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Good practice Imported

Japan's Regional Revitalisation Migration Support Subsidy — Paying Households to Leave Tokyo

Japan · Tokyo · See the Japan profile · See the Tokyo profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 89% 48/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Japan pays households leaving Tokyo's 23 wards up to ¥5m (~$32,000) to relocate to one of roughly 1,800 rural municipalities and take a local job or start a business. Uptake grew from 71 households in 2019 to 1,184 in 2021 — still far short of the government's 10,000-a-year goal.

71 households
Households claiming subsidy (2019)
290 households
Households claiming subsidy (2020)
1,184 households
Households claiming subsidy (2021)
10,000 people/year
Government uptake target
5,000,000 JPY (~$32,000)
Maximum subsidy per family (2 children)
~1,800 municipalities
Eligible destination municipalities
~550 local governments
Participating local governments (as of December 2024)
~37 million (about 30% of national total)
Greater Tokyo area population
Japan's Regional Revitalisation Migration Support Subsidy — Paying Households to Leave Tokyo

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Cabinet Secretariat — Headquarters for Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy in Japan
Period
2019–2025
Keywords
regional revitalisation, population policy, rural relocation, remote work

Context

Since 2019, Japan's Cabinet Secretariat has run a relocation-support subsidy for households leaving Tokyo's 23 special wards (and, later, the wider Tokyo commuter belt) for one of around 1,800 eligible rural or regional municipalities, delivered through roughly 550 participating local governments as of December 2024.

Objectives

The programme aims to redistribute population away from the greater Tokyo area, which together with its commuter belt still houses roughly 37 million people, about 30% of Japan's national total.

Activities

To qualify, applicants must take up local employment, start a business, or continue remote work for an employer outside the region, and commit to residing in the destination municipality for at least five years; the per-child bonus was raised to ¥1,000,000, letting a family with two children claim up to ¥5,000,000 (about $32,000) in total, and eligible job categories were expanded to include agriculture, medicine, welfare and self-employment from fiscal 2025.

Results

Nikkei-reported uptake figures show the programme starting small and then accelerating during the pandemic: 71 households claimed the subsidy in 2019, rising to 290 in 2020 and 1,184 in 2021 as remote work became more widely accepted -- still well below the roughly 10,000 people a year the government had hoped to attract out of the greater Tokyo area.

Conclusions

This gap is a useful caution on the limits of cash incentives for reversing urban concentration: Japan has run broadly similar rural-relocation subsidy schemes since 1953, achieving only marginal success, and no rigorous, independent evaluation of relocatees' longer-term economic outcomes, or of whether the subsidy induces moves that would not otherwise have happened, was found.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Subsidy of up to ¥5,000,000 (about $32,000) per qualifying family with two children, funded nationally and delivered through participating local governments.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Running since 2019, with uptake data reported through 2021 and eligibility criteria expanded further from fiscal 2025; recipients commit to five years of residency in the destination municipality.
Staffing & skills
Japan's Cabinet Secretariat (Headquarters for Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy), Roughly 550 participating local governments (as of December 2024)

Conditions for success

  • Requiring recipients to take local employment, start a business, or continue remote work for an out-of-region employer
  • Five-year minimum residency commitment in the destination municipality
  • Raising the per-child bonus and expanding eligible job categories (agriculture, medicine, welfare, self-employment) from fiscal 2025 to increase uptake

Common failure modes

  • Uptake (1,184 households in 2021, its most recent reported figure) remained far below the government's target of roughly 10,000 people a year
  • Japan has run broadly similar rural-relocation subsidy schemes since 1953 with only marginal success in redistributing population away from Tokyo
  • Eligibility excludes people on standard work or student visas, limiting the scheme to permanent residents, long-term residents and Japanese nationals
  • No rigorous independent evaluation of relocatees' longer-term economic outcomes exists

Where it fits

Governance type
national government (Cabinet Secretariat) delivered via local municipalities
Scale
national, covering about 1,800 eligible municipalities
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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Attachments

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