Japan Abandons “Marriage Relocation” Plan for City Women
Unfortunately for the government, most people found the proposal a wee bit sexist.
By Jay Andrew Allen
Japan’s government, led by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), keeps inventing new ways to encourage Japanese citizens to have children. Unfortunately, the male-dominated party sometimes ends up issuing proposals that seem, shall we say, a bit sexist? Exhibit A: The now-retracted plan to pay women to move out of the city to get hitched.
Luring women out of Tokyo
The proposal, issued late in August 2024, aimed to promote “marriage relocation” (移住婚; ijuukon). Under the scheme, the government would pay women who currently lived in one of Tokyo’s 23 cities 600,000 yen (USD $4,217) to move to the countryside. The women had to be single and would move there with the intention of marrying…I don’t know, some dude, I guess.
The idea isn’t new. Indeed, a version of it is already policy.
For years, Japan’s central government has tried to reverse the outflux of people moving out of remote countryside locations. It already offers up to…
