Japan: millions of yen to leave Tokyo

Bloomberg and local media are reporting on the extension of the government program aimed at combating the gradual displacement of Japanese villages and cities.

The Japanese government wants to ease the capital Tokyo. He actually lives in this pool Almost 40 million peoplewhat makes it The most densely populated urban area in the world.

In 2019, the authorities launched a program in which families who have lived in the center of the capital for at least five years and wish to move to the countryside can receive limited financial support for this purpose. She wasn’t popular at first. In the first year, only 71 families decided to take such a step, but after 2 years their number has increased to almost 1.2 thousand.

Now the Japanese are expanding the program, which will apply to residents of the 23 main wards of Tokyo, the entire metropolitan area and the neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa. Kyodo reported that in some cases, people who will move with their families to remote mountainous areas still within the city’s administrative boundaries can count on money.

The extra money given to Tokyo residents for the trip should be three times higher than before. Half will be paid by the central government, while the rest will be paid by provincial authorities who wish to attract new residents.

Parents who want to receive money after moving must fulfill one of three conditions: work remotely at their current job in the new place of residence, get a job at a local company or start their own business.

Japanese families move to the countryside They will have to stay in their new homes for at least five years. Otherwise, the officials will ask them RefundThey will get the move.

According to the Nikkei business daily, after calculating all available funds, a family with two children and meeting the appropriate conditions will be able to receive a maximum of 5 million yen ($38,000). The government hopes this will move at least 10,000 people from Tokyo to the countryside by 2027.

Although the East Asian country can boast of having the largest capital city in the world in terms of population, it has been losing its population for years. The authorities there fear that this will affect the future position of Japan, which is what it is today Third largest economy in the world After the United States and China.

In 2021, carrots are registered Record low number of birthsBabies: Just over 811,000 children were born at that time. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of Japanese people decreased by 644,000, and In 2065, the country’s population is expected to decrease from the current 125 million to 88 million.

There are fewer young Japanese, and provincial residents are looking for a better quality of life in cities. Smaller cities struggle with an increasing vacancy rate and declining tax revenues.

Commenting on the relocation program to rural areas, Japanese media emphasized that the aim of the project is to revitalize remote areas. The changes in people’s approach to quality of life caused by the pandemic and the increased willingness of companies and employees to work remotely may help. The authorities of small towns, in turn, praise the local ecological life, the beauty of nature and the accessible places of kindergartens.