Inheriting forest land in Japan: the 90-day owner notification under the Forest Act

In short: if you inherit forest land (woodland) covered by a regional forest plan, you must notify the municipal mayor for the land's location within 90 days of becoming the owner (Article 10-7-2(1) of the Forest Act). Area does not matter. Failing to notify risks a non-penal fine (過料). Registration, valuation and sale are each assigned to a different professional.

Updated and sources checked: 13 October 2026. For heirs who have inherited woodland, this article organises the notification deadline, recipient, scope and the April 2026 form change. Forestry Agency and municipal guidance was retrieved, but the current consolidated statutes of the Forest Act and its regulation, the article number of the penalty, final amendment numbers and complete commencement histories were not obtained or reconciled and remain unverified. The competent municipality makes the individual scope determination and procedure.

When and where must you notify after inheriting woodland?

Article 10-7-2(1) of the Forest Act provides that a person who newly becomes the owner of forest land covered by a regional forest plan — through sale, inheritance, gift, corporate merger and so on — must notify the municipal mayor for the land's location, following the procedure set by Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ordinance. For inheritance, the deadline is within 90 days of becoming the owner. The size of the area does not matter.

If you have submitted a notification of a land sale contract under the National Land Use Planning Act, you are outside the scope of this Forest Act notification. But inheritance is not a sale, so where no National Land Use Planning Act notification has been made, the Forest Act notification is required as a rule.

Item	Content	Basis / source
Recipient	Municipal mayor for the land's location	Article 10-7-2(1), Forest Act
Deadline	Within 90 days of becoming the owner	Same paragraph; Forestry Agency guidance
Scope	Forest covered by a regional forest plan (any area)	Same paragraph
Exclusion	A person who filed under the National Land Use Planning Act	Same paragraph

This notification is a separate system from the notification to the agricultural committee when inheriting farmland (Article 3-3 of the Agricultural Land Act). Because the target land (forest or farmland), the governing law, and the recipient (municipal mayor or agricultural committee) differ, where you inherit both woodland and farmland, confirm which notification each requires.

Which forests require a notification? (how to check)

The notification applies to forests covered by the "regional forest plan" prepared by the prefecture. Not all woodland is covered, so you need to confirm whether the inherited land falls under a regional forest plan. The surest check is to contact the forestry section of the municipality where the land is located (or the prefectural forestry office), citing the parcel number. Some municipalities let you check via the forest register and forest-plan map.

Even if the registered land category is "woodland," it may be outside the scope, and conversely land with a different category may be covered if it is forest in actual condition. Do not judge by the land category alone; check with the authority. If it is outside the scope, this Forest Act notification is not required. The scope determination itself is made by the administration.

How do you notify when estate division is not settled?

Even if the estate-division agreement is not settled, the deadline does not wait. The Forestry Agency's guidance states that before division is settled, you notify within 90 days of the commencement of inheritance as co-owned property of the statutory heirs (co-ownership by all heirs). After that, when the estate division changes the shares — for example, a specific heir acquires the land — you notify again once the division is finalised (the operational details vary by municipality).

Situation	How to notify
Before division (co-ownership)	Notify within 90 days of commencement of inheritance as co-owned property of the statutory heirs
Shares changed after division	Notify again after the division is finalised

The notification form records the previous owner's details, the date you became the owner, the cause of transfer (inheritance), and the location and area of the land, and it is generally accompanied by a certificate of registered matters (a copy is acceptable) or a document showing the acquisition of rights, and a drawing showing the land's location (the position marked on a public map or residential map). Required documents differ by municipality, so confirm at the desk before filing. Inheritance registration (the change of title) is a separate procedure handled by a judicial scrivener.

What happens if you fail to notify? / What changes in April 2026?

Failing to notify, or making a false notification, risks a non-penal fine of up to 100,000 yen (Sendai City's guidance gives the basis as Article 213 of the Forest Act; we could not confirm the article number in the e-Gov consolidated text, so the article number remains unverified). The fine is an administrative monetary burden rather than a criminal penalty, but you should not miss the notification within the deadline.

In addition, from 1 April 2026 (Reiwa 8), the notification form is revised and items are added. The new item is the nationality etc. of the person who became the owner. For a corporation, the nationality etc. of the representative is recorded; where officers or a majority of voting rights are held by persons of the same country, that country's name is recorded; and a person residing abroad submits a domestic contact on a separate sheet. For inheritance notifications filed from April 2026, note that this new form applies.

Have a question about your situation?

Tell us about your residency, permit or administrative procedure enquiry.

Chat on LINEContact us

When	Change
On or after 1 April 2026 (Reiwa 8)	A nationality-etc. field is added to the form (representative's nationality for a corporation; a domestic contact on a separate sheet for overseas residents)

Who files the notification, and who handles registration, valuation and sale?

Who to engage	Scope
四葉行政書士事務所	Preparing the forest-land owner notification (assisting the applicant's own filing)
Judicial scrivener	Inheritance registration (change of title)
Tax accountant	Inheritance-tax valuation of woodland and standing timber; capital-gains filing
四葉不動産株式会社	Sale of woodland and wild land; preliminary checks on boundaries and actual condition; brokerage

四葉行政書士事務所, 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 and 四葉不動産株式会社 are each a separate, independent business. Registration is the domain of a judicial scrivener and tax of a tax accountant — different national-qualification professionals. You contract with each field's provider separately as an independent business, and each provider bills and receives payment directly. Our office receives no referral fee. The municipal forestry section is the administrative point of contact for the notification, not a party engaged under a professional-services contract.

See inheritance permit and procedure support, the engagement process, the fee schedule, and for the overall picture of inheritance the inheritance overview. The steps to sell inherited woodland or wild land are organised on the real-estate side in the flow for selling inherited woodland and wild land.

FAQ

Q. Do I need to notify even if the inherited woodland is small?
A. The size does not matter. If it is forest covered by a regional forest plan, you must notify the municipal mayor within 90 days of becoming the owner through inheritance (Article 10-7-2(1) of the Forest Act). Confirm whether it is covered with the municipal forestry section, citing the parcel number.

Q. If I complete the inheritance registration, do I still need the forest notification?
A. It is a separate procedure. Inheritance registration (the change of title at the Legal Affairs Bureau) is handled by a judicial scrivener and differs from the Forest Act owner notification (addressed to the municipal mayor) in both purpose and recipient. Even after registering, the Forest Act notification obligation arises separately.

Q. The 90 days may pass before the estate division is settled.
A. Even if division is not settled, the guidance is to notify within 90 days of the commencement of inheritance as co-owned property of the statutory heirs. After that, once the division decides the acquirer, you notify again. The operational details differ by municipality, so check with the desk.

Q. Is there a penalty for not notifying?
A. Failing to notify, or making a false notification, risks a non-penal fine of up to 100,000 yen (the basis is Article 213 of the Forest Act per Sendai City's guidance; the article number is unverified). Do not miss the notification within the deadline.

Sources (Primary Information)

• Forestry Agency: the forest-land owner notification system: the duty-holder, the municipal mayor as recipient, within 90 days, the regional-forest-plan scope, the exclusion of National Land Use Planning Act filers, and the form revision on or after 1 April 2026 (nationality etc.) (referenced 2026-10-13).
• Article 10-7-2(1) of the Forest Act (notification of becoming the owner of forest land). e-Gov: Forest Act. The current consolidated text, the penalty article number and commencement history were not obtained (unverified).
• Sendai City: the forest-land owner notification system: notification by those who acquire through inheritance, gift, etc.; before division is settled, notify within 90 days of commencement of inheritance as co-owned property of the statutory heirs; a non-penal fine of up to 100,000 yen (cited as Article 213 of the Forest Act); the nationality-etc. entry from April 2026; attachments (certificate of registered matters, location drawing) (referenced 2026-10-13).
• Forest Act enforcement regulation (notification form). Confirm the new form on or after 1 April 2026 in the latest guidance of the Forestry Agency and each municipality.

Updated and retrieved 2026-10-13. The deadline, recipient, scope and form change are limited to what the public guidance confirms. The penalty article number (Article 213) is as stated in Sendai City's guidance; it could not be confirmed in the e-Gov consolidated text and remains unverified. Publication is held pending qualified review.

This is general information and does not guarantee whether an individual notification obligation exists, the determination of covered forest, or whether a fine applies. Inheritance registration is by a judicial scrivener, inheritance-tax and capital-gains judgements by a tax accountant, and legal disputes by an attorney. The final decision on the notification obligation and procedure is made by the competent municipality. Written by Joji Uramatsu, administrative scrivener and licensed real-estate transaction specialist.