Vacant Store Utilization Subsidy

① Program overview: This subsidy supports the reuse of vacant stores in Higashimiyoshi Town and is intended to help create activity and foot traffic in the town. It assists individuals or corporations that operate a business using a vacant store or similar property in the town by covering part of the renovation cost. The official page explains that the program is for people conducting retail, food service, satellite office projects, or similar activities in vacant stores in Higashimiyoshi. A vacant store is defined in the ordinance as a store or similar facility that was previously used for commerce or related business and then closed, excluding facilities inside a large-scale retail store. ② Eligible applicants: Applicants must be individuals or corporations satisfying all listed requirements. They must have no delinquent town taxes, must not be in the same household, same livelihood, or within the second degree of kinship with the owner of the vacant store, and if they already operate a store in the town, opening in the vacant store must not cause the existing store to become vacant. Applicants opening a franchise chain store whose head office is outside the town are excluded. Applicants that have already received the same subsidy and persons connected with organized crime groups are also excluded, although prior receipt may be allowed when the target vacant store differs. ③ Eligible projects and costs: Eligible projects are retail businesses, food service businesses, satellite office projects, and other projects specially approved by the mayor, conducted by eligible applicants in vacant stores within the town. The project must be implemented in the fiscal year that includes the grant application date, and payment of subsidized costs must be completed within that fiscal year. The same costs must not receive or be scheduled to receive subsidies from the national government, local governments other than the town, public interest corporations, or other Higashimiyoshi Town subsidy programs. Eligible costs are renovation expenses necessary for using the vacant store for the subsidized business. Acquisition of buildings or land and related relocation compensation costs are excluded. ④ Rate, cap, timing, and application points: The subsidy amount is within one half of eligible costs excluding consumption tax and local consumption tax, capped at 500,000 yen, with amounts below 1,000 yen rounded down. The official page was current as of April 1, 2026, and warns that applications may close during the fiscal year depending on the budget. The application must be submitted before the subsidized project starts; applications after project commencement are not accepted. Required attachments include the business plan, lease contract copy when leasing, location map, current photos, renovation drawings and estimates, and pledge/consent form.