If you are buying land or a house and land in Japan, it is essential to understand how land sizes are measured and represented on contract documents.
Measured size vs. registered size
Each parcel of land has a size that is registered on the land title. This size is decided by the Legal Affairs Bureau and may vary from the actual size of the land for various reasons, primarily due to outdated survey methods used in the past.
It is possible for the seller to hire a surveyor to measure the actual size of the land. However, many may choose not to due to the cost involved.
Quite often the surveyed size will be different to the registered size, although there is no general rule as to how much they differ. A property owner may apply to update the land register to show the true size of the land, but permission from adjoining landowners will be required since their land registers must also be updated. This can be extremely difficult, as neighbours would not consent if it would result in their registered land size being reduced. Many do not bother to go through with this process.
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