Japan regional revival tests remote work against office culture
A September 9th PERSOL Research and Consulting report shows remote working gradually declining in Japan as more employers make office attendance the default.
Its July survey found that 21.4% of regular employees worked remotely, down 1.1 percentage points year on year.
Photo by Microsoft Copilot on Unsplash
Meanwhile, 24.6% reported instructions to attend the office as the default, up 1.8 percentage points and marking a second consecutive annual increase.
That shift could complicate Japan’s efforts to use remote working for regional revitalisation by enabling people to relocate while keeping their existing jobs and potentially bringing urban incomes into local businesses and housing markets.
Relocation without changing jobs
The Cabinet Office promotes “relocation without changing jobs” as part of its efforts to bring people and business activity into regional communities.
Its remote-work initiatives encourage relocation, regional satellite offices and collaboration between companies and municipalities. The objectives include reducing population outflows, supporting regional employment and creating new businesses.
The government continues to develop this approach. In June 2026, the Cabinet Office opened recruitment for its public–private remote-work hub, which connects companies and municipalities interested in regional projects.
The potential economic benefit is tangible. A worker who retains a Tokyo salary after moving to Nagano can spend part of that income on a local home, groceries and services. The destination gains a resident with spending power without first needing to create an equivalent local job.
Across many households, that could support year-round housing demand and local businesses. PERSOL’s survey measures working arrangements rather than relocation outcomes, so it does not quantify these potential benefits.
It does, however, show why occasional remote work may offer insufficient flexibility for a permanent move. Only 14.5% of remote workers reported working remotely every day without office attendance, although 81.6% wanted to continue remote working.
Someone attending a Tokyo office several times a week faces a different housing decision from someone attending occasionally. An employer can continue offering remote work while making a distant relocation impractical.
Nagano offers financial support to eligible movers
Nagano Prefecture illustrates how regional authorities are supporting this national objective. Its relocation-support programme offers eligible applicants up to JPY 600,000 for a single-person household or JPY 1 million for a household of two or more.
Additional support may be available for households moving with children under 18. Actual payments and eligibility conditions vary by municipality.
The programme includes people who move voluntarily, establish their main home in the destination community and continue their previous work remotely. Teleworker conditions include at least 20 hours of remote work a week and, in principle, no habitual commuting to the previous workplace.
Applicants must also meet residence and employment-history requirements and intend to continue living and working in the destination municipality for at least five years after applying.
Foreign nationals can qualify under specified residence statuses, including permanent resident and certain family-related statuses.
Further Reading:
PERSOL Research and Consulting - Survey on Telework 2026 (Japanese only)
Cabinet Office - Remote Work and Regional Revitalisation (Japanese only)
