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July 08, 2025
 

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FURUSATO NOZEI

The city government of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, used corporate donations to create a volunteer tour, during which participants help farmers harvest apples and enjoy sightseeing in the city.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 20, 2025
Corporate hometown donations gain traction in Japan
Some local governments have been found to provide de facto rewards to donor companies, violating the system's rules and raising concerns about improper practices.
Jasper Cheung, head of Amazon Japan (second from the left), which will enter the "furusato nozei" hometown donation intermediary business.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2024
Amazon Japan to enter 'furusato nōzei' business
Amazon aims to differentiate its service from other sites by delivering gifts as quickly as one day after donations are made.
An event to support Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures is held in Sendai in March, with booths offering local specialties.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Sep 30, 2024
Nearly 40% of Fukushima municipalities want hometown tax system revised
Some want the central government to implement measures to establish a system that narrows disparities among municipalities.
Tokyo's Shibuya Ward offers a ticket to Shibuya Sky, an open-air observation deck at the rooftop of a high-rise building in Shibuya, as a return gift for those who made furusato nozei donations to the ward.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 2, 2024
'Furusato nozei' donations topped ¥1 trillion for first time in 2023
The city of Miyakonojo in Miyazaki Prefecture received the largest amount of donations, at ¥19.3 billion.
People who made hometown tax donations to the city of Narita in Chiba Prefecture take part in a tour on Sunday at Narita Airport in the city, which was offered as a return gift.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024
Japan's hometown tax donations top ¥1 trillion for first time
The number of people who received residence tax breaks through the system is also believed to have hit a record 10 million.
Japan's tradition of offering investors gifts is nice. But with the stock market at record highs, such perks are no longer needed.
COMMENTARY
Jul 18, 2024
It’s time Japan's shareholders buy their own wine
The practice by Japanese companies of giving gifts once served as a good way to encourage trading novices to dabble in the stock market.
Internal affairs minister Takeaki Matsumoto
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2024
Point websites to be barred from Japan's hometown tax donation system
Donations collected via the sites will no longer be tax deductible under the hometown tax system.
Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward has offered a stationmaster experience at Shinjuku Station as a return gift for donations of ¥1 million to the ward.
JAPAN
May 1, 2024
Tokyo offers 'experience packages' as gifts to curb tax outflow
As their tax revenues continue to decline, Tokyo wards have begun diversifying their gift offerings under the hometown tax program.
A woman makes a donation for people affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake set up at Shinjuku's Keio Department Store's in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2024
¥17 billion raised for quake-hit Ishikawa
A committee made up of members of related organizations will decide how to allocate the funds, which will be distributed via local municipalities.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 1, 2023
Japan's hometown tax donations set record for third year
The value of donations under the furusato nōzei (hometown tax donation) system rose by about 20% from the previous year to ¥965.4 billion.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jul 18, 2023
Local governments in Tokyo spruce up donor gifts
Shinjuku Ward is considering a menu of unique gifts, such as crafts related to local industries including printing and dyeing, and a one-day 'mayor's experience' program.
JAPAN / Explainer
Oct 2, 2022
Tax breaks, local specialties: What to know about Japan’s furusato nōzei program
Foreign residents had difficulty taking advantage of the program due to a lack of information in languages other than Japanese — until now.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2022
New platform encourages Japan's foreign residents to use tax donation programs
The furusato nu043eu0304zei program allows people to give tax payments to prefectures and municipalities in exchange for gifts, but uptake among non-Japanese has been low.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2022
Gifu project to rescue cats using tax donation system draws backers
The government in Hida, Gifu Prefecture, gives donors return gifts associated with cats to encourage feline devotees across the country to make active contributions to society.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 18, 2022
As furusato nōzei tax program thrives amid COVID-19 pandemic, some lose out
Not all municipalities are benefiting from the program, under which people give tax-deductible donations to municipalities and receive gifts such as local specialties in return.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2020
City that makes a third of Japan's toilet paper flooded by tax donations amid rumor-driven buying binge
For one city in Shizuoka Prefecture, panic-buying has evolved into panic-donating.
EDITORIALS
Oct 13, 2019
Dispute over hometown tax donation system
A decision by the internal affairs ministry raises questions from the viewpoint of local autonomy and the decentralization of administrative powers.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2019
Western Japan city to sue ministry after being excluded from hometown tax donation system
The city of Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, will file a lawsuit against the internal affairs ministry in a bid to reverse a decision to remove the city from the revised furusato nōzei (hometown tax donation) system, Mayor Hiroyasu Chiyomatsu said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2019
Donations to Japan's hometown tax donation program topped record ¥512 billion in 2018
The annual total surged 40 percent, the steepest increase on record, as governments drew interest from around the nation with generous return gifts.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 7, 2018
Abuse is the norm for Japan's hometown tax donation system
On Sept. 11, then-Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiko Noda gave a news conference at which she stated the government's intention to revise laws for local taxes.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
Trump announces new tariff rate on Japan — and extension of deadline to Aug. 1
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a trade letter sent by the White House to Japan during a news conference at the White House in Washington on Monday.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Lawson to let visitors use larger parking lots as paid car campsites
A Lawson convenience store in Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture. A new service from the company comes amid the rise in inbound tourists, making hotels and inns harder to book and more expensive.
The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto
The exhibition of Fujimoto’s architecture surveys his career to date, as well as looks ahead as shown in his proposal of a future floating city designed in collaboration with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata.
A tiny mountain hamlet keeps traditional log rafting afloat
Once a way to transport lumber from the mountains to the coast, log rafting is now Kitayama's biggest attraction.
A furever friend: Tips for responsible dog ownership in Japan
Dog ownership may seem daunting in Japan, but with the right tools and logistical knowledge, you can ensure a healthy, happy life for your pet.

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