Hibijibi wrote:
> "John W." wrote ...
> > A few years ago I would have said it's crazy to buy land in Japan,
but
> > it all depends on the location I suppose. Does Japan offer tax
breaks
> > to farmers?
>
> All kinds of weird subsidies and breaks I believe, but somehow I
don't see a
> lot of young folks out in the fields.
>
I know quite a few 'farmers' in the US and do little work the fields.
Usually they let others use the land; where I live it's either let the
field get cut for hay or pasture land.

> > I know several 'farmers' in the US that benefit from some
> > IRS breaks, though I'm not sure of the specifics. But if so that'd
be a
> > good reason to buy land and then either lease it out to farmers or
> > plant some apple trees and call it a farm.
>
> We looked at that.  It probably depends by area, but my understanding
is you
> don't need a working farm in order to be a farmer, but you do need
something
> like 1200-1500 tsubo to qualify.
>
I'm not sure if the US has changed the policy, but I reckon one reason
some folks get a massive SUV is that it's technically a farm vehicle.
Or something like that. Of course in Japan the typical farm vehicle is
a tiny white truck that goes 40km/hr and comes with a little old man to
drive it.

John W.