This article aims to identify how Japanese colonial land legislation was established through the use or exclusion of the Korean government’s autonomous land reforms. In order to set up the legislation of modern land ownership in Korea, it was necessary that the government grapple with several problems: confirming the concept of modern land ownership, resolving the multilayered land ownership system, and identifying the principal subject of ownership to guarantee safe land transactions. First, the Korean government accepted the concept of modern land ownership in the Japanese Civil Code. Secondly, while attempts by the Korean government to resolve multilayered land ownership were unsuccessful, the Japanese Residency-General of Korea forcefully took away the rights of multilayered landowners without compensation. Thirdly, although the Korean government created a land register and issuedland ownership deeds, the subject of ownership remained unclear and thus the real estate registration system of Japan was introduced. Existing traditions and customs in Korea were combined with new legislation from Japan in order to create colonial land legislation.