In a strange move to ensure ease in civic life, the Japanese government has increased the financial assistance to parents who decide to migrate out of Tokyo. An eye-watering deal is that the authority has increased the financial support from 300,000 Yen to 1 million Yen which is $7,600 per child if they decide to move out of the Japanese capital city.
Tokyo is the world’s largest urban city, with an estimated 38 million people. The country already has a similar plan for relocation, which provides 300,000 yen per child and 3 million yen as a one-off support payment for those migrating. They may claim more money if they start a business of their own in the suburbs.
Although the earlier plan was not that effective, as only 2400 people opted to leave back in 2021, which constitutes a mere 0.006 percent of the entire Tokyo population.
Why is Japan offering the package?
Japan has been undergoing a rapid change in its demography with a falling birth rate and a fairly bigger size of people above the age of 65 years. Several measures in the past have been taken by the government but there is no sign of improvement in the city’s demographical structure.
Back in 2017, Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research stated that the number of births in a year will fall below 800,000 by 2030. However, the mark was breached in the first nine months of 2022 itself, signaling that the fall is much faster than anticipated.
The birth rate has plunged and younger people are moving to Tokyo and other major cities of the country in order to take up better life and increase their quality of life, while other smaller parts of the country are unintentionally left behind in a state of turmoil and grief. Small businesses and shops in smaller towns have difficulty finding customers and workers.
Based on a report coming in from Japan the number of empty homes in Japan, which are unclaimed by heirs, will reach 10 million in 2023. On the other hand, property rates in Tokyo are skyrocketing.
Despite a slowdown in 2021, the price of a condominium in Tokyo topped the peak reached during Japan's property bubble in 1989. While to your surprise, the Japanese government has the highest inheritance tax anywhere in the world, which ranges from 10% to 55% based on the amount of money being inherited.
The calculation also depends upon the number of heirs. It applies to both nationals and foreigners. The country’s civil codes say that the half of deceased’s property goes to the spouse and the other half is distributed among the heirs.
How are Japan's local administrations are preparing?
The websites of the municipalities and other administrative holds are attempting to draw people’s attention through sales pitches. Several attractive and luring tricks are being taken up by the people in the outskirts of Tokyo and nearby places giving people all possible assistance so that if they think of migrating out of the capital city they must be having a valid and gentle to travel to.