Japan's government is launching a pilot program that sends university students from the Tokyo metropolitan area to study at regional universities and companies, a scheme it calls "domestic study abroad." The aim is to turn students' experience in the regions into a pipeline of talent and slow the decline of shrinking communities.
Sending Students to Fill Regional Talent Gaps
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will run the domestic study abroad program on a trial basis, allowing students at universities in the Tokyo area to study at regional universities and firms, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 25th.
Five universities in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture will take part, with each eligible for up to 25 million yen (about 220 million won) a year for three years to cover program costs. The participating schools are Chuo University, Rikkyo University, the University of Electro-Communications and Shiraume Gakuen University in Tokyo, along with Chiba University.
Chuo University plans to send students studying agriculture, tourism and preventive medicine to regional areas including Niseko in Hokkaido, the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture and the Goto Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. Rikkyo University is preparing programs with Kyoai Gakuen Maebashi International University in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, and Rakuno Gakuen University in Ebetsu, Hokkaido.
Officials also expect that having students from the capital region live and study alongside regional students will allow both groups to share different experiences and knowledge.
Behind the ministry's initiative lies a shortage of workers in the regions. Young people who move from the regions to the Tokyo area to attend university often stay there after graduating, an analysis that points to a deepening outflow of population from local communities.
Areas With 10% Population Drops Rise 1.9-Fold in Five Years
The pace of population decline in Japan's regions is clear in the data. A total of 477 municipalities saw their populations fall by more than 10% between 2020 and 2025, according to Kyodo News and other outlets. That is more than a quarter of all local governments nationwide.
In the 2015-2020 survey, 247 municipalities met the same threshold. The number of areas with declines exceeding 10% has therefore risen about 1.9-fold in five years.
The steepest drop was in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, where the population fell 34% between 2020 and 2025. Wajima, also hit by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, recorded a decline of about 26%. In Iwate, Akita and Kochi prefectures, more than half of all municipalities saw populations fall by 10% or more.
Experts called for countermeasures, warning that rapid population loss cuts tax revenue and administrative staffing and can lead to reduced public services in health care, transportation and education.
Preliminary results from the 2025 national census by the Statistics Bureau of Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications put the country's total population at 123.05 million, down 3.097 million from 2020. The 2.5% decline was the largest since the census began in 1920.
