Japan Enacts Bill to Boost Settlement on 6 More Border Islands

Tokyo, July 8 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s parliament enacted a bill Wednesday to add six islands to the country’s list of inhabited border islands eligible for state aid to promote settlement. The revised special measures law for the preservation of inhabited border islands calls for promoting stay-based tourism on listed islands to increase traffic and requiring prefectural governments with them to make efforts to address depopulation. The special measures law is designed to maintain bases for managing territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. In line with the revision, the law, originally set to expire in March next year, will be extended until March 2037. The six islands are Teuri and Yagishiri in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, Tobishima in the northeastern prefecture of Yamagata, Awashima in the central prefecture of Niigata, and Niijima and Shikinejima in Tokyo. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]