"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 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.

best regards
hibijibi