Minohara Country Club's neatly trimmed fairways wind through the densely wooded hills of Gunma Prefecture, about two hours' drive from central Tokyo. In a few years, this site will be covered by rows of solar panels. Japan is densely populated and largely mountainous, and contiguous land available for large-scale solar projects is increasingly running out. Golf courses sprang up during Japan's economic bubble in the 1980s, and today they are one of the few remaining open tracts of land in the country.

"Nobody wants to develop large solar projects anymore, and there really is no suitable land to be found," said Daisuke Toda, representative director of Uezato Construction, a building and real estate company that develops solar facilities. The company acquired the 27-hole course in 2025. "At most, we can only buy golf courses and use them as solar sites." As a result, this leftover of Japan's bubble era has unexpectedly become an important vehicle for the country's energy transition. Over the past decade, abandoned golf courses have been a key support for growth in Japan's solar installations. An analysis of data on power stations with capacity of at least 0.9 megawatts shows that about 9% of Japan's utility-scale solar plants are built on former golf courses. Many of Japan's large solar projects (those exceeding 1 megawatt, known as "mega solar" plants) are sited on old fairways, including Japan's largest solar power station in Okayama Prefecture in western Honshu.

After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan shut down all 54 of its nuclear reactors — nuclear power had once supplied about one-third of the country's electricity. Since then, Japan has vigorously promoted solar power and introduced generous feed-in tariff subsidies to guarantee that renewable energy electricity is purchased at prices favorable to developers. After solar installations peaked in 2015, growth slowed, and Japan gradually reduced the level of its feed-in tariff subsidies. The slowdown poses a challenge to government targets: Japan plans to raise solar's share of electricity supply to 29% by 2040, nearly triple the current level, and to achieve carbon neutrality a decade later. In addition to shrinking subsidies, mega solar projects also face growing resistance from local residents, who worry that construction will damage forests, trigger landslides, and alter the existing landscape. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has also publicly opposed such development projects. Andrew Chapman, an associate professor at Kyushu University, believes the biggest problem developers face is finding land. He calculates that, in theory, all land suitable for solar and wind development could generate 14 times Japan's annual electricity consumption. The total land resource is not lacking, but it is difficult to actually build on it. Mega solar plants need sufficient sunlight, grid connection conditions, and an appropriate distance from residential areas. Many golf courses happen to meet these conditions.

"If you can acquire a golf course at a low price, the terrain is flat with no steep mountains, and the land cost is usually very favorable," Chapman said. "So this approach is highly feasible, and it is especially suitable for sites in rural areas." The construction boom more than 40 years ago left Japan with a large number of golf courses. Back then, golf resorts were a symbol of corporate wealth and leisure status during the peak of the economy. But in recent decades, interest in golf has continued to fade, especially in rural areas experiencing population loss. Minohara Country Club is a typical example. Here, unlimited single-day play costs only 5,000 yen (about $31.87), far below the price of courses in the United States and Singapore, yet traffic remains sparse.

"This course has been losing money all along," said Daisuke Toda of Uezato Construction, noting that the course loses more than 2 million yen each year. The developer acquired the site and plans to install solar panels with a total capacity of 152 megawatts, making it one of the largest pending solar projects in Japan. Uezato Construction is carrying out a lengthy pre-construction preparation process, and the course is still operating for now, with the company taking over day-to-day management. The environmental assessment and planning approval process alone could take as long as four years. The company plans to close the club in 2030 and begin construction of the solar power station the same year. According to estimates, among the solar projects Japan has already announced or has under construction, at least 1 gigawatt of capacity is located on golf courses, accounting for about 10% of the current project pipeline. EDP Group recently completed a solar power station on an abandoned golf course in Fukushima Prefecture. The company said such sites can support large-scale development while reducing disturbance to the natural landscape.

"We see golf courses as an opportunity to revitalize idle land, and they can also reduce large-scale tree clearing — one of the most sensitive controversies in solar development," the company said in an emailed statement. But golf courses are not an unlimited supply. Developers have already begun looking for alternative sites in case course plots run out. Renova, a leading independent renewable energy company in Japan, has turned to building small and medium-sized solar plants on abandoned farmland. The Japanese government is also pinning hopes on next-generation perovskite solar cells, which could eventually be installed on rooftops, walls, and other surfaces where traditional solar panels cannot be laid. However, this technology is still a long way from large-scale commercialization. At least for now, golf courses remain the best option for Japan's large solar projects.

"When you take stock of what usable land can still be found, golf courses are almost one of the only choices left," said Daisuke Toda of Uezato Construction. "We feel we should do our part for the country, and solar power is the right direction."