Don’t pay people to leave Tokyo; make more Tokyos
Trying to arrest rural depopulation, Japan wants people to quit its greatest metropolis. How about creating new ones instead?
HOW much would you accept to leave one of the world’s greatest cities?
Japan is offering families in Tokyo one million yen (US$7,640) per child to depart to a more rural location, in a scheme aimed at halting depopulation of the countryside. It’s the latest in a series of ill-advised incentives to stop a relentless influx to the capital, which has seen its population grow more than 16 per cent in the last two decades despite a decline in numbers nationwide.
With an existing flat one million yen payment per family for moving, a couple with two children would from April 1 be eligible to receive three million yen in support if they leave, so long as they fulfil certain conditions. But don’t expect a mad rush to the exit: The government aims for just 10,000 people to take part in the programme per year by 2027 – or 0.03 per cent of the metropolitan area’s population of 37 million.
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