A two-decade slump in Japan's real estate prices and the country's lax rules on selling foreigners forestland with water rights attached are attracting overseas investors, with the Chinese leading the pack. Some areas of remote woodland in Japan, the only country in the Asia-Pacific region that doesn't regulate property investment by foreigners, can be bought for just 60 cents a square meter, including the groundwater beneath. In Japan, the biggest spike in forest purchases by foreigners has come in Hokkaido, its northern island. It's about the size of Austria and has triple the average water reserves of other Japanese prefectures, according to Hokkaido government figures. Chinese investors have been eyeing the water assets in Japan with the idea of exporting bottled water back to China, says Hokuto Okudera, head of M&A Support, a Tokyo-based broker focusing on mergers and acquisitions for small and mid-sized companies. The safety of drinking water is a big issue in China.