Final Festival Savings: Expert-Selected Furusato Nozei Gifts Under ¥20,000
The end of the point reduction ends at the end of September! Time is running out! New rice, beer, salmon roe, boxed tissues, laundry detergent
By making income-based donations to municipalities other than your place of residence, you can receive deductions on your resident and income taxes through the Furusato Nozei system. With just a 2,000-yen out-of-pocket cost, you can receive return gifts worth about 30% of your donation from the municipality — and until now, portal sites even gave you extra points on top of that. Truly a “god-tier system.” However, starting October 1, the granting of points by portal sites will be prohibited.
You can only continue to earn points through Furusato Nozei until the end of September. Operators such as “Rakuten Furusato Nozei,” “SatoFuru,” “Furunavi,” and “Furusato Choice” are rolling out attractive campaigns as a last-chance push.
To make the most of this final festival, you need to carefully select your return gifts and fully use up your allowance by the end of September. With that in mind, FRIDAY consulted experts who know Furusato Nozei inside and out, and narrowed down the best return gifts you can apply for with donations under 20,000 yen. We hope this will be helpful when making your donations this year.
A bottle of beer is only 83 yen!
Yusaku Seki, editor-in-chief of Furutoku (a Furusato Nozei guide), says:
“There are also special treats for celebratory days, such as grilled eel (600 g, ¥19,000) from Kanoya City, Kagoshima Prefecture, and Shine Muscat grapes (1.2 kg, ¥10,000) from Minami-Alps City, Yamanashi Prefecture. But in reality, most people donate for everyday foods.”
He continues:
“Domestic beef offcuts (frozen, 900 g, ¥10,000) from Izumisano City, Osaka Prefecture, are also recommended. They come conveniently packed in 300 g portions and are very hearty.”
Keisuke Tobita (mentioned earlier) agrees with Seki:
“Salmon fillets are also an extremely popular category. A ¥12,000 donation to Isumi City, Chiba Prefecture, gets you about 3 kg of salted silver salmon offcuts. Other municipalities also offer salmon fillets as gifts, but in terms of price-to-quantity, Isumi’s option is unbeatable. Since it’s delivered frozen, it keeps well. Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, offers 1.5 kg of minced tuna (100 g × 15 packs) for ¥10,000, which is both practical and delicious, so I recommend it.
Also, Fuji-Yoshida City in Yamanashi Prefecture regularly ranks in popularity with its sparkling mineral water (500 ml × 35 bottles) for ¥5,000. You can drink it as is, or use it as a mixer with alcohol.”
Daily necessities are also popular return gifts, since they save money:
“For example, a ¥12,000 donation to Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, gets you 72 rolls of toilet paper (12 rolls × 6 packs). Oyama City, Tochigi Prefecture, offers 60 boxes of tissues for ¥14,000. Recently, these have also gained popularity as disaster-preparedness stockpiles.” (Seki)
Other consumables include refill packs of Kao Attack Antibacterial EX detergent (900 g × 9 bags) for ¥20,000 from Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture. A 3-pack for ¥10,000 is also available, but the 9-bag option offers better value.
And in hot September, you can even get a refreshing beer to unwind after work:
“A ¥15,000 donation to Moriya City, Ibaraki Prefecture, home of an Asahi brewery, gets you 24 cans (350 ml) of Asahi Super Dry. For beer lovers, this is highly recommended — 24 cans for an effective cost of just ¥2,000 means about ¥83 per can, cheaper than any bargain shop.
Kirrin’s Ichiban Shibori (24 cans) is available with a ¥15,000 donation to Chitose City, Hokkaido. Suntory’s The Premium Malt’s (24 cans) can be had for ¥17,000 via Mifune Town, Kumamoto Prefecture. For Sapporo’s Black Label, a ¥15,400 donation to Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture, gets you 24 cans. Almost every major beer maker has its products on the list, so you can just pick the brand you usually buy.” (Seki again)
Yaese Town in Okinawa offers the local favorite Orion Beer (350 ml × 24 cans) for ¥14,400.
With about one month left before the god-tier system is scaled back, why not make a last-minute run to get the best out of Furusato Nozei?
From the September 12 and 19, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”
