Kanie Town has expanded eligibility for its second Kani Pay voucher round to people working locally as well as residents, while doubling the individual purchase cap from four units to eight. The official programme announced the new round September 24. [S01] [S02]

Applications ran September 24 through October 11 and are now closed. People who applied in the first round could apply again. Eligibility is assessed at application and excludes junior-high-school students and younger children. Demand above the available issue may lead to reduced allocations or a lottery. [S02]

Spending limits and purchase routes

Each unit costs JPY5,000 and provides JPY6,500 of spending value, a 30% premium. Of that balance, JPY3,500 is restricted to participating small and medium-sized stores; the other JPY3,000 can be used at all participating merchants. The entire balance is therefore not interchangeable across every merchant category. [S01] [S02]

The data behind the story

One Kani Pay unit contains two different spending balances

Published composition of each JPY6,500 voucher unit bought for JPY5,000 under the 2026 Kani Pay terms.

JPY
Source
Kanie Town: voucher balance composition

These components add to JPY6,500; they are not separate awards or realised purchases. The JPY3,500 balance is restricted to eligible small and medium-sized merchants. App and QR-card formats use the same published balances; applicants choose one format.

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One Kani Pay unit contains two different spending balances (JPY)
CategorySpending balance per purchased unit
Small and medium-sized stores only3,500 JPY
All participating merchants3,000 JPY

Applicants choose either an app-based voucher or a physical QR card. For the app, shoppers scan the merchant’s code and enter the payment amount. For the card, the merchant scans the card using its own device, allowing customers to spend without operating a smartphone. Applicants cannot receive both formats. [S02]

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Spending limits and purchase routes

Format

When successful applicants can purchase

Payment routes

App

From November 4 at 9 a.m., after checking the result in the app

Credit card or convenience-store payment

Physical QR card

After the award notice arrives, from November 13 onward

Convenience-store payment or Pay-easy ATM payment

Both formats have a November 24 purchase deadline. The second-round value can be spent after purchase through December 28. The November 4 opening should not be read as a payment start for physical-card applicants who are still awaiting their notice. [S02]

A new distribution round within the existing programme

The programme website was introduced in May, and the first round was restricted to residents with a four-unit cap. The September change broadens access and the amount an applicant may request; it is not the first launch of Kani Pay. [S01] [S02]

The data behind the story

The second round doubles the requested purchase ceiling

Published maximum number of JPY5,000 purchase units an eligible person could request in each Kani Pay round.

units per person
Source
Kanie Town: first- and second-round purchase ceilings

Policy ceilings, not the number actually awarded or redeemed. The first round was for residents; the second includes eligible local workers. Oversubscription can reduce allocations or trigger a lottery. The published 40,000-unit first-round issue does not establish a second-round allocation.

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The second round doubles the requested purchase ceiling (units per person)
CategoryPurchase-unit ceiling per person
First round4 units per person
Second round8 units per person

The municipality states JPY260 million of face value and 40,000 units for the first round. Those figures are not a disclosed allocation for the second round. The reviewed sources give no second-round award total, redemption result or measured local-sales effect. [S02]

Photograph: Asturio Cantabrio / Wikimedia Commons, January 2019, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Archival location context, resized and cropped; image adaptations and the derived social image retain the same licence.