Chikuma City UIJ Turn Employment and Startup Relocation Support Program

1. Program overview: Chikuma City’s UIJ Turn Employment and Startup Relocation Support Program provides relocation support money to people who move from the Tokyo metropolitan area, Aichi Prefecture, or Osaka Prefecture to Chikuma City and then work in Nagano, continue work by telework, work as a relationship-population applicant, or start a business after receiving a startup support grant decision. The program aims to address workforce shortages, solve local issues, and encourage migration to Nagano and Chikuma. The city’s FY2026 page confirms that applications opened on May 1, 2026. 2. Eligible applicants: Applicants must satisfy relocation-origin requirements, relocation-destination requirements, other personal requirements, and one of the employment/startup routes A through E. The origin requirements include having lived and worked in the Tokyo area, Aichi, or Osaka for at least five years in total during the ten years immediately before moving the residence record, and continuously for at least one year immediately before moving. Applicants must apply within one year after moving to Chikuma and intend to live there for at least five years after the application date. Anti-social-force exclusion, eligible nationality or residence status, and no prior relocation grant receipt within ten years are also required. 3. Support contents: The grant is a fixed relocation payment, not reimbursement of expenses. The amount is 600,000 yen for a single-person household and 1,000,000 yen for a household of two or more persons. If the applicant relocates with household members under 18, an additional 1,000,000 yen per eligible child may be added. Employment categories include jobs listed on Nagano’s matching site, professional human resource matching, telework, relationship-population employment, and startup applicants who have received a decision under the separate social business startup grant. 4. Rate, cap, schedule, and application points: No subsidy rate applies to the relocation grant. The total amount varies with household category and the number of eligible children, so a fixed total ceiling is not stated; the largest explicit base or unit amount is 1,000,000 yen. Applications are submitted to the municipality within one year after moving and within one year after employment or the startup grant decision. Acceptance may end early when the budget limit is reached or due to administrative processing, so consultation with Chikuma City before moving or applying is important.