Tokyo’s local government is giving out billions of yen to support its nightlife

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Tourism Foundation have announced plans to provide support for local nightlife in the form of subsidies and grants, in the hopes of capitalising on Tokyo’s night time economy and promoting 24-hour tourism through its nightlife.

Japan’s government is aiming to bring in 40 million foreign tourists and to increase spending by foreign tourists to ¥8 trillion yen (approximately £58.5 billion) per year by 2020. This ‘Nightlife Tourism Promotion Subsidy’ aims to help the country meet these goals by ensuring tourists are never short of activities, day or night.

The initiative follows on from the appointment of Tokyo’s first ‘night ambassador’ by the Shibuya City Tourism Association back in 2016 – a job dedicated solely to promoting Shibuya’s nighttime culture, particularly its dance clubs and bars.

The grant will partially support expenses for nightlife events and activities, and the projects it’s designed to help will be split into two categories.

One category covers regular events that are held in a fixed location throughout the year, which begin once the sun has set, last until at least 8pm and attract tourists. The grant will cover two thirds of the total project cost for this type of event, with up to 100 million yen available for each grant.

The second category focuses more on promotional material and marketing, such as new venues, neighbourhood development, promotional magazines or events PR. Two thirds of the cost for this will also be covered by the grant, maxing out at 5 million yen.

Applications can be made to Tokyo Tourism Foundation up to July 19 here.

[Via: RA]

Poppy Holloway is a freelance writer, follow her on Twitter

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