"Daycare Centers Increased Tenfold, Breaking Low Birthrate... The Miracle Created by Japan's Nagareyama"

Achieving 'Zero' Waiting Children in Daycare
Local Governments Provide Direct Child Pickup Service

In Japan, where population decline has become a social issue due to worsening low birth rates and aging, Nagareyama City, a region that has experienced natural population growth for six consecutive years, is gaining attention. This significant increase in births is the result of policies focused on ensuring convenience in childcare, led by the city government and residents.

In particular, the city-led expansion of daycare centers to nearly ten times the previous number eliminated waiting lists for enrollment, and the implementation of a pickup service where the local government directly escorts children to and from daycare instead of working parents has been credited as a key factor. This has emerged as a model case for low birth rate countermeasures both inside and outside Japan.

Mayor Yoshiharu Izaki greeting children. (Photo by Mayor Izaki SNS)

On the 26th, Asahi Shimbun cited the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' population announcement as of January 1 this year, reporting that Nagareyama City in Chiba Prefecture ranked first nationwide for six consecutive years in natural population increase, with the number of births exceeding deaths by 221. While Japan’s overall population decreased by more than 800,000 compared to the previous year, marking the largest decline ever, Nagareyama City showed the exact opposite result.

Japanese media also focused on this miracle, with evaluations suggesting that the success was due to measures addressing the childcare concerns of dual-income couples. Since Yoshiharu Izaki was elected mayor in 2003, childcare policies have been significantly strengthened. The year after his inauguration, Mayor Izaki established a marketing department at city hall to begin promotional activities. Catchphrases such as "If you become a mother, Nagareyama City" and "If you become a father, Nagareyama City" were created to promote childcare policies.

Administrative support was also greatly enhanced, increasing the number of daycare centers in Nagareyama from 17 in 2010 to 102 as of this year, nearly a tenfold increase. Thanks to this, any parent wishing to entrust their child to daycare can do so without a waiting period, achieving "zero waiting children."

A panoramic view of Nagareyama City. Couples with children stand out as they go out. (Photo by Yoshiharu Izaki, Nagareyama City Mayor's SNS)

For dual-income couples, a "pickup childcare system" was also established to escort children to and from daycare. Anyone can apply if their home is more than 500 meters from the daycare and both parents work, making it impossible for them to accompany their child during daycare drop-off times.

Pickup stations have been set up at some train stations, where parents can drop off their children on their way to work, and the city then transports the children to and from daycare by bus. For drop-off, if parents leave their child at the station between 7:00 and 7:50 a.m. during commuting hours, a city-arranged bus picks up the children around 8:00 a.m. and takes them to daycare. The usage fee is 100 yen per day and 2,000 yen per month (approximately 18,000 KRW).

Pickup station guide map of Nagareyama City. It shows that after parents take their children from home to the station, the local government takes the children to the daycare center. (Photo by Nagareyama City Pickup Station website)

Additionally, targeting parents in their 30s and 40s, the city organizes night markets four times a year at stations where parents can enjoy a beer after work, actively hosting events for parents.

As word spread that Nagareyama is a great place for dual-income couples to raise children, the population of people in their 30s who moved into Nagareyama increased by 13,495 from 2012 to 2022, and the number of households with children under 10 grew by 7,805. Although aging is a problem in Japan, as of April this year, the number of children under 10 in this city exceeded the number of people in their 70s by about 1,700. Following nicknames like "the place where McDonald's Happy Meal sets sell the most," Nagareyama is now called "the happiest city in Japan."

A Nagareyama City official told Asahi, "It seems that clearly identifying the target groups needing support and delivering the city’s policies in an accessible way has led to the population increase."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.