Forest acquisition by foreign capital has increased across Hokkaido. The Hokkaido Government confirmed that the total area of forests acquired by foreign capital until December 31, 2019 had risen to 2,946 ha. Of that total, Shiribeshi Subprefecture accounted for 54.7%. The acquisition was carried out mainly in the Niseko area, a well-known international resort. In recent years, however, foreign capital has also been invested in forests in Toyako Town, Furano City and other areas in Hokkaido.

The Hokkaido Government has announced the status of forest acquisition by foreign capital in Hokkaido every year since 2012. The cumulative total excludes forests that are no longer owned by foreign capital due to resale.

Looking at the changes in forest acquisition, a Singaporean company acquired a forest area of 221 ha in Akaigawa Village in 2016, pushing the total of forests acquired by foreign capital up to 509 ha for 2016. The annual total in Hokkaido decreased to 120 ha in 2017, but after that, it increased steadily. The year 2019 saw the second-largest total area of forest acquired by foreign capital in Hokkaido in a year, highlighting the growing popularity of investing in Hokkaido.

By region, the forest area acquired by foreign capital in Kutchan Town was 575 ha, making Kutchan the most popular area in Hokkaido for foreign capital acquisitions. The total area in Shiribeshi Subprefecture was 1,610 ha (including 289 ha in Niseko Town, 266 ha in Akaigawa Village and 151 ha in Kyowa Town). Most of the acquisition purposes were for asset holding.

An official of Niseko Town said, “I have not heard that there has been development of forests acquired for the purpose of holding assets in recent years. I do not know clearly what the forest acquisition is for.”

Meanwhile, acquisition in areas other than the Niseko area has also become noticeable in recent years. The number of municipalities where forests were acquired by foreign capital in 2014 was 19, most of which were in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, but this figure increased to 41 in 2019.

In Toyako Town, a Chinese company acquired 3 ha in 2016 for condominium construction, and a Taiwanese company acquired 0.6 ha in 2017 for hotel construction. The market has experienced an expansion in the volume of transactions as a Chinese individual acquired 3 ha in 2018, a Samoan corporation 93 ha in 2019 and an Australian corporation 12 ha for asset holding purposes.

In Kamikawa Subprefecture, a Thai corporation acquired 1 ha in Furano City in 2017 for the purpose of development, and a Hong Kong corporation purchased 0.4 ha in 2019. In Kamifurano Town, an individual in Singapore purchased 3 ha in 2019 for the purpose of asset holding. In recent years, there has been a steady trend for forest acquisition around Furano City.

In addition, Eniwa City, Kitahiroshima City and other suburbs of Sapporo experienced forest acquisition for the purpose of solar power generation since they are close to mass-consumption areas.

An official of the Hokkaido Government said, “I don’t know the exact reason, but these forests may have been bought as the second Niseko,” because Toyako Town and the Furano area are very popular among foreign tourists.

(Excerpt from an article on May 19, 2020)

日本語原文（The following is the original text written in Japanese.)

全道に広がる海外資本の森林取得　19年末までに2946ha

　海外資本による森林取得が全道に広がっている。道は2019年12月末までに2946㏊を確認。このうち後志管内が54・7％を占め、国際的にリゾート地として有名なニセコ地域を中心に取得が進んできた。しかし、近年は洞爺湖町や富良野市エリアでも相次ぎ、全道に展開し始めている。

　道は、海外資本による道内の森林取得状況を12年から毎年公表。累計は転売などで海外資本の所有でなくなったものを除き集計した。

　森林取得の推移を見ると、16年にはシンガポールの外資系企業が赤井川村で221㏊を買収し、全体では509㏊を記録した。17年には120㏊まで減少し、若干落ち着きを見せたものの、その後は右肩上がりに上昇。19年は公表開始以来、2番目に多く、依然として本道人気の高さがうかがえる。

　取得地別で見ると、倶知安町が最多の575㏊。このほか後志管内は、ニセコ町が289㏊、赤井川村が266㏊、共和町が151㏊などと管内全体では1610㏊だった。取得目的の大半は資産保有となっている。

　ニセコ町の担当者は「近年、資産保有の目的で取得された森林の開発があったとは聞いてない。何のために取得しているのか明確には把握できていない」と話す。

　一方、近年はニセコ地域以外での取得も目立つ。外国資本による取得が確認された地域は、14年は後志管内を中心とする19市町村だったが、19年には41市町村にまで増えた。

　特に洞爺湖町では、16年に中国の外資系企業がコンドミニアム建設を目的に3㏊、17年に台湾の外資系企業がホテル建設のため0・6㏊を取得。18年に中国の個人が3㏊、19年にサモアの法人が93㏊、オーストラリアの法人が12㏊を資産保有目的で取得するなど、売買の動きが活性化している。

　上川管内では、富良野市で17年にタイの法人が開発を目的に1㏊を買収し、19年には香港の法人が0・4㏊を購入。上富良野町でも19年にシンガポールの個人が資産保有目的で3㏊を買うなど、富良野市周辺での森林取得が相次いだ。

　このほか、恵庭市や北広島市など札幌近郊では大消費地が近いことから、太陽光発電を目的とした取得が多く見られるようになった。

　道の担当者は、外国人観光客から洞爺湖町や富良野エリアは人気が高いことから「明確な理由は把握していないが、第2のニセコとして買われている可能性があるのでは」との見方を示している。

(2020年5月19日付から抜粋)