A million yen per child to leave Tokyo: Japan's offer to families

Government ups the incentive over 3x to draw people to rural areas amid shrinking population

Japan plans to boost financial support to households to move away from the capital to combat depopulation in other areas of the country, according to multiple local media reports. 

Eligible families in the Tokyo metropolitan area will be able to receive 1 million yen ($7,700) per child starting in the fiscal year 2023 if they move to a disadvantaged local area — more than triple the 300,000 yen incentive already in place, the reports said. 

 

The financial incentives, according to Bloomberg, highlight the challenges that Japan is facing with its low birth rate and long life expectancy. Rural areas have seen rapid depopulation as the young move away for opportunities in cities, leaving the localities dotted with empty homes and contending with dwindling tax revenue. 

The increased support for children comes on top of a flat 1 million yen that families can get for moving. Under the new proposal, a household with two children could receive 3 million yen in support if they left the Tokyo area.  

Japan’s national government began the initiative to attract people to regional areas in 2019, allowing households who have lived in the central Tokyo metropolitan area for five years to apply for support funds if they move. After the higher payments are factored in, a family with two children could be eligible for up to 5 million yen. 

Families can continue to work remotely at their current job, work at a local small or medium sized business, or start a business in the local area — which would allow them to apply for even more financial support.  

The scheme saw 1,184 household participants in 2021, compared to 71 the first year it launched, according to the Nikkei. 

Officials hope, according to a report in The Guardian, the generous sums on offer will encourage families with children aged up to 18 to revitalise regions and ease pressure on space and public services in greater Tokyo, the world’s biggest metropolis with a population of about 35 million. 

Half of the cash will come from the central government, and the other half from local municipalities, Kyodo said. The government is hoping 10,000 people will have moved from Tokyo to rural areas by 2027, it added. 

To attract new residents, hollowed-out towns and villages have highlighted the charms of rural life, easy access to undersubscribed childcare and, in the case of Otari village in Nagano prefecture, the availability of eligible men, The Guardian reported.   

Why the incentive? 

• Parts of Japan also hit by ageing, population decline and  migration of younger people to Tokyo, Osaka, and other key cities
• Officials look to relieve pressure on space and public services in greater Tokyo with a population 35 million
• The government hopes by 2027, 10,000 people will have relocated from Tokyo to rural areas