Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 3, 1901

Mr. Buck to Mr. Hay.

United States Legation,
Tokyo, October 2, 1901.

No. 587.]

Sir: I have the honor to inform you that an imperial ordinance regulating matters relating to rights of perpetual lease was promulgated on the 21st of last month.

This ordinance was referred to in dispatch No. 550, of April 1, as likely soon to appear, supplementary to the new law, a translation of which accompanied that dispatch; but the issuance of the ordinance and regulations was delayed by a change of cabinet.

It will be observed that there is no pronouncement in the ordinance or regulations respecting the tax on buildings erected upon property held under leases in perpetuity; and it is supposed that the Japanese Government will continue to hold that the matter of such tax is not covered by treaty stipulations, and will continue to adhere to the law and regulations under which that tax is to be levied, notwithstanding the opposition made by Great Britain, Germany, and France.

I have, etc.,

A. E. Buck.

[Inclosure.]

imperial ordinance.

We hereby sanction the regulations relating to rights of perpetual lease and order the same to be promulgated.

[Imperial sign manual, great seal.]

September 20, thirty-fourth year of Meiji.

Countersigned:

Baron Utsumi Tadakatsu,
Minister of State for Home Affairs.

Kiyoura Keigo,
Minister of State for Justice.

Sone Arasuke,
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

imperial ordinance no. 178.

Article 1. When an application for entry in the title deed of a transfer or transmission of a right of perpetual lease or any notice relating to a right of perpetual lease has been received at the local government office within whose jurisdiction the land leased in perpetuity is situated, notice thereof shall be given without delay to the registry office having jurisdiction over the locality in which the land is situated.

In giving notice (to the registry office) of a transfer or transmission of a perpetual lease a copy of the title deed shall be sent together with the notice; but when notice to be given relates to a right of perpetual lease in respect of which notice has already been given, it is not necessary that a copy of the title deed should accompany the notice. In this case the designation of the land leased in perpetuity, the names, nationalities, and domicile of the parties concerned, the cause of the transfer or transmission of the right, and its date should be given in the notice.

Article 2. For the land leased in perpetuity and the buildings erected thereon special registry books shall be opened and kept at the respective registry offices.

Article 3. The registry books shall be of two kinds, one for land leased in perpetuity and the other for buildings erected on land leased in perpetuity.

Article 4. Each folio of the registry book for land leased in perpetuity shall be divided into a registry number column, a caption space, and five sections, marked A, B, C, D, E. The caption space shall contain a designation column and a designation number column. Each of the five sections shall contain a fact column and a rank number column.

In the registry number column shall be entered the order in which each piece of land leased in perpetuity has first been registered in the registry book.

In the designation column, land leased in perpetuity shall be designated, and alterations of the same shall be entered. In the designation number column shall be entered the order in which a matter registered in the designation column has been entered.

In the fact column of section A shall be entered matters relating to a right of perpetual lease.

In the fact column of section B shall be entered matters relating to superficies, emphyteusis, and other rights having these rights as their object.

In the fact column of section shall be entered matters relating to servitudes.

In the fact column of section D shall be entered matters relating to preferential rights, pledges, and mortgages.

In the fact column of section E shall be entered matters relating to leases.

In the rank number column shall be entered the order in which a matter registered in the fact column has been entered.

Article 5. Each folio of the registry book for buildings erected on land leased in perpetuity shall be divided into a registry number column, a caption space, and four sections marked A, B, C, D. The caption space shall contain a designation column and a designation number column. Each of the four sections shall contain a fact column and a rank number column.

In the registry number column shall be entered the order in which a building has first been registered in the registry book.

In the designation column the building and accessory building shall be designated, and alterations of the same shall be entered. In the designation number column shall be entered the order in which a matter registered in the designation column has been entered.

In the fact column of section A shall be entered matters relating to ownership.

In the fact column of section B shall be entered matters relating to servitudes.

In the fact column of section C shall be entered matters relating to preferential rights, pledges, and mortgages.

In the fact column of section D shall be entered matters relating to leases.

In the rank number column shall be entered the order in which a matter registered in the fact column has been entered.

Article 6. When an application is made for the registration of a right having as its object a right of perpetual lease which has not been registered, the application must be accompanied by documents proving the right of perpetual lease.

Article 7. When a registry office has received a notice of the transfer or transmission of a right of perpetual lease, registration of such transfer or transmission shall be made ex officio by the registry office, whether such right of perpetual lease has already been registered or has remained unregistered.

When, in case a registry office is notified of a receipt at the local Government office of a notice relating to a right of perpetual lease, the notice is of such a character as to necessitate alteration in the register, such alteration shall be registered ex officio.

When an application is made for the registration of a subsidiary right having as its object an unregistered right of perpetual lease, the right of perpetual lease itself must be registered ex officio.

Article 8. Registration made at a foreign consulate in respect of land leased in perpetuity or buildings erected thereon before the date fixed in the imperial ordinance No. 251 of the thirty-second year of Meiji, shall have the same value as registration made under this ordinance, in so far as the registry book or copy thereof has been delivered by the foreign consulate to the registry office.

Article 9. In case registration is to be made after the operation of this ordinance in respect to an immovable which has been registered in accordance with imperial ordinance No. 329 of the thirty-second year of Meiji, the registration made in the old registry book shall be transferred to the registry book kept under this ordinance in the following manner:

In the registration-number column of the folio of the new registry book shall be entered a new number following the order in which registrations are being made in the same registry book, and the registration number appearing in the old registry book shall be entered on the left side of the new number. In the designation column of the new registry book shall be entered the designation of the immovable appearing in the old registry book, and registration made in the old registry book shall be transferred to the rank-number column and fact column of the corresponding section in the new registry book. The folio of the registry book from which registration has thus been transferred shall then be closed.

The provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall be correspondingly applicable to cases where registration is to be made after the operation of this ordinance in respect to an immovable which has been registered at a foreign consulate.

Article 10. In making registration in accordance with the provisions of the preceding article aright of perpetual lease shall be entered as a right of perpetual lease, even though it has been registered under a different name.

Article 11. If in registering a subsidiary right having as its object either a right of perpetual lease or the ownership of buildings erected on a piece of land leased in perpetuity, the right to be registered does not correspond to the provisions of articles 4 or 5, it shall be registered in that section of the folio of the registry book in which rights most similar to it are to be registered.

Article 12. In respect to matters not provided for in this ordinance the provisions of the law of registration of immovables shall apply correspondingly.

supplementary regulations.

Article 13. This ordinance shall take effect from the day of its promulgation.

Article 14. Imperial ordinance No. 329 of the thirty-second year of Meiji (1899) is hereby repealed.

imperial ordinance.

We hereby sanction the regulations relating to cases of acquisition by Japanese subjects or Japanese juridical persons of rights of perpetual lease created in favor of foreigners or foreign juridical persons by title deeds of perpetual lease issued by the Government, and order the same to be promulgated.

[Imperial Sign Manual, Great Seal.]

September 20, thirty-fourth year of Meiji.

Baron Utsumi Tadakatsu,
Minister of State for Home Affairs.

Kiyoura Keigo,
Minister of State for Justice.

Sone Arasuke,
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

imperial ordinance no. 179.

Article 1. When a Japanese subject or a Japanese juridical person has acquired a right of perpetual lease created in favor of a foreigner or foreign juridical person by a title deed of perpetual lease issued by the Government, the acquirer shall without delay present the title deed of perpetual lease to the local Government office within whose jurisdiction the land is situated and ask for cancellation of the title deed.

A Japanese subject or a Japanese juridical person for whom the title deed of perpetual lease has been canceled in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall acquire the ownership of the land concerned.

Article 2. When a title deed of perpetual lease has been canceled for a Japanese subject or a Japanese juridical person, in accordance with the first paragraph of the preceding article, the local Government office shall notify the fact to the registry office within whose jurisdiction the land is situated.

Article 3. If, in the case provided for in article 1, there should be a third party having aright which has as its object a right of perpetual lease, that right of the third party shall continue to exist as a right having as its object the ownership of the land.

supplementary regulations.

Article 4. This ordinance shall take effect from the day of its promulgation.

Article 5. Imperial ordinance No. 333 of the thirty-second year of Meiji (1899) is hereby repealed.

Article 6. A right of perpetual lease created in favor of a foreigner or foreign juridical person by a title deed of perpetual lease issued by the Government, which has been acquired by a Japanese juridical person before the operation of this ordinance, shall continue to exist as a right of perpetual lease except in cases where the right of ownership has been registered in respect of the land in question. This, however, shall not prevent the acquisition of ownership in accordance with article 1.

departmental ordinance no. 15 of the department of justice.

The undersigned minister of state for justice prescribes the following procedure in regard to the registration of land leased in perpetuity and of buildings erected thereon.

Kiyoura Keigo,
Minister of Slate for Justice.

September 21, thirty-fourth year of Meiji.

Article 1. In regard to the registration of land leased in perpetuity or of buildings erected thereon, the provisions of the regulations for the enforcement of the law of registration of immovables shall correspondingly apply, unless otherwise provided for in this ordinance.

Article 2. Registry books for land leased in perpetuity and for buildings erected on land leased in perpetuity shall be prepared in the chiho saibansho in the form respectively prescribed in Schedule A and Schedule B.

Article 3. Copies of the registry book of foreign consulates and their translations shall be kept in the registry office.

Article 4. When a document accompanying an application for registration is written in a foreign language, the applicant shall supplement it with a Japanese translation.

Article 5. In transferring registrations made at foreign consulates to the registry books their transcription shall be made in accordance with Japanese translations.

When a registration made at a foreign consulate has been transferred to the registry book, the number of the volume and the folio of the registry books to which it has been transcribed, the registration number and the date, shall be recorded in the copy of the registry book of foreign consulates and also in its translation, and the registry officer shall affix his seal.

Article 6. When the local Government office has notified the registry office of the cancellation of a title deed of perpetual lease in accordance with article 2 of imperial ordinance No. 179 of the thirty-fourth year of Meiji, the registry officer shall close the folio concerned in the registry book for land leased in perpetuity.

When, in the case provided for in the preceding paragraph, there are registrations of subsidiary rights having as their object a right of perpetual lease, the registry officer shall record in the designation column the fact that the title deed has been canceled. When registration of cancellation has been made in respect of all registrations relating to those subsidiary rights, or when registrations relating to subsidiary rights have been transferred to the ordinary registry book in making registration for the preservation of ownership, then the registry officer shall close the folio concerned in the registry book for land leased in perpetuity.

Article 7. When upon receipt of notice mentioned in the first paragraph of the preceding article there are registrations relating to buildings erected on land leased in perpetuity the registry officer shall transfer those registrations to the ordinary registry book and shall close the folio concerned in the registry book in which those registrations appeared.

supplementary regulations.

Article 8. This ordinance shall take effect from the day of its promulgation.

Article 9. Departmental ordinance No. 41 of the department of justice, of the thirty-second year of Meiji, prescribing procedure in regard to the registration of immovables which are the objects of rights of foreigners or foreign juridical persons, is hereby repealed.

Schedule A.

This registry book contains — folios.

— president of the — district court.

Registry book for land leased in perpetuity.

—local court.

		No.—.	Reg. N.
Section A. Right of perpetual lease.		Caption space. Designation of land leased in perpetuity.
	R. N.		D. N.
	Fact column.		Designation column.
	R. N.		D. N.
	Fact column.		Designation column.
	R. N.		D. N.
	Fact column.		Designation column.

Reg. N.—Registry number column.

D. N.—Designation number column.

R. N.—Rank number column.

N. B.—This schedule also gives the forms for sections B (superficies and emphyteusis), C (servitudes), D (preferential rights, pledges, and mortgages), and E(leases), which are exactly the same as for section A.

Schedule B

This registry book contains — folios.

— president of the — district court.

Registry book for buildings erected on land leased in perpetuity.

— local court.

		No.—.	Reg. N.
Section A. Ownership.		Caption space. Designation of building.
	R. N.		D. N.
	Fact column.		Designation column.
	R. N.		D. N.
	Fact column.		Designation column.
	R. N.		D. N.
	Fact column.		Designation column.

Reg. N.—Registry number column.

D. N.—Designation number column.

R. N.—Rank number column.

N. B.—This schedule also gives the forms for sections B (servitudes), C (preferential rights, pledges, and mortgages), and D (leases), which are the same as for section A.

departmental ordinance no. 16 of the department of justice.

As regards the fees to be levied upon an application for a copy of or for an extract from the registry books for land leased in perpetuity or for buildings erected thereon, or upon an inspection of the registry books or documents accessory thereto, the provisions of departmental ordinance No. 14 of the department of justice, of the thirty-second year of Meiji (1899), shall correspondingly apply.

This ordinance shall take effect from the day of its promulgation.

Departmental ordinance No. 42 of the department of justice, of the thirty-second year of Meiji (1899), is hereby repealed.

Kiyoura Keigo,
Minister of State for Justice.

September 21, the thirty-fourth year of Meiji (1901).

departmental ordinance no. 17 of the department of justice.

The following amendments are introduced into the regulations relating to the enforcement of the law of registration of immovables, issued as departmental ordinance No 11 of the department of justice, of the thirty-second year of Meiji.

Kiyoura Keigo,
Minister of State for Justice,

September 21, the thirty-fourth year of Meiji (1901).

The following article is inserted after article 46:

• Article 46 b. In applying for registration for the preservation of ownership in cases where ownership has been acquired by a Japanese subject or a Japanese juridical person in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 1 of imperial ordinance No. 179, of the thirty-fourth year of Meiji (1901), the fact that ownership has been acquired through the cancellation of title deed of perpetual lease must be stated in the letter of application.
• The following two articles are inserted after article 71:
• Article 71 b. When upon receipt of application mentioned in article 46 b there are in a folio of registry book for land leased in perpetuity registrations of subsidiary rights, having as their object a right of perpetual lease, and such registrations have not yet been canceled, then the registry officer shall transfer those registrations of subsidiary rights to the ordinary registry book after he has completed the registration of the ownership in the same book.
• Article 71 c. In transferring to the ordinary registry book registration relating to subsidiary rights, in accordance with the provisions of the preceding article, or in transferring to the ordinary registry book registration relating to buildings erected on land leased in perpetuity, the registry officer shall enter in the registration number column of the folio of the ordinary registry book a new number following the order in which registrations are being made in that book. He shall then enter on the left side of that number the registry number appearing in the registry book from which it has been transcribed.

In the case provided for in the preceding paragraph the registry officer shall record at the end of registration transcribed in the designation column and the fact column the folio, the volume, and the title of the registry book from which the foregoing registration has been transcribed. He shall also enter the date of the transcription and affix his seal.

supplementary regulation.

This ordinance shall take effect from the day of its promulgation.

departmental ordinance no. 24 of the department for home affairs.

When a Japanese subject or a Japanese juridical person, who was acquired a right of perpetual lease created in favor of a foreigner or foreign juridical person by a title deed of perpetual lease issued by the Govenment, has obtained the cancellation of such title deed according to article 1 of imperial ordinance No. 179, of the thirty-fourth year of Meiji (1901), and has thus acquired ownership of the land concerned, the local government office must notify the fact without delay to the taxation office having jurisdiction over the place where the land is situated.

Baron Utsumi Tadakatsu,
Minister of State for Home Affairs.

September 25, the thirty-fourth year of Meiji (1901).

instruction no. 34 of the department for finance.

To the revenue administration bureau (those at Hakodate,
Sapporo, Nemuro, and Nawa excepted):

Upon receipt of notice prescribed by the departmental ordinance No. 24 of the department for home affairs, of the thirty-fourth year of Meiji, the taxation office shall make all necessary entries in the cadastre (tochi-daicho) in respect of the land to which the notice refers.

Soné Arasuké,
Minister of State for Finance.

September 25, thirty-fourth year of Meiji (1901).