Overview

• Japan Ecology and Kushiro City met on October 15 and agreed to continue consultations on the project’s future.
• The developer said it wants to restart work quickly, with President Masanori Matsui calling for constructive dialogue within the current legal framework.
• The plan calls for about 6,600 panels on private land near the Environment Ministry’s Kushiro Wetlands Wildlife Protection Center, drawing concerns for red‑crowned cranes and other rare species.
• Hokkaido Shimbun reported that procedures to transfer ownership of the planned site to a foreign firm were underway, a development not yet detailed publicly by the company.
• National authorities and experts are discussing tighter rules and potential zoning to guide renewable siting in response to conflicts at ecologically sensitive locations.