The excessive concentration of the working population in big cities such as Tokyo in Japan, whose population is rapidly decreasing, worries the government.
As a precaution, the government promises to give 1 million yen (about $7,700) per child to those who agree to move to rural areas.
The excessive concentration of the working population in big cities such as Tokyo in Japan, whose population is rapidly decreasing, worries the government. As a precaution, the government promises to give 1 million yen (about $7,700) per child to those who agree to move to rural areas.
The new incentive program will go into effect in April, with a maximum payment of 5 million yen (about $38,500) per family. It is hoped that 10,000 people will benefit from the incentive plan by 2027.
DECREASING AND AGING POPULATION
Japan’s population has been declining for years. The sharpest decline occurred last year, with a difference of 726,342 between deaths and births.
Conversely, many young Japanese of working age are leaving their ancestral villages and towns to migrate to larger cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, where opportunities for work, education and marriage are greater.
After the old people left behind in the countryside, these places turned into ghost cities and the density of those who flocked to the big cities in these metropolises mobilized the Japanese government.
The stimulus plan envisions the resettlement of a population of 37 million in Tokyo’s 23 districts and surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa to 1,800 villages and towns chosen by the government that are in danger of extinction.
Among the required conditions, at least one employee in each household should either establish a new business in their new place of residence or find a job in a small and medium-sized business there. After the family moves, they have to live there for at least five years. Otherwise, he is obliged to repay the incentive given.
In Japan, where the birth rate fell below 2.1 for the first time in 1974, the government has been trying to stabilize the population decline in rural areas and reduce population concentration in cities for a while.
GLOBAL PROBLEM
Incentive schemes to be paid in return for exiting Tokyo have previously been implemented in other metropolitan areas of the world with varying success rates.
In 2021, Ireland implemented a plan called Our Rural Future, which encouraged 68,000 workers to leave Dublin.
Villages in Spain, Switzerland and Italy, which are aging rapidly like Japan in Europe, promise to give tens of thousands of euros to foreigners to settle in vacant real estates. In America, Zoom towns have emerged with the increase of working from home with the pandemic.
In Japan, the population aged 65 and over has increased by a record, reaching 29% of the total population of 125 million. The population aged 15-64, which is considered the working population, fell to 58 percent, its lowest level ever.
Net losses in population in previous years could be compensated to some extent by those who migrated to Japan from abroad. However, due to the border controls implemented from 2020 until recently due to the coronavirus epidemic, the number of foreigners who entered the country for living purposes also decreased.