Tokyo Spends Big on Children, Wins Over Parents

Births in Tokyo last year rose for the first time in nine years, according to preliminary statistics released by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry on Thursday. While Japan’s birth rate continues to decline nationwide, efforts by the Tokyo metropolitan government — including investing over ¥2 trillion in childcare policies, equivalent to Osaka City’s budget — appear to have yielded some results. However, most regional areas still face severe challenges, and they are not pleased with the concentration of resources in Tokyo.

Feeling secure

Company employees Keiichi Saito, 39, and Fumino Saito, 38, said they felt secure enough to have their second daughter, who was born in August 2025, thanks to public support. They live in a house in Ota Ward, Tokyo, with their baby and their 3-year-old daughter.

When she was pregnant with their second child, Fumino suffered from morning sickness. However, she was able to use Tokyo’s babysitter dispatch service for up to 144 hours per year, allowing a sitter to take their daughter outdoors to play. The Tokyo government also provides a monthly allowance of ¥5,000 per child under 18, which the couple used for expenses like gymnastics classes for their first child.

Tokyo has made daycare free for all children. Fumino, who is considering returning to work after childcare leave, was grateful. “If you can leave your children in safe hands, it will give you the motivation to work,” she said.

In Edogawa Ward, where the couple lived previously, they received a monthly allowance of ¥13,000 plus free diapers. In choosing where to buy a home, the couple opted for Tokyo over Yokohama — closer to the home of Fumino’s parents.

Tokyo’s comprehensive childcare support was very appealing, they agreed.

Leading the nation

Last year, Tokyo saw 88,518 births. While this represents a 1.3% increase from 2024, it is still less than half the peak hit around 1970, when there were more than 200,000 births. The only other region showing an increase was Ishikawa Prefecture, where births fell after the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has made tackling the low birth rate a top priority, calling it a “national challenge rumbling through society.” In the city’s budget for the next fiscal year, which totals ¥9.653 trillion, over 20% is allocated to child-rearing, as the city looks to provide “seamless support” from matching couples to marriage, pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing. The ¥2.2 trillion in support is nearly double the amount allocated when Koike took office in 2016.

In 2024, the metropolitan government introduced its own AI-powered matching system. As of late January, about 14,000 people had registered, leading to 150 marriages. The cost to join a matchmaking party in January was as low as ¥1,000. A 28-year-old man who attended one of these parties for the first time said, “I kept failing the lottery, but I finally won on my third try.”

In pregnancy and childbirth support, Tokyo leads the nation by providing up to ¥300,000 for egg freezing as women seek to have children later in life, and ¥100,000 for pain-relieving epidurals during childbirth.

“We want to continue fostering a sense of security for those who wish to marry and have children,” Koike said Thursday.

Disgruntled neighbors

Three prefectures in the greater Tokyo area — Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa — are not happy about Tokyo “going it alone.” Chiba Gov. Toshihito Kumagai has repeatedly mentioned the drawbacks of overconcentration in Tokyo.

“Childcare and educational support are rights that should be equally accessible regardless of where you live,” Kumagai said at a press conference in December.

“Shouldn’t child-rearing support be uniformly provided by the national government?” said an official for the prefecture.

Aomori Prefecture, which continues to see fewer and fewer births, has made infertility treatment effectively free using its own budget. However, an official in the prefecture’s children and families department called for corrective measures. “Without money from the national budget, we can’t compete,” the official said.

Tokyo attracts young people, including unmarried women, for education and employment. In 2024, the Population Strategy Council, a private group, dubbed municipalities that pull people in like this “black holes.” Sixteen of Tokyo’s 23 wards fall into this category, accounting for over 60% of the 25 such municipalities nationwide.