TOKYO

The Japanese government plans to ease requirements for subsidies provided to people who move to places outside the Tokyo area and work there, informed sources told Jiji Press.

Subject to the subsidies of up to one million yen will be those who relocate after living in or commuting to Tokyo's 23 wards for a total of at least five years in the last 10 years, instead of the current requirement of the last five years or longer in succession.

Following the change, the subsidies will newly cover people who return to the Tokyo area after living outside it and then relocate out of the area again.

The change will be reflected in the government's budget for fiscal 2020, which starts next April. The Tokyo area covers the capital and the three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.

The subsidy program was launched in fiscal 2019 with the aim to reduce excessive concentration of population in Tokyo and address the lack of workforce in local areas.

When people find jobs at companies selected by prefectures they move in, one million yen is given to those who are relocated together with their family members and 600,000 yen to single people.

The government will also expand the scope of companies eligible for the subsidies from firms with a capital of one billion yen or less to include those with a capital of up to some 5 billion yen when local governments give permission.

Despite the government's target of providing the subsidies to 3,984 cases by the end of fiscal 2019, they had been used for only 43 cases as of the end of October.

The government hopes that the easing of the requirements will encourage more use of the subsidies and promote relocation from the Tokyo area, the sources said. It plans to keep the subsidy program in place through fiscal 2024.

Jiji Press