Japan is offering families who live in Tokyo 1 million yen ($7,500) per child to move out of the capital and into other towns and villages.

Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Japan is offering families who live in Tokyo 1 million yen ($7,500) per child to move out of the capital and into other towns and villages.

The new offer represents an increase of over 300% from the old offer of 300,000 yen. It will be introduced in April as officials try to revive areas with declining birthrates and aging populations.

The program is part of Japan's Infrastructure Development Plan for a Digital Garden City Nation, which is aimed at regional revitalization through the promotion of relocation to rural areas by means of digitization.

Those moving also have to meet one of three conditions: employment at a small or midsize company in the area they relocate to, continuing their pre-relocation work via the Internet or starting a business in their new area of residence.

According to Nikkei Asia, relocation support was provided to 1,184 families in fiscal 2021, rising from 290 in 2020 and 71 in 2019. Officials hope that the program will help reduce pressure on public services in Tokyo, which has a population of 35 million.

The government is hoping 10,000 people will have moved from Tokyo to rural areas by 2027, it added.

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  • GaveUp [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Those moving also have to meet one of three conditions: employment at a small or midsize company in the area they relocate to

    Social democracy at work. They want people to move there but won't even offer them a fucking job, the #1 reason people move anywhere by far

    • 100th [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Come to the rural Japanese county side and work for old uncle who totally doesn't hold bigoted views, prayers to the emperor and waxes on about the good old days of Manchurian control.

      • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        On the other hand, the Japanese left used to be a lot more cool and militant and a lot of those comrades now have rural jobs because they got systematically blacklisted from major industries.

    • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The dynamic in Japan is different in that there is chronic labor shortages instead of unemployment. This shortage is more acute in the countryside because wages are higher in the cities where larger companies tend to congregate.

      Limiting the subsidy to workers of small and medium enterprises makes them more competitive against the larger companies. Though I'm pretty sure 1m isn't really that much of a difference in the long term.