Japan's Aging Population Fuels Growth in Charitable Bequests as Donors Seek a Lasting Local Legacy

More People Are Choosing a Final Gift to Society

Charitable bequests in Japan reached 1,142 cases in fiscal 2023, an increase of 102 from the previous fiscal year, according to figures compiled by Will for Japan, an association that supports legacy giving. Their combined value nearly doubled to about 64.3 billion yen, roughly US$404.52 million.

Those figures show how donations made after death are becoming a substantial source of money for Japan's civil society. They also reflect a personal question facing a growing number of older people: who should receive the wealth they have accumulated when there is no child, spouse or close relative to inherit it?

Japan's falling birth rate, shrinking population and rising number of people who remain unmarried throughout their lives are changing familiar patterns of inheritance. Charitable bequests, also called legacy donations, allow people to arrange for assets to pass to charities, nonprofit organisations or local community groups after their death.

For many donors, the decision is both practical and personal. It gives their savings or property a destination and allows them to support causes that mattered during their lives. Advocates describe this as a final contribution to society, with the gift carrying a person's values beyond their lifetime.

Deaths in Japan are projected to peak at approximately 1.65 million a year by 2040. That would bring a large transfer of wealth, including assets belonging to people without direct heirs. Legacy giving offers a way to direct some of that money toward public benefit instead of leaving it unclaimed and ultimately passing to the state under rules governing estates without heirs.

As of April 16, 2026, the growing interest in these gifts sits alongside a difficult practical issue: a donation that looks generous on paper can create problems for relatives, charities and tenants unless it is prepared carefully.

Awareness Is Growing Beyond Older Donors

Will for Japan released a survey in January 2026 covering fiscal 2025. It questioned 1,000 men and women from their 20s through their 70s, giving a picture of awareness across a broad range of ages.

The survey found that 63.8 percent knew about legacy donation mechanisms. That was an increase of more than ten percentage points over two years, suggesting that leaving assets to a charity is becoming a more familiar estate planning choice.

Japan's traditional emphasis on family inheritance helps explain why this change matters. A person deciding what happens to their estate may once have assumed that it would go to a spouse or children. With more people remaining unmarried and fewer children being born, that assumption fits fewer households.

People without close heirs face decisions about both the destination and purpose of their wealth. A charitable bequest can connect those decisions: money accumulated over a lifetime can support medical research, help people in poverty, preserve culture or sustain a community organisation.

The rise in awareness shows that more people recognise this option. The fiscal 2023 figures provide a separate measure of gifts that were actually carried out, recording both their number and their financial value.

Half Prefer to Give Close to Home

Local connections were prominent in the Will for Japan survey. When asked about preferred recipients, 50.3 percent of respondents said they would choose organisations operating where they currently lived or in their birthplace.

That preference gives legacy donations a role beyond transferring money to a good cause. A gift can express gratitude to a place that shaped a person's childhood, working life or later years. It can also return resources to the community where those assets were built.

Local charities and community groups could benefit from this attachment at a time when population decline is weakening regional economies. Money left to an organisation in a donor's hometown may continue supporting local activity even when the donor's relatives live elsewhere.

The Japan Legacy Gift Association, which promotes awareness of charitable bequests, describes them as both a final contribution to society and ultimate self-expression. Its vision connects individual wishes with the sustainable development of local communities, including places facing declining public spending and shrinking municipal budgets.

The survey's local preference is especially relevant to that vision. A donor choosing a recipient near home can direct assets toward a community's needs, helping retain money that might otherwise leave the region through inheritance.

A Vast Transfer of Wealth Could Reshape Regions

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank estimated in November 2022 that approximately 650 trillion yen in financial assets would be inherited over the following three decades. About 125 trillion yen, roughly 20 percent of that total, was expected to move across regional boundaries.

The scale is much larger than the charitable bequests recorded for fiscal 2023. The bank's estimate concerns the wider movement of inherited financial assets, while the 64.3 billion yen figure measures legacy donations compiled by Will for Japan for that fiscal year.

Japan's internal migration helps explain the expected movement. Younger generations have concentrated in Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures, while many rural areas have been left with older populations and weaker economic bases.

When an older person in a rural community dies, an heir living in an urban area may receive their assets. The inheritance then follows the family member rather than staying in the place where the deceased person lived. The bank estimated that more than 40 percent of household financial assets would be concentrated in the capital region.

Will for Japan has also pointed to wealth circulating among people aged 60 and above as birth rates fall and the population ages. Assets are often passing between older people instead of moving to younger generations in the familiar pattern of parents leaving wealth to children early in their adult lives.

Keeping Some Inherited Wealth in Local Communities

Rural communities face two connected pressures: the loss of residents and the movement of money to urban centres. When inherited assets leave, areas already struggling with depopulation can lose another source of economic support.

Legacy donations offer donors a way to choose a different destination. A person can leave assets to an organisation in their birthplace or current community, giving local groups resources that might otherwise pass to relatives living elsewhere.

The Japan Legacy Gift Association sees that choice as a means of supporting communities over time. Its argument is that gifts directed locally can help fill gaps left by smaller municipal budgets and reduced public spending, while allowing donors to express the priorities that mattered to them.

Will for Japan has warned that demographic changes can concentrate wealth in urban centres or remove it from regional economies. Without ways to retain some of those assets locally, differences in wealth between regions may grow.

The main dates and periods behind the trend span several years:

• November 2022: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank estimated that 650 trillion yen in financial assets would be inherited over the following three decades, with about 125 trillion yen moving across regional boundaries.
• Fiscal 2023: Will for Japan recorded 1,142 completed legacy donations worth approximately 64.3 billion yen.
• January 2026: Will for Japan released its fiscal 2025 survey, which found awareness of legacy donations at 63.8 percent.
• 2040: Annual deaths in Japan are projected to peak at approximately 1.65 million.

Property Gifts Can Put Tenants at Risk

Real estate presents some of the most difficult problems in legacy giving. A building has value, but accepting it can also mean taking responsibility for maintenance, taxes, legal matters and the people who live there.

The Japan Legacy Gift Association has acknowledged problems as charitable bequests become more widespread. In documented cases, apartment owners left their properties to charitable organisations without preparing sufficiently for the transfer. After the owners died, tenants received sudden eviction notices.

Charities receiving an apartment building may have neither the staff nor the wish to operate as landlords. Their priority may be to sell the property so they can use the proceeds for their charitable work. For residents who have lived there for years, that can mean displacement with little warning.

These situations can bring legal disputes and human costs, consuming resources for the people and organisations involved. They can also damage trust in legacy giving, even when the donor intended to help others.

Yoji Yamakita, joint representative of the Japan Legacy Gift Association, warned that donors need to understand how recipients handle real estate. He described the limited circumstances in which organisations may accept it:

Most organizations either do not state that they accept real estate donations or only do so on the assumption that the property will be converted to cash.

For a donor, that means a property gift may become a sale rather than a building the charity keeps. The recipient's plans therefore matter to tenants as well as to the intended charitable purpose.

Recipients Need to Agree Before the Gift Arrives

Charities working on medical research, poverty alleviation or cultural preservation rarely have property departments ready to manage donated buildings. A valuable asset can become an administrative and financial burden when the recipient lacks the capacity to handle it.

Donors need to check whether an organisation accepts the asset they intend to leave. Cash generally presents fewer obstacles, while securities, art collections and especially real estate require specific acceptance procedures.

Advance discussions allow the donor and charity to address what will happen after death. For a building, the central issue may be whether it will be retained or sold. For another asset, it may be how the organisation will manage it or turn it into funds for its work.

Legacy gifts can involve complex legal and tax matters, with requirements differing according to the recipient organisation. Explicit arrangements and thorough documentation help connect a donor's wishes with what the charity can actually carry out.

A Formal Will Helps Protect the Donor's Wishes

A properly prepared will provides a legal foundation for the charitable recipient to claim a bequest. It sets out the intended distribution and helps prevent disagreements among surviving relatives.

Legal experts and association representatives stress that oral promises or informal letters of intent are insufficient when assets are to pass to organisations rather than individual heirs. Without formal documentation, a proposed donation can face challenges from relatives or legal requirements giving priority to family claims.

Relatives and other people affected by the estate should be told about the donor's plans while the donor is alive. That includes family members who may expect an inheritance even when their relationship is distant.

Those conversations can reduce surprise and resentment after death. They also give donors an opportunity to explain why they have chosen a particular cause or community, instead of leaving surviving relatives to interpret the decision during an already difficult period.

The preparation is especially important when a gift affects people outside the family. Tenants, for example, may depend on the property that is being donated, while the charity must decide whether it can accept the responsibilities attached to it.

Tax Planning Is Part of Making the Gift Work

Japan offers certain tax incentives for charitable giving, but the benefits depend on the status of the receiving organisation and the kind of asset transferred. The tax treatment therefore needs to be considered alongside the will and the recipient's acceptance rules.

Donors should consult legal advisers and tax professionals about how to structure the bequest. The aim is to preserve as much of the intended social benefit as possible while avoiding an unnecessary administrative burden for the organisation receiving it.

Japan's growth in legacy giving brings together a large movement of wealth and deeply personal decisions about family, place and purpose. The fiscal 2023 donation figures, rising awareness and strong preference for local recipients show why these gifts are attracting attention.

The cases involving apartment tenants also show why planning cannot stop at naming a charity. A useful legacy requires a workable transfer, clear legal instructions and an understanding of the people who will be affected when the donor's assets change hands.

What to Know

• Will for Japan recorded 1,142 legacy donations in fiscal 2023, up 102 from the previous year.
• Their total value nearly doubled to about 64.3 billion yen, approximately US$404.52 million.
• A survey released in January 2026 found awareness at 63.8 percent, up more than ten percentage points over two years.
• Some 50.3 percent of respondents preferred organisations in their current community or birthplace.
• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank estimated that 650 trillion yen would be inherited over three decades, with about 125 trillion yen moving between regions.
• Annual deaths in Japan are projected to peak at approximately 1.65 million by 2040.
• Property bequests have led to sudden eviction notices for tenants when recipient charities sought to sell buildings.
• Formal wills, discussions with relatives and recipients, and legal and tax advice are central to making gifts work as intended.