2022年4月1日の官報によると65の市町村が「過疎地域」に追加され、初めて半数を超え885となりました。
➣For the first time, more than half of all municipalities in Japan are designated as “depopulated areas” under the internal affairs ministry’s classification system that started in 1970. While 820 fell into the category in April 2021, 65 municipalities in 27 prefectures will be added to the newest list. Their inclusion will be officially announced in the government gazette （政府官報）issued on April 1
※classification 分類
※fall into ～に分類される、～に入る、～に該当する
※gazette官報official journal、広報 語源：イタリア語で少額コイン。ベニス政府発行の月報が買えたコインgazeta
田舎に共通する問題は、若者が都会に出ていき、人口が減り、空き屋が増え、税収が減ることです。
➣Rural areas have seen rapid depopulation as the young move away for opportunities in cities, leaving the localities dotted with empty homes and contending with dwindling tax revenue.
※限界集落 marginal settlement/marginal village
岸田首相の看板政策『デジタル田園都市国家構想』
➣One of the signature policies of current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is the “Digital Garden City,” aimed at using technologies such as drones and self-driving buses to overcome the disadvantages of living in the Japanese inaka.
Under the ‘Digital Garden City National Plan’, the government is aiming to reach a net zero（正味ゼロ） change in population in greater Tokyo by 2027.
※signature特徴的な、代表の
東京一極集中(excess concentration of population in the Tokyo Metropolitan area)を止めるため、「地方創生起業支援事業・地方創生移住支援事業」が2019年からはじまっていますが、その支援金が4月からＵＰします。
➣Government boosts incentives to lure people to ‘unfashionable’ regional areas hit by aging, shrinking populations（見出し）
Japan will increase incentives to entice relocating families to move out of Tokyo in a bid to revitalize regional areas.
※lure 誘惑する ※entice誘う、誘惑する
➣The payment will be offered to families living in the 23 “core” wards of Tokyo, other parts of the metropolitan area, and the neighboring commuter-belt prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa.
移住先によって異なりますが、単身最大60万円、世帯100万円に、子供1人あたり30万円が、東京圏から移住する世帯の18歳未満の子供1人100万円に引き上がります。（地方の中小企業への就業、5年以上住む等の諸条件はあり）
支援金は政府と地方自治体で折半。利用者は徐々に増えています。目標は2027年に1万人です。
➣Half of the cash will come from the central government and the other half from local municipalities.
➣The scheme has struggled to capture the public imagination since it was launched three years ago, with support provided to 1,184 families in 2021 – the year teleworking became more common – compared with 71 in 2019 and 290 in 2020.
The government is hoping 10,000 people will have moved from Tokyo to rural areas by 2027.
※在宅勤務=teleworking 動詞ではwork from home (remotely)
地方も様々な魅力を発信。中には若者ふれあい事業に力を入れて、結婚すると補助金が出る自治体もあります。
➣To attract new residents, Japan’s hollowed-out towns and villages have highlighted the charms of rural life, easy access to undersubscribed childcare, and, in the case, the availability of eligible men.
※hollowed-out空洞化した
※undersubscribed 〔購読者・応募者・申込者などの数が〕定員［募集枠］に満たない
※eligible ①資格のあるeligible voter有権者 ②望ましい（特に結婚相手として）ふさわしい
