Narita City is offering to pay half of what employers inside Narita International Airport spend helping young staff repay student loans, with a ceiling of ¥8,000 a month per worker. Applications are taken from 1 October to 30 November 2026 (JST), according to the program listing on the national JGrants subsidy portal.
What the money covers
The subsidy reimburses 50% of the cost an employer incurs either by paying a loan-repayment allowance to a regular employee or by sending repayments directly to the lender on the employee's behalf. Any amount is rounded down to the nearest ¥1,000, and the ¥8,000 monthly limit applies per supported worker.
Each employer can claim for up to five new workers, plus however many continuing beneficiaries it already has. Support for any one worker runs for a maximum of 60 months, counted from the month the employer began supporting that person's repayments.
For the current fiscal year the eligible period is 1 April to 30 September 2026. The city's grant rules were issued on 31 March 2026 and took effect on 1 April.
Who qualifies
The employer must be operating in the airport zone and must already run a loan-repayment scheme, set out in its work rules, another written document circulated to regular employees, or an employment contract. It is excluded if it takes government investment, receives other public funding for the same repayment help, has executives linked to organised crime, exists for political or religious purposes, or is in arrears on municipal tax.
The worker must meet a longer list of conditions:
- Be a regular employee hired between 1 April and 30 September 2026, or a continuing beneficiary from an earlier year.
- Be aged 29 or under on the hiring date.
- Not have received support under this grant before, unless continuing.
- Be repaying the loan as the main debtor, with no other public support for those repayments.
- Work mainly inside the airport zone and live in Narita City.
- Be covered by employment insurance and be current on municipal tax.
Qualifying loans include those from the Japan Student Services Organization and from local governments, universities, public-interest corporations and private companies. Loans from Narita City itself, and loans that are forgiven, are excluded.
Paperwork
Employers apply electronically through JGrants. The package includes an application form, a business report and, for each worker, an employment contract or terms notice, employment-insurance documents and proof of repayment. The city's checklist also asks employers to confirm that the claimed amount equals the lower of ¥8,000 times the eligible months and half the employer's own support.
The city's rules say grants are paid within the budget, and the program description gives no total budget. Questions go to the Narita City planning and policy division.