Japan offers women $4,200 to marry rural men, quickly suspends plan

The Japanese government is offering women in the city 600,000 yen (US$4,200 or Rs 3,52,758) for marrying men living in rural areas, according to Asahi News. This is because of the imbalance in regional development which the government says is affecting the country's social progress.

According to Japan’s 2023 Population Migration Report, around 68,000 more people moved to Tokyo than out of it, with more than half of them being women.

However, the incentive plan has backfired as people in the country are not happy with it, SCMP reported.

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The country is jostling with more people entering big cities, shrinking the workforce in rural areas. Women have been leaving rural areas in large numbers for want of better education, and more job opportunities in the city.

With fewer people left in these areas, several houses are lying empty and some schools and hospitals have also had to shut down. This has also led to a decline in the number ofbabies born in the region.

To balance the distribution of population and economic development across regions, the government started offering incentives of up to 600,000 yen to women who were willing to leave Tokyo and marry men in rural areas.

All single women living or working in the 23 municipalities of Tokyo could make use of the subsidy. Travel costs of all women going to rural areas in search of a match would also be covered by the government.

But with anger brewing over the proposal across the country, it has now been suspended.

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“This is disheartening. These girls left backward rural areas and came to Tokyo desperate to live a better life. Now the government wants them to return," a person said on social media.

Population crisis in Japan

Notably, Japan is facing a population crisis and the nation's birth rate is at an all-time low. In June this year, the country's health ministry described the nation’s birth rate as “critical” after registering record-low numbers for the eighth consecutive year.

Last year, fewer than 500,000 couples tied the knot, the lowest in the country in 90 years.

Japanese scholar Kenichi Ohmae told SCMP that people are reluctant to take risks or incur debts which has translated into fewer people getting married, a diminished desire for children, and even engaging in sexual relationships.