Tokyo Residents are Being Offered Up to $9,000 to Move to a Less Crowded Prefecture

June 26, 2019

The local government of Aichi, Japan is offering Tokyo residents up to a million yen (about $9,300) to relocate to their prefecture.

For Tokyo residents who are looking for a less congested lifestyle, the “Aichi Migration Support Project” proposes a very viable option as the capital city has become the most crowded and the most expensive place to live in the country

Under the program, individuals who decide to move to Aichi Prefecture will be given 600,000 yen ($5,500) each, while families with two or more members will receive one million yen ($9,260).

Aichi Prefecture is situated in the Chūbu region, in central Honshu Island. Its capital, Nagoya, is a manufacturing hub with a rich cultural heritage. It is home to popular landmarks such as the Atsuta Shrine, a tree-lined Shinto pilgrimage site, and the restored 17th-century fortress of Nagoya Castle.

What makes the offer even more tempting is that the cost of living in Aichi is significantly lower than Tokyo. For example, an apartment in Tokyo costs nearly twice as much as the same living space in Aichi on average.

Aichi is also easily accessible via transport as Nagoya is connected to Tokyo with the Shinkansen train which takes just about 90 minutes, reports Soranews24.

To qualify for the grants, applicants must have lived or worked in Tokyo’s 23 wards (including its neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, or Chiba) for at least five years and intend to live in Aichi for five years.

It is worth noting that the offer isn’t exclusive to Aichi’s rural backwoods as the potential new residents can choose to move to one of 49 cities in Aichi, including both the prefectural capital of Nagoya, the historic Inuyama, and Toyota.

Featured image via Pixabay / FranckinJapan

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