To boost the shrinking population of Yuni, a small farming town of Japan with 5,900 people in the middle of the northern island of Hokkaido, it has been selling plots of land for only $1.50 per square meter. The town is hoping to encourage out-of-towners or visitors with the bargain offering and aims to help people from outside to settle in their town, help the town revitalize itself, and prevent the lessening of the population.

Photo by locket479

Yuni is selling eight 330 square meter plots on a former public housing project. The buyers need to commit in building a house on the land they have bought and they must live in it within three years. Interested buyers who are eligible to apply or to buy are only Japanese nationals or foreigners with permanent residency in Japan.

The offer price is just two percent of the local going price of 6,000 yen which is 120 yen and just a small portion of the 21.5 million yen or $272,000 charged for a square meter of earth in the upmarket Ginza district of Tokyo.

Since the sale of the plots was made public, around 200 people have already enquired about the deal in just 2 weeks, according to the town official. The official also said that the price had been set to go along with the 120th foundation anniversary of the town.