>>> 📌 Key History of the Relaxation of the Cultivator-Ownership Principle

>>> ♣ 2009 Amendment to the Agricultural Land Act (Shift from "Ownership" to "Utilization")

>>> * While land acquisition (ownership) by general corporations (such as joint-stock companies) remained restricted, entry into agriculture via leasing was fully deregulated. As a result, entities capable of "efficient utilization" could engage in farming without owning the land, marking a major shift from the traditional "unity of ownership and management" to the "separation of ownership and management."

>>> ♣ April 2023 Amendment to the Agricultural Land Act (Abolition of Minimum Area Requirement)

>>> * The minimum area requirement—which previously acted as a hurdle requiring new farmers and corporations to manage a certain acreage (e.g., 50 ares in prefectures outside Hokkaido) to lease or buy farmland—was completely eliminated. This has made it easier for diverse, motivated entities, regardless of scale, to enter from both within and outside local regions.