• Japan’s government is offering ¥1m ($7,500) per child to families that move out of greater Tokyo, in an attempt to reverse population decline in the regions.
• The incentive – a dramatic rise from the previous relocation fee of ¥300,000 – will be introduced in April, according to Japanese media reports, as part of an official push to breathe life into declining towns and villages.
• Although Tokyo’s population fell for the first time last year– a trend partly attributed to the coronavirus pandemic – policymakers believe more should be done to lower the city’s population density and encourage people to start new lives in “unfashionable” parts of the country that have been hit by aging, shrinking populations and the migration of younger people to Tokyo, Osaka and other big cities.

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