Considering moving to Hokkaido and buying some houses for short-term rental

Hi everyone! As the subject says, I am considering moving to Hokkaido, in particular, the eastern side like Abashiri or Kushiro. I know many people say that it is very rural but we love the rural aspect of it. We have been to Hokkaido numerous times and that’s why we decided that we liked the eastern side the most.

It is our dream to be able to move to Hokkaido and then to have a few more houses for short-term rental as our income source. An example would be [Farm Torch Inn Tsurui](https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/farm-in-torch-a-vacation-stay-92716v.html), which has “no fuss” houses for vacation rental and the owner/property manager also stays on site. So you don’t have things like onsen, souvenir shops, reception etc etc, just a nice house to bathe, eat dinner and sleep. Our idea is to target the wildlife/nature-loving tourists who come for wildlife spotting and do not want to pay more for the luxuries (and the lack of space!) of a traditional Japanese hotel.

Initially, our idea was to source for a large piece of land and then build a couple of houses on it. However, knowing that construction costs are really high, we decided to instead try buying a small existing house and then renting it out to test the waters. We’ve been reading all sorts of things about forming LLCs in Japan, the Private Lodging Act and the Hotel and Inn Act, and would like some advice on how to proceed.

A little background on us, we have a full-time job, money is not too much of an issue but we are not exactly overflowing with cash, so to speak. We are willing to take a private loan (in our home country) if the numbers make sense. With that in mind…

1. We know that it is expensive to obtain water/sewage if the land falls outside of the city planning zone. However, bare land without any of these amenities is just too cheap to ignore, plus we like to live a bit more on the rural side. Comparing the options of buying a cheap piece of land and then getting amenities to the area, versus buying a more expensive piece of land with these amenities already present, which option would you recommend?
2. Buying an existing house vs buying a bare piece of land and then building a house – which option is recommended? While I don’t mind buying an existing house, the ones that my agent are recommending are pretty pricey.
3. We read that renting out your private house would mean that you are subject to the Private Lodging Act in which your days of rental are capped at 180 days. If you indicate that you do not intend to stay in the house and the house is solely for the purpose of vacation rental which we will maintain, would this fall under “Common Lodging” of the “Inn and Hotel Act” and hence be able to circumvent the “180 days limit”?
4. My Japanese is pretty bad, I can read Katakana and Hiragana as well as some Kanji, but holding a conversation is pretty difficult and usually I just say some keywords and hope that the other person gets what I mean. The real estate agent we are talking to is fluent in English, so that is not a problem for now, but I imagine that for other aspects (opening a bank account, buying a car, talking to contractors), I will need a translator with me. Is this extremely costly?
5. Finally, this is more of a bonus, we have 2 dogs and we would love to bring them over. How are the “pet amenities” in Hokkaido? For example, access to a vet, pet supplies, dog friendly places etc. We did Google and we found some vets in Abashiri and Kushiro, heck even in Shibetsu and Betsukai, but if anyone has first-hand experience I would like to hear from you.

Thank you in advance, and I hope that any advice doesn’t pour too much cold water! I know this sounds like a really lofty dream but I really want to try 🙂