Tokyo Metropolitan Government to offer subsidies and grants for nightlife events

  • Published
    Thu, Jun 13, 2019, 23:34
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  • Billions of yen are up for grabs as a way to boost 24-hour tourism in the Japanese capital.
  • Tokyo Metropolitan Government to offer subsidies and grants for nightlife events image
  • The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Tourism Foundation will support nightlife events in the city with grants and subsidies potentially amounting to billions of yen. The initiative, which translates as the Nightlife Tourism Promotion Grant, has been set up to devote more resources to ensuring Tokyo is a city that visitors can enjoy at any time of day or night. Applicable projects are divided into two categories. The first category covers events held regularly in a particular location throughout the year which start after sunset, last until at least 8 PM and will attract tourists. Successful applicants in this category will have two-thirds of the total project cost paid for by the grant, up to 1 billion yen per grant. The other category focuses on local communities' new approaches to nightlife in their area by way of promotional materials. This could include PR for events, a new venue or a neighbourhood, a one-off event, creating a promotional magazine or anything which might encourage nighttime tourism activity, again covering two-thirds of the cost up to a maximum of 5 million yen. Applications are open until July 19th via the Tokyo Tourism Foundation website. The initiative follows a similar announcement in the UK back in May, with the Arts Council England pledging £1.5 million to be put towards independent clubs and promoters by way of grants of up to £40,000.
RA