Commentary on this story on Thursday's Headlines Podcast .

The unusual event is one of a few cases in the state since a new federal Chapter 15 bankruptcy law went into effect last year. It allows a foreign bankruptcy proceeding to be established in U.S courts.

Conducted by a federal judge in July in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Winston-Salem, the sale comes after months of parallel court proceedings in Japan and in the United States.

The property sale was advertised nationally through Forbes business magazine and on the Internet, said listing agent Bill Sahadi of Fore Properties in Southern Pines. The transaction and title transfer will occur Aug. 21 in Pinehurst.

No one will disclose the identity of the purchaser or the purchase price. Sahadi said he had suggested listing the property for sale at $2.1 million, but the court-appointed trustee, Manjiro Yamakawa, wanted the listing price to be $2.3 million.

Attorney Kirsten Foyle worked with Sahadi. Other attorneys and another realtor represented the buyer and seller.

"It was a complicated and difficult process," Sahadi said.

The Castle is on the National Register of Historic Places.

See Friday's Pilot and ThePilot.com for the full story.