Tokyo parents say payout of US$7,500 per child isn’t enough to entice them to rural life
- Urban residents, though drawn to a more laid-back way of life, say cities remain the centre of education, employment and entertainment opportunities
- Tokyo is offering families up to 1 million yen (US$7,577) for each child under 18, and a payment of up to 3 million yen, to move to the countryside
To slow the outflow of young people from the countryside to cities, Tokyo is giving more financial incentive for residents to relocate from the bustling metropolis to rural parts of the country. But it may not be enough to sway most Tokyo residents to make the move.
The city is offering families up to 1 million yen (US$7,500) for each child under 18, and a one-off payment of up to 3 million yen to help with the cost of moving, with no requirements on an applicant’s income. With the new incentives, Tokyo hopes to attract 10,000 families to move out of the city in 2027.
While many urban residents are drawn to a more laid-back way of life in the Japanese countryside, most say it remains something of a pipe dream for retirement.
The reality, they say, is that cities remain the centre of the nation’s education, employment and entertainment opportunities. The coronavirus pandemic has altered attitudes towards alternative ways of working at some companies but a conservative management style at most Japanese corporations means that any flexibility in working styles is likely to be short-lived.
The metropolitan government introduced the scheme in 2019, initially providing 300,000 yen per child as it sought to reduce population density in one of the most congested cities in the world and ease pressure on schools, hospitals and other social infrastructure.
Tokyo’s 2019 request for families to swap urban life for the countryside attracted a mere 71 families, according to the Nikkei newspaper. That figure rose to 290 families in 2020 and 1,184 applicants in 2021.
The 23 central wards of Tokyo are home to 9.2 million people, with a population density of more than 14,400 people per square kilometre. The 13,250 sq km of the greater Tokyo region, which includes neighbouring prefectures and cities that are also taking part in the initiative, is home to 37.27 million people.
The initiative aims to reverse or slow the chronic depopulation in Japan’s countryside, where village populations decline as young people leave for jobs and education in big cities. This has resulted in communities made up nearly entirely of retirees, with no young people to work in local industry or agriculture.
While the offer is “generous” and the countryside certainly has appeal, many urban residents say it is not enough to sway them.
“I moved here to go to university and now I have a job in Yokohama,” said Kiyoko Date, who is from Kumamoto Prefecture in southern Japan. “I miss my hometown and my family and friends there but it would be quite difficult to go back now.
“As well as my job and my husband’s work, our two children were born and grew up here,” she said. “It would be difficult to take them away from their schools and friends and start again in a completely different environment.”
Data also misses the wide open spaces of her own childhood and enjoys visiting – she was there recently for the New Year holidays – but moving to the countryside would affect her and her husband’s employment in the city. And that would weigh on their finances, negating Tokyo’s offer of monetary assistance, she pointed out.
People who have lived their entire lives in and around Tokyo may have a rosy image of life in the countryside, but there are many who are satisfied with just holidays and visits.
“I like travelling and going to new places,” said Kanako Hosomura, who is from the suburbs in the neighbouring prefecture of Saitama. “But every time I go somewhere, I can’t help but think how inconvenient so many things are.”
There are too few shops in Japan’s villages and even larger regional cities do not have nearly the same selection of department stores, restaurants, theatres or other forms of entertainment, she said.
“And if you live in the countryside, there are not enough buses and even going to a big town for shopping takes a long time,” she said. “I do not think I would be too happy living outside a big city.”
Undeterred, some 1,300 municipalities across the nation have joined Tokyo’s initiative and are preparing to welcome new arrivals from the city, with officials hoping to attract families with far lower land and property prices, a more relaxed pace of life and the ability to continue to work remotely.
Others are highlighting the easy access to childcare, without the waiting lists that are common in the cities, while the village of Otari in Nagano Prefecture is even playing up the availability of local bachelors.
But the financial support comes with a number of stipulations, such as requiring the head of the family to start a business in the local community, join a local company or work remotely at their existing job. Applicants must also commit to remaining in the area for a minimum of five years, with those that choose to leave before five years have to return the financial support in full.
The national government is throwing its weight behind the scheme under its Infrastructure Development Plan for a Garden City Nation, which aims to encourage rural revitalisation through digitalisation. The aid will include funds for local authorities to deploy autonomous buses and remote medical care.
