The grant landscape, plainly — relocation money, renovation money, and the free-house question

Japan's relocation subsidies look generous on paper. A household with two children, moving from central Tokyo to one of our prefectures, can in theory receive a base of three million yen from the national programme plus another ¥100,000-¥1,000,000 from the destination municipality. The headlines write themselves. The reality, as with most things Japanese, is paperwork and patience, and the conditions matter more than the totals. Here is what the money actually pays, who actually qualifies, and what the often-quoted "free akiya" promise really means.

The national base: i·ju shien-kin

The Regional Relocation Support Programme (地方創生移住支援事業) is the lever every prefecture and most municipalities sit on top of. It pays:

• ¥600,000 to a single relocator
• ¥1,000,000 to a household
• ¥1,000,000 additional per child under 18. This figure was raised from ¥300,000 in FY2024 and is the line that turned the programme from interesting to genuinely material.

Eligibility is narrow in two specific ways:

• Origin requirement: you must have lived or commuted to the 23 wards of central Tokyo for at least five of the previous ten years. Saitama, Kanagawa, and Chiba residents qualify only if they commuted into central Tokyo. Anywhere outside the Tokyo metro area is not eligible as a starting point.
• Destination requirement: you must move to a designated area (essentially anywhere outside Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba). All six of our snow-country prefectures qualify; so does Fukuoka.

Beyond origin, you also need one of: an offer letter from a registered local employer, proof of starting a business locally, telework registration with the national programme, or proof of being recruited through a municipal matching scheme. The teleworker route is the most common one foreign buyers take.

The funds are split: half from the national budget, half from the prefecture. Applications go to your destination municipality, not Tokyo. Payment lands in your account approximately three to six months after move-in, contingent on continuing to live there for the next five years — if you move away within five years, you must return the money.

Layered on top: the prefectural and municipal extras

The base above is identical nationwide. What varies is the layer your destination puts on top. We track these in our six prefectures, and they break down as follows.

The "free akiya" question

Foreign press has run breathless headlines about Japanese houses being given away. The headlines are technically true and mostly misleading.

Properties listed at ¥0 exist. They appear, occasionally, on municipal akiya banks — typically inherited houses where the heirs want only to be free of the property-tax burden. We have seen three in our index this year, all in the deeper Akita interior. They are real listings, not bait.

What the headlines omit:

• The transfer tax is paid on assessed value, not sale price. A "free" house with an assessed value of ¥3,000,000 incurs approximately ¥90,000-¥120,000 in acquisition tax. Closing costs (judicial scrivener, transfer fee, gas inspection) add another ¥150,000-¥250,000.
• Most are listed with strings. A common condition is "buyer must live in the property for at least five years and contribute to community activities." The contribution clause is not legally enforceable but is socially binding in small communities.
• Renovation is almost always necessary. Houses listed at ¥0 are typically in significant disrepair. Budget ¥3,000,000-¥10,000,000 to bring one to comfortable habitability.

The right mental frame: a free akiya is not a free house. It is a discounted entry ticket to a renovation project. If you have the time, skill, and money for the renovation, the discount is real and large. If you do not, a ¥3,000,000 turnkey akiya is almost always a better total deal than a ¥0 fixer-upper.

Renovation grants: what they actually cover

This is where the real money sits for most buyers. A typical municipal renovation grant covers half of qualifying costs, up to a ceiling. In our prefectures the ceilings cluster between ¥500,000 and ¥1,500,000, with Tsuruoka's heritage-house grant being the standout outlier at ¥3,000,000 for designated traditional minka.

Conditions that almost always apply:

• The property must be registered in the local akiya bank. Privately purchased properties usually don't qualify, even if they were akiya before the purchase. This is the most-common trap.
• The applicant must live in the property. Investment buyers and short-term-rental operators are typically excluded. Some prefectures require a resident certificate (住民票) before the renovation contract is signed.
• The contractor must be locally based. This is the protectionist clause. A contractor based outside the prefecture, or even outside the municipality in some cases, disqualifies the grant. Verify before you sign.
• Eligible work is restricted. Cosmetic renovation (paint, wallpaper, new fittings) often qualifies. Structural work (roof, foundation, seismic retrofit) usually qualifies. Pool installation, garage extension, and luxury upgrades almost never qualify.

The application process: you submit a renovation plan with itemised cost estimates before work begins. The municipality reviews and approves. You execute the work and submit final receipts. Payment lands 1-3 months after work completion. Crucially, work started before approval is ineligible — do not let an over-eager contractor start before the paperwork lands.

The under-discussed child-raising bonuses

The 2024 increase of the child top-up from ¥300,000 to ¥1,000,000 per child was the policy change that shifted the calculus for families. Layered on top:

• School-entry bonuses: many municipalities pay ¥100,000-¥300,000 when a child enters elementary or junior high school after relocation.
• Childcare-cost subsidies: most snow-country prefectures pay all childcare costs from age three; some (Yamagata, Niigata) cover from birth.
• Medical-cost subsidies: free medical treatment for children to varying age ceilings (15 in most prefectures, 18 in Akita and Niigata).

For a couple with two children under five moving from central Tokyo to, say, Iiyama: the national base alone is ¥3,000,000. Iiyama's municipal top-up adds another ¥500,000-¥1,000,000. Childcare savings over the first five years run to ¥1,500,000-¥3,000,000 versus Tokyo. A renovation grant on the purchased akiya can add another ¥500,000-¥1,000,000. Total programme value: roughly ¥6,000,000 over the first five years, plus the price difference on the house itself.

For the same family staying in Tokyo: zero of the above.

The traps

Six things every applicant gets wrong:

• Move-in before application. The relocation support money requires you to apply between three months and one year after move-in. Apply too early or too late and the application is rejected. The municipality will not remind you.
• Tax residency confusion. Receiving the relocation support money makes you a Japanese tax resident for the year of receipt. If you have substantial foreign income, model the tax implications before applying.
• The five-year clawback. Move away within five years and you must return the relocation support money in full. Several of our buyers have been caught by this when life circumstances changed; budget for the contingency.
• Renovation start without approval. As above — the most common ineligibility cause.
• The wrong akiya bank. Each town has its own. National aggregators (Akiya Bank, J-Akiya) are not the same as the municipal bank. Eligibility for renovation grants almost always requires the municipal registration specifically.
• Counting the headline figure. The often-quoted ¥5,000,000+ totals assume three children, a renovation grant, and stacking every available bonus. The median household receives substantially less. Plan around the median, not the maximum.

How to actually claim

The sequence we recommend, in order:

1. Before move: contact the destination municipality's relocation office (移住推進課). They will provide a checklist of required documents and the application window.
2. Register the akiya in the municipal bank (if buying from an open-market listing rather than a bank listing). This is sometimes done by the previous owner, sometimes by you.
3. Move and register: file your residency change (転入届) within 14 days of move-in. This starts the clock.
4. Submit relocation support application: three months minimum after move-in, one year maximum. Most municipalities now accept online submission.
5. If renovating: submit the renovation plan and cost estimates before any work begins. Get written approval. Then start work.
6. Maintain records for five years: residency change confirmation, employment proof (if telework), continued residency. The clawback enforcement is light but documented.

Where to look up your specific case

The numbers above will be substantially right for FY2026 but each municipality can vary. Authoritative sources:

• National relocation support: chisou.go.jp/sousei/ijyu_shienkin.html (Cabinet Office, official).
• Your specific municipality's relocation office: search "[municipality name] 移住推進 補助金".
• Our concierge service walks through the eligibility checks and application timeline for paid subscribers, with translation of the forms.

And read the akiya programs overview first if you haven't — it covers the property-side mechanics (which bank, which municipality, which conditions on the property) that have to line up before any of this money becomes available to you.