), ¥1,100,000 (a 30-year 別荘地), ¥1,500,000 (再建築不可 with an old house). In four of the five the 引受料 line is exactly ¥500,000; the rest is survey, rights work and demolition.

Regulation総務省（固定資産税・不動産取得税）・国税庁（登録免許税）令和８年４月１日現在法令等

Below the 免税点 the inventory is free to hold — ¥300,000 and ¥160,000

固定資産税: 「標準税率1.4％」, 免税点 「土地：30万円」. 不動産取得税: 「標準税率本則4％」, cut to 「住宅及び土地3％　（R9.3.31まで）」, 免税点 「土地：16万円」. 登録免許税 on a land transfer: 売買 「1,000分の20」, reduced to 「1,000分の15」 and extended three years — 「適用期限が令和11年３月31日まで３年延長されました」 by the 令和８年度 reform; 贈与 stays at 「1,000分の20」.

Derivedarithmetic shownrate: ¥157.54/USD

The spread is ¥164,000 a parcel, and the target is 32 jobs a year

Currency: $500 × 157.54 = ¥78,770; $5,000 × 157.54 = ¥787,700 a month, ×12 = ¥9,452,400. The three lines: scattered 214,000N; adjoining 14,000N + 200,000; market 150,000 + 50,000(N−1). Crossing: 14,000N + 200,000 = 100,000 + 50,000N → N = 100,000 ÷ 36,000 = 2.78. At N=10: 2,140,000 / 340,000 / 600,000, so the scattered-to-market gap is ¥1,540,000, growing ¥164,000 per added parcel (214,000 − 50,000). The state’s record: 595 ÷ 189 = 3.15×; 1,162 ÷ 6,125 = 19.0%; 3,231 ÷ 6,125 = 52.8%; fees kept where no land moved, (1,162 + 189) × 14,000 = ¥18,914,000. Unit cost of an acquisition at a ¥150,000 評価額: 登録免許税 150,000 × 1.5% = ¥2,200 after the ¥100 rounding; 不動産取得税 ¥0 (below ¥160,000); 固定資産税 ¥0 a year (below ¥300,000); with ¥55,000 of certificates, travel and a mowing reserve, ¥57,200 a job. At the ¥500,000 引受料, 24 jobs a year is ¥12,000,000 of revenue, ¥10,627,200 of profit, ¥2,977,648 of Japanese tax and ¥637,463 a month net — $4,046, short of the target. Closing it takes 32 jobs, not a higher price. Capital check: 78,770 ÷ 57,200 = 1.38 jobs funded before the first fee lands, and 78,770 ÷ 214,000 = 0.37 of what one trip through the state counter costs.

The ladder

From $500 to $5,000 a month · ¥78,980 → ¥789,800

¥14,000 to ask and ¥200,000 to complete is the only officially published number for what it costs a Japanese owner to stop owning something. Every conversation in this business is held against it, and the state did the work of making it common knowledge.

  1. Read the counter as a price list, not as an exit

    ¥14,000 to ask and ¥200,000 to complete is the only officially published number for what it costs a Japanese owner to stop owning something. Every conversation in this business is held against it, and the state did the work of making it common knowledge.

    ¥14,000 + ¥200,000 = ¥214,000 per scattered 筆

  2. Sell the unit, because the statute cannot

    第５条第２項 makes approval parcel-by-parcel and 施行令第６条 relieves it only for adjoining parcels of one category. You can price per conversation. The state cannot, and will not be able to without amending both.

    214,000 − 50,000 = ¥164,000 gained per extra parcel

  3. Go where the parcels are scattered

    An estate assembled from a 1970s 原野商法 scheme is the shape this trade was built for: several small parcels, different 市町村, no boundaries, no buyer. Adjoining farmland in one 農用地区域 is the shape to decline, because the state undercuts you from the third parcel.

    N ≥ 3 and adjoining → send them to the 法務局

  4. Compete on the clock, not on the fee

    標準処理期間 is eight months, the ¥14,000 is not refunded on withdrawal or refusal, and 415 applicants have already paid it only to learn they would fail. A transfer that completes in weeks is a different product, not a cheaper one.

    8 months · ¥18,914,000 of fees kept on 1,351 non-transfers

  5. Stay on the side of the licence line that the ministry drew

    Nineteen of the 59 surveyed firms hold no 宅建業 licence, and the ministry’s note explains why: being paid to receive property is not brokerage. Reselling it is. The operator that took 700 and resold 250 is doing two businesses, and only one of them is licence-free.

    250 ÷ 700 = 35.7% resold · that part needs the licence

  6. Let the 免税点 carry the inventory

    Land assessed under ¥300,000 pays no 固定資産税 and land under ¥160,000 pays no 不動産取得税. In the band this trade operates in, holding is free by statute and the only real cost of an acquisition is the 登録免許税 and the drive there.

    ¥2,200 + ¥0 + ¥0 · carry ¥0/yr

  7. Work the five months to 31 March 2027

    Every pre-2024 inheritance must be registered by then or the heir faces ¥100,000. Registration does not solve the problem; it names the person who has it. That is a dated, statutory, nationwide list of people about to discover they own something they do not want.

    第７６条の２ · 第164条第１項 · 令和９年３月３１日

  8. Count jobs, not yen

    At the ¥500,000 引受料 the member firms post, after Japanese income tax, residence tax and 個人事業税, two jobs a month is $4,046 and not enough. The answer is not a higher fee. It is eight more jobs a year, which is the same thing as one more conversation a month.

    32 jobs × ¥500,000 → ¥788,932/mo · $5,008

Interested in the actual playbook?

Sources

16 primary documents
  1. e-Gov 法令検索 — 相続等により取得した土地所有権の国庫への帰属に関する法律（令和3年法律第25号）, 第2条第3項・第3条第2項・第5条第1項第2項・第10条第1項 — read 30 Oct 2026
  2. e-Gov 法令検索 — 同法施行令（令和4年政令第316号）, 第3条・第5条第1項・第6条 — read 30 Oct 2026
  3. 法務省 — 相続土地国庫帰属制度の統計（速報値） — 令和8年9月30日現在; read 30 Oct 2026
  4. 法務省 — 相続土地国庫帰属制度に関するQ&A（標準処理期間8か月、手数料不返還、3士業） — read 30 Oct 2026
  5. 法務省 — 相続土地国庫帰属制度の概要（審査手数料14,000円） — read 30 Oct 2026
  6. 国土交通省 不動産業課 — 不動産取引に係る新たなサービス形態について（資料2、令和7年2月）: 事業者数59社、宅建免許無19社、土地約15万円/筆・2筆目以降5万円、引取料約50〜500万円、宅建業法等による規制が及ばない場合も多いと想定 — read 30 Oct 2026
  7. e-Gov 法令検索 — 宅地建物取引業法 第2条第2号・第3条第1項・第12条第1項 — read 30 Oct 2026
  8. 国土交通省 — 宅地建物取引業法の解釈・運用の考え方（令和8年4月1日施行版） — read 30 Oct 2026
  9. 法務省 — 相続登記の申請義務化について（不動産登記法第76条の2、第164条第1項、令和9年3月31日） — read 30 Oct 2026
  10. 総務省 — 固定資産税の概要（標準税率1.4%、免税点 土地30万円） — read 30 Oct 2026
  11. 総務省 — 不動産取得税（住宅及び土地3%、免税点 土地16万円） — read 30 Oct 2026
  12. 国税庁 — No.7191 登録免許税の税額表（令和8年4月1日現在法令等） — read 30 Oct 2026
  13. 国税庁 — 登録免許税の税率の軽減措置に関するお知らせ（令和11年3月31日まで3年延長） — read 30 Oct 2026
  14. 不動産有料引取業協議会 — 一般社団法人化、代表理事 小林弘典（株式会社KLC）、ガイドライン2026年3月改訂 — read 30 Oct 2026
  15. さくらエステート — 不動産引き取り事例・実績（引受料50万円ほか、5件） — page dated 25 Jan 2026; read 30 Oct 2026
  16. トレーダーズ・ウェブ／Yahoo!ファイナンス — ドル円仲値 157.54円 三菱UFJ銀行 — 30 Oct 2026, 09:58 JST

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