Want a free case of craft beer? If you send ¥30,000 or more of your taxes to the town of Yamanouchi in Nagano Prefecture, they'll send you 24 bottles of a locally brewed beer to say thanks.
Want beef? Redirect ¥50,000 of your local area taxes to Miyakonojo in Miyazaki Prefecture, and you'll get 3 kg of high-grade beef in return.
This furusato nozei (hometown tax) system began in 2008 as a way for people to channel part of their taxes to help rural areas struggling with falling populations and shrinking revenues. But its popularity isn't driven by altruism or nostalgia for the countryside. Belying the program's name, money can be sent anywhere, and much of it is going to places that offer regional produce as gifts in return.