Overview of the 2026 White Paper on Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism | Chapter 5Advancing Regional Revitalization Through the Regional Future Strategy

In addition to rapidly declining birth rates, population aging, and population decline, concentration in the Tokyo area continues, and conventional regional revitalization efforts have not yet been sufficient to change the trend. In rural areas, regional economies are at risk of shrinking as population decline reduces consumption.

Against this backdrop, the government is promoting the Regional Future Strategy, emphasizing the creation of employment opportunities, childbirth and child-rearing support, maintenance of essential services, migration support, and the realization of a strong economy. The strategy seeks to establish clusters in leading global growth fields and clusters originating in local regions across Japan, thereby harnessing the potential for regional growth.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is advancing comprehensive regional development that combines financial and hands-on support to draw out regional autonomy, public-private urban and infrastructure development, the securing of daily transportation, use of regional resources, wide-area cooperation, and the promotion of specific regions.

For residents, access to medical care, education, shopping, public transportation, housing, disaster prevention, and essential services may be maintained or improved. Concentrating functions at hubs and rebuilding transportation networks can improve daily convenience and increase the efficiency of administrative services.

For businesses and regional economies, infrastructure development such as airports, ports, railways, and high-standard roads can support logistics efficiency, industrial location, tourism, and the maintenance and creation of employment and income. Cooperation with private investment and regional finance is expected to increase business opportunities within regions and area value.

In regional communities, roadside stations, rivers, coasts, ports, and remote islands can be used as hubs for interaction, tourism, and disaster prevention, while resident participation in management and the dissemination of regional culture advance. Support for disadvantaged areas such as heavy-snow regions and remote islands helps sustain safe living and regional sustainability.

In policy management, emphasis is placed on combining local government discretion, public-private cooperation, and collaboration among ministries, agencies, and regions, while expanding the results of model projects and demonstrations. Combining measures suited to the challenges of each region aims to maintain a vibrant society even amid population decline.

For local governments, the Regional Future Grant supports industrial cluster plans and growth strategies for local industries in addition to conventional regional revitalization. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism provides hands-on support for project development and implementation. The Regional Development Awards have been conducted since FY1984, and the Handmade Hometown Awards since FY1986, to disseminate outstanding regional development. Private funds are attracted through investments by the Organization for Promoting Urban Development, town development funds, crowdfunding, and donations.

Small concessions are a system of small-scale PPP/PFI projects targeting former schools and old traditional houses owned by local governments, using private-sector ingenuity to address regional challenges and improve area value. The platform hosts events, issue-sharing activities, and working groups, and dispatches experts to local governments to help formulate concepts. In cities, efforts include integrated use of roads, parks, plazas, and roadside buildings, undergrounding the Nihonbashi district of the Shuto Expressway, and advancing the three-dimensional road system.

Under compact-plus-network development, Location Optimization Plans and Regional Public Transport Plans serve as the basis for coordinating medical care, welfare, housing, public facility reorganization, and disaster prevention. Measures include restricting or relocating development in hazard areas, forming public transport axes, and improving circulation and staying comfort within hubs. At transport hubs, integrated development of transfers, station functions, and urban areas is being advanced at locations such as Shinagawa Station, Kobe-Sannomiya Station, and Toranomon Hills Station.

For transport and logistics infrastructure, development includes modal connections through the Busta Project, international cargo and terminal functions at airports, international logistics terminals at ports, passenger and freight rail transport, and high-standard roads. Systems that leverage regional resources are also used, including roadside stations, car sharing, bike sharing, road cooperation organizations, riverfront community development, coastal cooperation organizations, Minato Oasis, Minato Green PPP, and Umi no Eki.

For regional transportation, support is provided for securing and maintaining buses, demand-responsive transport, remote-island sea and air routes, and regional railways, as well as safety equipment, vehicle renewal, digital transformation, and cashless services. Japan's ridesharing, established in FY2023, uses privately owned vehicles and local drivers and accommodates expansion during weather events and festivals, as well as telephone and cash use. For dual-location residence, the system develops designated residence promotion plans, support corporations, housing, livelihoods, and communities based on the amended law that took effect in November 2024.

Major registration and designation figures for community-based facilities are 1,231 roadside stations, 303 riverfront community development sites, 42 road cooperation organizations, 25 coastal cooperation organizations, 45 port cooperation organizations, 170 Minato Oasis sites, 6 Minato Green PPP projects, and 179 Umi no Eki stations.

For wide-area cooperation, 40 prefectures have established 35 common goals, prepared a cumulative total of 83 wide-area regional revitalization infrastructure development plans, and received support for 16 public-private project feasibility studies. As of April 1, 2025, 38 central city regions have been formed.

In specific regional promotion, heavy-snow regions comprise 532 municipalities and 51% of the national land area. As of April 2025, peninsula promotion areas covered 23 regions, 22 prefectures, and 194 municipalities. Remote-island sea routes total 276 routes, with transport demand of 39 million passengers; 127 routes are eligible for subsidies. There are 62 remote-island air routes, of which 20 are eligible for national subsidies.

As of the end of March 2026, Urban Renewal Emergency Development Areas numbered 55, including 15 Special Urban Renewal Emergency Development Areas. As of the end of December 2025, there were 135 Special Urban Renewal Districts, including 96 proposed by private parties. As of the end of March 2026, 176 private urban renewal project plans had been certified.

Under the Ninth Hokkaido Comprehensive Development Plan, Hokkaido is advancing food security, tourism-oriented nation building, Zero Carbon Hokkaido, the maintenance and development of production spaces, digital utilization, human and logistics networks, and resilient national land development. Support is provided for industry, tourism, migration, and environmental conservation in the Amami Islands, Ogasawara Islands, remote islands, and peninsulas. At Upopoy, efforts to promote understanding of Ainu culture and regional cooperation are advancing under the visitor attraction promotion strategy formulated in March 2024.