Too big Tokyo: 20,000 euros for moving to the country

The Japanese capital Tokyo is bursting at the seams: with almost 40 million inhabitants in the entire metropolitan area, it is currently the largest city in the world.

Elsewhere in Japan, however, the opposite picture is emerging, with young people leaving the villages in droves to seek work in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka.

In addition, the birth rate in Japan is low at an average of 1.3 children per woman.

Since 2019, the country's government has been rewarding families for moving out of the city and into other regions of the country.

The state has so far paid a bonus of 300,000 yen (equivalent to 2180 euros) per child for moving to a disadvantaged part of the country.

According to the "Guardian" and several Japanese media reports, the government has now more than tripled this sum: From April this year, families are to receive 1 million yen, i.e. more than 7,000 euros, per child if they leave the Tokyo metropolitan area.

There is also a lump sum of 1 million yen for the move alone.

A household with two children could get 3 million yen from the government for trying their luck elsewhere.

Those who set up a business in their new hometown could receive even more money from the state.

The population is shrinking dramatically

According to the Kyodo news agency, half of the funds will come from the central government and the other half from local communities.

As the "Guardian" further reports, around 80 percent of the country's municipalities are taking part in the campaign.

However, this is subject to certain conditions: at least one parent must be employed and the family must have lived in their new home for at least five years – otherwise the government will demand the relocation bonus be returned.

The aim of the action is to stop depopulation in many parts of the country.

More and more houses outside of the metropolitan areas are empty and tax revenues in these regions are also falling noticeably.

So far, the program has had only moderate success: According to figures from the Nikkei news agency, a total of 1,184 households took part in the program in 2021.

In the first year there were only 71.

Now the government hopes to move about 10,000 people by 2027 by increasing the financial incentive.

In 2020 and 2021, Japan suffered from the largest population decline since records began - and there is no improvement in sight: by 2065, the population of the world's third largest economy is expected to shrink by 30 percent from the current 125 million to 88 million.