Japan fights "ghost towns" with financial temptations for young couples

 In an effort to reverse an aging population, the metropolitan city of Chiba, Tokyo, will subsidize newlyweds with up to 300,000 yen (US$2,319) for each newlyweds who decide to move into certain housing complexes with elderly residents.

Such promotional policy comes naturally in Japan as the country with the largest aging population in the world, as it struggles with a shrinking society with a declining birth rate since the 1970s.

Officials fear that if the dwindling workforce is left unresolved, it could exacerbate labor shortages and slow economic growth.

According to "Vice As"

Less urban areas such as Chiba, formerly the "ghost city" in Japan, bore the brunt of these problems.

And in Japan, as we have seen in many other countries, young people are moving to the capital in search of greater job opportunities.

This leads to the concentration of people in major cities and suburbs.

To survive, municipalities in such places must come up with creative solutions to entice young people.

In 2017, the village of Kosugi in Yamanashi Prefecture - known for its idyllic atmosphere that includes Mount Fuji - began building affordable tiny homes to attract young residents.

As for Chiba, cash may be the last payment that young couples need to make the move, along with the city's stunning scenery and convenient location.

"It's surrounded by ocean, rivers and big parks, and it's not far from the city," said Tanekawa, who works in the building management department of the Chiba City condominium.

It is worth noting that more than 36% of the population of this region is over 65 years old.

This is more than 10 percentage points higher than the city's total population.

In some buildings, more than half of the residents are elderly.

With the population shrinking by 0.51% in 2021 to 125.5 million, suburban prefectures in Japan experienced the largest population decline.

But even Tokyo, which has long been the number one destination for inward and outward migration, has seen a regression.

In 2021, the capital's population declined for the first time since 1995, by 0.27%.

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