Gifu City Subsidy for Improving Reception Environment for Foreign Tourists

(1) Overview: Gifu City provides this subsidy to private operators to support voluntary improvements to the reception environment for foreign tourists, thereby promoting inbound tourism. Established by ordinance on 25 June 2018 and most recently amended 26 March 2025, the program funds three project categories: (a) multilingual signage / materials, (b) free public Wi-Fi installation, and (c) credit-card / e-money payment terminals. (2) Eligible applicants: Operators (including sole proprietors) and groups operating tourism facilities, lodging (Inns Act licensed), restaurants (Food Sanitation Act licensed), retail stores (Standard Industrial Classification Category I), or facilities recognized by the Mayor. Facilities must be located in Gifu City, accessible to foreign tourists, and not engaged in sex-related entertainment businesses. Applicants must have paid all city taxes and must not have received an equivalent subsidy from another local government. (3) Eligible expenses: For multilingual support, planning/design fees, signage and plate fabrication/installation, pamphlets, menus, websites, and multilingual audio translation devices. For Wi-Fi, routers, cable/electrical work, and internet line opening costs. For e-money/credit, payment terminals, installation work, internet line opening, and initial registration fees. Consumption tax, monthly maintenance, and lease fees are excluded. Categories (b) and (c) must be implemented together with category (a) unless already completed. (4) Rate/cap/schedule: Subsidy is 1/2 of eligible expenses, capped at JPY 100,000 per project category, with a maximum of JPY 200,000 per applicant. Amounts under JPY 1,000 are rounded down. Applications (Form 1) with project plan (Form 2), budget (Form 3), two or more quotations, facility outline, business license copy, pledge (Form 4), and consent (Form 5) must be submitted to the Mayor by the end of January of the fiscal year in which the project is carried out. Completion report (Form 6) is due within 30 days of completion or by fiscal year end, whichever is earlier.