BUYING & FINANCE
Property Registration in Japan: How the Registry Works and Who Pays for It
A Tokyo licensed real estate agent explains Japan's property registration system — what gets recorded, what it costs, and why it matters more than your…
On this page 7
TL;DR: Japan’s property registration system records ownership, mortgages, and encumbrances in a national registry managed by the Legal Affairs Bureau. Registration is not mandatory under law — but anyone who fails to register is legally vulnerable to losing ownership to a third party who registers first. In practice, you always register. The buyer pays the registration tax.
A colleague told me about a case from his early career: a property sold to two different buyers. The first buyer had a signed contract and a receipt for the full purchase price. The second buyer had a signed contract and a completed registration. The second buyer owned the property.
Not a hypothetical legal puzzle. That’s how Japanese property law works.
Registration priority — not contract date, not payment date — determines ownership when there’s a dispute. This is why the judicial scrivener files on settlement day. Same-day registration matters.
What is the property registration system?
Japan’s property registry is managed by the Legal Affairs Bureau, a branch of the Ministry of Justice. Every parcel of land and every building in Japan has its own registration record.
The registry is divided into three sections:
Title Section: Physical description of the property. For land: address, area, land category (farmland, residential, etc.). For buildings: address, structure, floor area by level, year of construction. This section is maintained by a land and house investigator, a different specialist from the judicial scrivener.
Ownership Section (Section A): All recorded ownership, including the current owner and full ownership history. If there’s a right of superficies or other use right, it appears here too.
Encumbrance Section (Section B): Mortgages, easements, leasehold rights, and any other encumbrances on the property. When you buy a property and pay off the seller’s mortgage at settlement, the judicial scrivener files a lien release registration here.
How do you actually read a registration extract?
The registration extract (the official printout of the registry record) can be obtained by anyone from the Legal Affairs Bureau or online (around ¥334 online; slightly more in person).
When reviewing one before purchase, check:
Owner section:
- Is the seller’s name exactly the registered owner? Any discrepancy must be resolved before contract.
- Any recorded ownership claims by third parties?
Encumbrance section:
- Are there active mortgages? These must be released at or before settlement.
- Are there any easements or rights registered that you weren’t told about?
- Any provisional registration? A placeholder reservation — can indicate a pending claim on the property.
Title section:
- Does the registered area match what the agent quoted you? Discrepancies are more common than people expect, especially in older properties.
- Is the building registration consistent with the physical structure? Additions built without registration are unregistered floor area — not illegal to own, but can complicate future transactions and renovations.
Who pays the registration tax?
The buyer. Specifically:
Ownership transfer registration: 2% of the government assessed value for property tax purposes. For most Tokyo properties, assessed value runs roughly 60–80% of market price, though this varies.
Mortgage registration: 0.4% of the loan amount. (Cash buyer, no mortgage registration needed.)
Seller’s lien release: Seller’s cost, typically minimal — around ¥1,000 per property.
There are reduced rates in some circumstances:
- Primary residence purchases can qualify for reduced rates (confirm current rates as these change)
- New builds have different calculation bases
The judicial scrivener calculates the precise amount and tells you before settlement. Confirm the number in writing a week before settlement day so there are no surprises.
What is a provisional registration and why does it matter?
A provisional registration is a placeholder in the registry — it records a pending claim on ownership or a conditional right. Common situations that generate one:
- A buyer has signed a contract but settlement hasn’t occurred yet
- A lender has a conditional security interest
- An inheritance is pending resolution
A provisional registration on a property you’re about to buy is a serious flag. It means someone else may have a claim that will take priority over yours if they convert to full registration before you do. A seller cannot give you clean title with an unresolved provisional registration on the property. Require its release before settlement.
What happens if you don’t register?
You own the property in a contractual sense — you have a valid purchase contract, you paid, the seller agreed. But Japanese law says that ownership cannot be asserted against a third party without registration.
Practically: if a seller fraudulently sells the same property to two buyers, the one who registers first wins. The unregistered buyer has a claim against the seller for damages — but they don’t own the property.
This is rare but not theoretical. Registration also protects against a seller’s creditors attaching the property after your purchase but before your registration. File same day.
Where this goes wrong
- Not verifying the registration extract directly. Your agent should pull this. But pull your own copy too — from the online service or the Bureau directly. The information is public and inexpensive to obtain. Don’t rely solely on what the seller or agent tells you.
- Unregistered additions. The seller says the property has 100 sqm; the registry shows 75 sqm. The extra 25 sqm was added without registration. This area exists physically but isn’t legally recorded — which affects financing, future sales, and sometimes planning compliance. Investigate before signing.
- Assuming assessed value equals market value. It doesn’t. Your registration tax is calculated on assessed value (favorable to you). Your purchase price is market value. Know which number is being used in each calculation.
- Not following up on the registration after settlement. The judicial scrivener files the day of settlement. The updated registration certificate comes back within days. Obtain it and keep it. It’s your legal proof of ownership.
- Confusing older and newer registration certificates. Older properties have a paper registration certificate. Newer registrations use a 12-digit one-time ownership identification code. The seller must deliver whichever applies. If they’ve lost it, there’s an alternative identity verification process — time-consuming, not impossible.
FAQ
Q: Can I look up the ownership of any property in Japan? A: Yes. The registry is public. Anyone can obtain a registration certificate for any property in Japan by providing the address or property ID at a Legal Affairs Bureau, or via the online portal. Ownership is not private in Japan.
Q: What if the registry shows a different owner from who I’m buying from? A: Do not proceed. Either the seller has a name discrepancy that needs to be resolved with a legal name-change registration, or something is seriously wrong. Stop, investigate, and consult a professional.
Q: Does registration prove the property is free of defects? A: No. Registration records ownership and legal rights — not physical condition. A registered property can have structural problems, asbestos, or illegal construction. Registration and physical condition are entirely separate matters.
Q: What is a provisional registration and how long can it stay on the registry? A: A provisional registration can remain on the registry indefinitely until the underlying condition is resolved or it’s cancelled by court order or agreement. No automatic expiry.
Q: Can foreigners be registered as owners in Japan? A: Yes, without restriction. The registry records name, address, and share of ownership. Foreigners appear on the registration the same way Japanese nationals do. There’s no nationality flag in the registry.
This is the final article in our buying process series. If you’ve read all eight, you now know more about Japanese property transactions than most foreign buyers who’ve already closed. The next series covers ownership structures — whether to buy personally, through a company, or through a trust — and what that choice means for taxes, financing, and your exit.
[OPERATOR NOTE — add your own first-hand detail here: a real deal, number, or scar.]