Japan’s government is significantly increasing the amount of money it is offering families to leave the bustling metropolis and move to the shrinking countryside.
The incentive, which starts in April, will give families 1 million yen, $7,500 per child, to move out of Tokyo and into the depopulated rural areas. This was reported by The Guardian.
The previous relocation fee was ¥300,000 per child, and the new incentive comes as lawmakers try to encourage young people to move to rural cities to counter the influx of young people to big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. It’s done.
Families eligible for up to ¥3 million in additional government aid are eligible for the program if they live in Tokyo’s 23 “core” wards, as well as neighborhoods in the neighboring cities of Sayama, Chiba and Kanagawa.
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People walk along a busy shopping street in Tokyo on July 24, 2021.
(Karl Cort/Getty Images)
The program is designed to prevent families from taking cash and then quickly returning to the capital. Families must live with at least one family member in the new home for at least five years and be employed or start a new business.
If these requirements are not met, the money must be returned to the government.
Tokyo’s population fell for the first time in 2022, which some attribute to the coronavirus pandemic, but lawmakers say the world’s largest city of 35 million will continue to struggle with overcrowding.
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The illuminated Tokyo Tower is among the commercial and residential buildings that dominate the evening skyline of Tokyo on December 8, 2022.
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The initiative was started three years ago and could not take off. About 1,200 families used the program in 2021, compared to 71 families in 2019 and 290 families in 2020, with telecommuting becoming more common.
The government hopes that 10,000 people will move from Tokyo to rural areas by 2027.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kisida addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 20, 2022 in New York City.
(AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Country towns and villages have marketed themselves as family-friendly areas, with attractive locations, easy childcare and the availability of young men, as the country’s birth and birth rates decline. a struggling economy.
In 2021, the number of births in Japan was 811,604, the lowest number since records began in 1899. At the same time, the number of people aged 100 years and older is 90,500, up from only 153 in 1963.