The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to begin offering financial aid of up to ?3.15 million ($20,200) from 2026 for those looking to study abroad at a higher education institution.

Any Japanese national who is either enrolled in or is set to enter a university or technical college in Japan and whose parents reside in Tokyo will be eligible to apply for the new program. There is no household income limit set for the aid.

¡°Nurturing global-minded people will lead to the future development of Tokyo,¡± Gov. Yuriko Koike said in a news conference on Friday. ¡°However, the reality is that studying abroad, itself, is very expensive these days, especially due to the weak yen, so with this, we¡¯d like to give a nudge from behind to those who want to study abroad.

¡°We will implement this program so that those who have a strong desire to study abroad and meet the necessary conditions will be able to receive a global education,¡± Koike added.

The move comes at a time when more Japanese students are reluctant to study abroad following the pandemic, when borders were closed for many countries.

Under the current plan, foreign nationals would not be eligible for the program, even if their parents live and pay taxes in Tokyo. Asked whether Tokyo will include such students, Koike merely said she would ¡°consider it as an opinion.¡±

The Tokyo government is set to begin taking applications in the fiscal year starting in April from students planning to start studying at a foreign institution from around the summer of 2026.

There are two tracks set under the program. One is for short-term study abroad opportunities that can be anything between four weeks and three months, with this offering up to ?900,000 per person to 500 students per year.

The other, for mid- to long-term study between six months and a year, would offer up to ?3.15 million each to 100 students per year.

The money can be used to fund travel as well as tuition fees at the institution abroad. Under the mid- to long-term track, the aid includes a monthly stipend of up to ?150,000 that can be used for day-to-day expenses.

Details on what the application will require are yet to be determined, with these set to be released in the coming fiscal year, but the metropolitan government plans to conduct document screening for both tracks as well as additional interviews for the mid- to long-term program.

The metropolitan government plans to allocate ?100 million for the aid in the fiscal 2025 budget.