Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Japan is facing a demographic reality that’s both a challenge and an opportunity: it has the world’s oldest population, with nearly 30% of people over 65. For municipalities dealing with care workforce shortages, rising healthcare costs, and isolated elderly residents, this creates urgent problems. But it also creates a testing ground for aging-tech solutions that could work anywhere in the world.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is offering ¥320 million (roughly $2.1 million USD) per municipality to create living labs—real-world environments where startups, care providers, and researchers can pilot technology solutions with actual older adults in their communities. This isn’t about installing robots in nursing homes and calling it innovation. It’s about co-designing solutions with the people who’ll actually use them: elderly residents, their caregivers, and the municipal staff who support them.

If you’re a Japanese municipality struggling with an aging population, this program gives you funding and support to become an innovation hub. You’ll get grants to deploy and test technologies, technical assistance to navigate regulations, and access to a network of startups and researchers looking for real-world testing environments. The goal is to find solutions that actually improve quality of life for older residents while making care more sustainable and less burdensome for workers and families.

What makes this program different from typical government grants is the living lab approach. You’re not just buying technology and hoping it works. You’re creating a structured environment for experimentation, with regular feedback loops, community engagement, and rigorous evaluation. The Ministry wants to learn what works and what doesn’t, then share those lessons nationally and internationally.

At a Glance

What This Program Offers

The ¥320 million breaks down into funding for different aspects of creating and running a living lab:

Technology Pilots (¥140 million): This is the core of the program—funding to actually deploy and test aging-tech solutions in your community. Eligible technologies include robotics for care assistance (lifting aids, mobility support, companionship robots), remote monitoring systems that let older adults live independently while staying connected to care providers, assistive technologies for daily living (smart home adaptations, medication management, fall detection), and communication platforms that reduce social isolation. The funding covers purchasing or leasing the technology, installation, training for users and caregivers, and ongoing technical support during the pilot period.

Care Infrastructure Upgrades (¥90 million): To properly test aging-tech, you often need to adapt physical spaces. This component funds renovations for universal design (wider doorways, accessible bathrooms, better lighting), sensor integration (motion sensors, environmental monitoring), and technology infrastructure (WiFi upgrades, charging stations, data connectivity). The goal is to create environments where technology can be tested realistically, not in artificial lab conditions.

Community Engagement (¥50 million): This is crucial and often overlooked. The program funds activities to involve older residents, their families, and caregivers in the design and testing process. This includes intergenerational programs that bring younger and older residents together around technology, volunteer mobilization to support older adults using new technologies, digital literacy training so older residents can actually use the solutions being tested, and community events to gather feedback and build buy-in. Without genuine community engagement, even great technology fails.

Data Governance and Evaluation (¥40 million): Living labs generate lots of data about how people use technology, what works, and what doesn’t. This component funds the infrastructure and expertise to handle that data responsibly. You’ll develop privacy frameworks that protect older residents’ information, conduct AI ethics reviews to ensure technologies are being used appropriately, create outcome measurement systems to track whether interventions actually improve quality of life, and produce evaluation reports that contribute to broader learning. The Ministry expects rigorous evaluation, not just anecdotes.

Beyond the money, selected municipalities get access to a national network of aging-tech experts, regulatory sandbox support to test technologies that might not fit neatly into existing rules, and visibility that attracts additional partners and investment.

Who Should Apply

This program is designed for municipalities that are serious about addressing aging challenges through innovation, not just looking for free money to buy some robots. You’re a good fit if:

You Have Municipal Leadership Buy-In: This can’t be a side project run by one enthusiastic staff member. You need commitment from municipal leadership—mayor, council members, department heads—because a living lab requires coordination across health, social services, urban planning, and more. If your leadership sees aging-tech as a strategic priority, you’re in a strong position.

You Have Existing Partnerships or Can Build Them: The program requires partnerships with startups, care providers, and research institutions. Ideally, you’ve already been having conversations with potential partners. Maybe there’s a local university with a gerontology or robotics program. Maybe you have relationships with care facilities that are open to innovation. Maybe you’ve connected with startups at industry events. You don’t need signed contracts to apply, but you need to show you can assemble a credible team.

You’re Willing to Co-Design with Residents: This is non-negotiable. The Ministry wants to see that older adults and caregivers will be involved in deciding what problems to solve, what solutions to test, and how to evaluate success. If your approach is “we’ll decide what’s best for them,” you won’t be competitive. If your approach is “we’ll work with them to figure out what actually helps,” you’re on the right track.

You Have Baseline Data: To measure impact, you need to know your starting point. Strong applications include data on your aging population (demographics, care needs, isolation levels), current care costs and workforce challenges, and existing services and gaps. You don’t need perfect data, but you need enough to set meaningful goals and track progress.

Insider Tips for a Winning Proposal

Focus on Real Problems, Not Cool Technology: The weakest applications start with “we want to test this robot” without clearly explaining what problem it solves. Start with the challenges your older residents and caregivers actually face. Is it social isolation? Difficulty with daily tasks? Caregiver burnout? Medication non-adherence? Then explain how specific technologies might address those problems. The Ministry funds problem-solving, not technology tourism.

Build a Diverse Partnership Team: Don’t just partner with one startup and one care facility. The strongest living labs involve multiple stakeholders with different perspectives. Include traditional care providers and innovative startups. Include large research institutions and small community organizations. Include technology companies and social service agencies. Diversity in your partnership team signals that you’re serious about comprehensive solutions.

Show You Understand Ethics and Privacy: Aging-tech raises sensitive issues. Monitoring systems can feel invasive. Robots can seem dehumanizing. Data collection raises privacy concerns. Your proposal should show you’ve thought about these issues and have plans to address them. Describe your ethics review process, how you’ll get informed consent from older adults, how you’ll protect data, and how you’ll ensure technology enhances rather than replaces human connection.

Plan for Sustainability from the Start: The Ministry doesn’t want to fund two-year experiments that disappear when the grant ends. Show how successful interventions might be sustained. Will the municipality budget for ongoing costs? Can technologies be integrated into existing care systems? Are there revenue models that make sense? You don’t need all the answers, but you need to show you’re thinking beyond the pilot phase.

Emphasize Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Japan’s aging challenges are shared by countries worldwide. The Ministry values municipalities that commit to documenting and sharing what they learn. Describe how you’ll capture lessons, contribute to national repositories of best practices, and potentially host visitors from other municipalities or countries. Being a learning hub adds value beyond your local impact.

Include Specific, Measurable Goals: Vague goals like “improve quality of life” won’t cut it. Be specific: “Reduce social isolation among homebound seniors by 30% as measured by UCLA Loneliness Scale” or “Decrease caregiver hours per client by 20% while maintaining or improving care quality scores.” Specific goals show you’re serious about evaluation and accountability.

Application Timeline and Process

The July 1, 2025 deadline is for initial concept proposals. Here’s what to expect:

February-April 2025: Develop your concept proposal. This is a 20-30 page document outlining your municipality’s aging challenges, proposed living lab focus areas, partnership team, preliminary technology selections, community engagement plan, and evaluation framework. Use this time to formalize partnerships—get letters of intent from startups, care providers, and research institutions.

May-June 2025: Refine your proposal based on feedback from partners and community stakeholders. Consider hosting a community meeting to present your ideas and gather input from older residents and caregivers. Their feedback can strengthen your proposal and demonstrate genuine co-design.

July 2025: Submit your concept proposal. The Ministry reviews applications and selects municipalities to present to a national evaluation panel.

August-September 2025: If selected, you’ll present your living lab plan to the evaluation panel. This is typically a 30-minute presentation followed by Q&A. The panel includes aging experts, technology specialists, care providers, and policy makers. Be prepared for detailed questions about your approach, partnerships, and evaluation plans.

October-December 2025: Selected municipalities receive funding and begin setting up their living labs. This includes finalizing partnership agreements, establishing ethics review boards, recruiting older adult participants, and preparing infrastructure.

2026-2027: Two-year living lab cycle with quarterly demonstration days where you showcase progress, share learnings, and gather feedback. The Ministry expects regular reporting and participation in a national learning community with other living lab municipalities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need to have technologies already selected? No. Your concept proposal should identify problem areas and types of technologies you’re interested in exploring, but you don’t need to have specific products selected. Part of the living lab process is evaluating different solutions. That said, having some preliminary conversations with technology providers strengthens your application.

Can we test technologies that aren’t yet approved for commercial use? Yes, that’s part of the regulatory sandbox component. If you’re testing innovative technologies that don’t fit neatly into existing regulations, the Ministry can provide guidance and potentially create temporary exemptions for pilot purposes. You’ll need to show strong safety and ethics protocols.

What if our older residents aren’t comfortable with technology? This is common and not a disqualifier. Part of the program is digital literacy training and gradual introduction of technologies. The key is meeting people where they are and designing solutions that match their comfort levels. Sometimes the best aging-tech is surprisingly low-tech—simple interfaces, familiar form factors, minimal learning curves.

How many older adults need to participate? There’s no fixed number, but your sample should be large enough to generate meaningful data. For most interventions, that means at least 30-50 participants. Quality matters more than quantity—it’s better to have 40 engaged participants providing rich feedback than 200 people who barely use the technology.

Can we focus on one specific technology or do we need to test multiple things? You can focus on a specific area (like remote monitoring or mobility assistance), but the strongest living labs test multiple complementary technologies. Aging is complex, and solutions often need to work together. A monitoring system might work better when combined with social connection platforms and medication management tools.

What happens to the technology after the pilot ends? That’s up to you and your partners to negotiate. Some municipalities purchase successful technologies and integrate them into ongoing services. Some transition participants to commercial versions. Some return equipment to vendors. Your proposal should outline your thinking on this.

Do we need to match the funding? There’s no formal matching requirement, but showing municipal commitment strengthens your application. This might be staff time, existing infrastructure, or budget allocated for sustaining successful interventions.

How to Apply

Ready to create an aging-tech living lab in your municipality? Here’s what to do:

Step 1: Assess your municipality’s readiness. Do you have aging challenges that technology might help address? Do you have or can you build partnerships with startups, care providers, and researchers? Do you have leadership support?

Step 2: Start partnership conversations. Reach out to potential partners—local universities, care facilities, technology companies, community organizations. Gauge their interest and explore what a collaboration might look like.

Step 3: Engage your community. Talk to older residents, caregivers, and care workers about the challenges they face. What would actually make their lives better? Their input should shape your proposal.

Step 4: Develop your concept proposal. Clearly articulate the problems you’re addressing, your living lab approach, your partnership team, your evaluation plan, and how you’ll ensure ethical, privacy-respecting implementation.

Step 5: Submit by the July 1, 2025 deadline and prepare for potential presentation to the evaluation panel.

Visit the official program page for detailed guidelines and application materials: https://www.mlit.go.jp/en/

Questions about eligibility or the application process? The Ministry has established a support desk for municipalities considering applications—contact information is available on their website. They’re genuinely helpful and can provide guidance on partnership development, proposal structure, and technical requirements.