Hyogo Prefecture’s September 11 proposal for a sixth Haba-tan Pay+ round reduces the voucher premium to 25% from the fifth round’s 50%, while budgeting for a broader group of participants. Governor Motohiko Saito presented it as household support for the year-end shopping period.

Less value per unit, with a wider planned allocation

The JPY7.73 billion programme allocation provides for vouchers costing JPY5,000 with JPY6,250 of face value, up to four units per prefectural resident. The maximum JPY20,000 purchase would therefore carry JPY25,000 of spending value and a JPY5,000 premium.

The data behind the story

The same JPY5,000 purchase buys a smaller voucher in round six

The premium falls from 50% to 25%, reducing the top-up per unit from JPY2,500 to JPY1,250.

JPY
Sources
Hyogo Prefecture: fifth-round programme terms; September 11 supplementary budget, page5

Both rounds specify a maximum of four units per person. Fifth-round terms are historical; sixth-round values were announced in the September budget proposal. These are entitlement values, not observed redemption or household purchasing-power estimates.

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The same JPY5,000 purchase buys a smaller voucher in round six (JPY)
CategoryPurchase price per unitSpending value per unit
Fifth round, April-July 20265,000 JPY7,500 JPY
Sixth-round September proposal5,000 JPY6,250 JPY

For comparison, the fifth round offered JPY7,500 for the same JPY5,000 purchase and the same four-unit ceiling. At that ceiling, the premium was JPY10,000. The sixth-round proposal halves the additional value available to a maximum buyer; it does not halve the full voucher balance, which includes the buyer’s own payment.

At the press conference, Saito said the budget was designed for about 1.32 million participants, compared with about 1.18 million people he said had used the fifth round. The former is a planned capacity and the latter a rounded retrospective figure. They do not establish that participation has already increased. If applications exceeded the sixth-round allocation, the governor said a lottery or a reduction in units allocated could be used.

The prefecture proposed applications from mid-November through early December and use from late December through the end of February 2027. The September announcement was a budget proposal. The assembly’s subsequently published register records the relevant general-account supplementary budget as approved in its original form on October 5; the broad application and spending windows in the September document remain planned dates, rather than precise opening dates.

The governor said the existing application method would continue, citing ease of use, administrative cost and speed. Reporters also questioned repeat participation and lower usage among older residents and in some rural areas. Saito described further outreach, help with smartphone use and expansion of participating stores. Those measures are relevant to access, but the announcement does not provide evidence that the sixth round has resolved those gaps.