Japan cracks down on bad-faith buyers as temple, shrine sales surge

SANBAGAWA, Japan — 

Benmou Suzuki's dilapidated 420-year-old temple, located heavy successful the wood adjacent a tiny Japanese upland village, hardly looks similar prized existent estate.

Yet the monk was precocious approached by 2 men, who said they were existent property brokers and wanted to cognize if helium was funny successful selling.

He suspects they weren't truly funny successful the ornate gathering astatine the trailhead of a ineffable mountain, but the peculiar taxation presumption that comes with moving a spiritual property.

"There are radical retired determination who privation a temple, adjacent a upland temple similar this. In fact, considering the worth of the spiritual corp status, this temple could fetch rather a batch of money," said 52-year-old Suzuki.

As Japan's colonisation falls and involvement successful religion declines, determination are less radical to lend to the upkeep of the country's galore temples and shrines. Suzuki's Mikaboyama temple, for example, is located successful Sanbagawa -- an country a three-hour thrust from Tokyo with lone 500 residents and which besides has 3 different Buddhist temples, 1 Shinto shrine and a church.

A surge successful spiritual properties coming up for merchantability has Japanese authorities disquieted that prospective buyers are not funny successful them for heavenly purposes. Rather they fearfulness galore are retired to dodge taxes oregon perchance adjacent launder money.

"It's already a consciousness of situation for america and the spiritual community," said an authoritative astatine Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, which oversees spiritual sites.

Cases of temple oregon shrine properties being extensively repurposed person triggered nationalist outrage. In Osaka, a temple sold successful 2020 was aboriginal razed and dozens of graves were relocated to marque mode for a spot development. In Kyoto, a lawsuit astir a temple that was demolished and turned into a parking batch made headlines this year.

Owning a temple, shrine oregon religion recognized arsenic a spiritual corp successful Japan tin confer sizeable taxation benefits. Businesses nether specified corporations that connection spiritual services specified arsenic funerals bash not person to wage taxes portion different non-religious businesses besides bask preferential taxation rates. A wide scope of undertakings are allowed from restaurants to hairsbreadth salons to hotels.

Japan had astir 180,000 spiritual sites with corp presumption arsenic end-2023, according to the agency's data. The fig of alleged inactive corporations -- specified arsenic those with nary spiritual events for much than a twelvemonth -- jumped by a 3rd to much than 4,400.

When monks oregon priests dice without a successor, the overseeing spiritual radical volition usually name idiosyncratic to instrumentality implicit oregon voluntarily relinquish the site's corp status.

However, determination are astir 7,000 spiritual sites that run independently of these groups and are considered casual to acquire, according to the bureau and specializer brokers.

The taste affairs bureau said it has stepped up efforts to dissolve the corp presumption of inactive spiritual sites to halt them from being targeted by dubious buyers.

And erstwhile large earthquakes hit, often damaging temples and shrines, bureau officials sojourn spiritual groups successful those areas, informing them astir falling prey to specified buyers.

Last year, 17 spiritual corporations were voluntarily dissolved and six were ordered to dissolve. The bureau said the fig would summation this twelvemonth and adjacent twelvemonth arsenic it ratchets up scrutiny.

It mightiness look easier for Japan to alteration its laws to much strictly power the criteria for purchasing spiritual sites. But the bureau said the authorities is wary astir amending laws related to religion arsenic that could beryllium seen arsenic impinging connected spiritual state which is guaranteed by Japan's constitution.

Reuters checks of six websites specializing successful brokering the merchantability of spiritual properties showed hundreds connected the market. Most are lone obliquely described online with brokers saying sellers similar to behaviour income arsenic privately arsenic possible.

Osaka-based broker Takao Yamamoto told Reuters involvement is surging. A spiritual corp licence unsocial tin fetch 30 cardinal yen ($210,000), helium adds. Some spiritual sites, particularly those with profitable graveyards, are advertised for millions of dollars.

"Anyone tin bargain autarkic sites arsenic agelong arsenic you person money...even foreigners tin bargain them. Recently, a batch of Chinese radical are trying to bargain them," Yamamoto said.

For his part, Suzuki says helium has nary volition to merchantability Mikaboyama temple and is moving connected ideas to rise funds to support it. "Temples are places for section radical to stitchery and forge connections. We conscionable can't get escaped of them," helium said.