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Grave cleaning, lawn mowing services entice hometown tax donations from urbanites in Japan
The Mainichi
As fewer people return from cities to visit family homes and neighborhoods amid the coronavirus pandemic, services offering to look after their parents and empty homes in exchange for deductible "hometown tax" contributions have become more prevalent.
It appears that many people who are refraining from returning home during the crisis have taken an interest in the services, sparking a rise in applications at municipal governments. Some local authorities have even launched new services to meet demand.
"Could I ask you to cut the grass one more time?" read a message received by the Silver Jinzai Center in the city of Takashima, in west Japan's Shiga Prefecture. The request, sent at the end of 2020, was from a woman in her 50s living outside the prefecture. It was her second time using the service as a hometown tax gift in six months.