Hokkaido Domin Points ¥5,500: Apply by 16 November 2026

In short: if you have the postcard, apply in the app for ¥5,500. No smartphone or My Number Card? Mail it back for ¥5,000

Based on the FAQ and implementation guidelines on the prefecture's dedicated site[Domin Points official site (in Japanese)].

The difference is ¥500, but the points vanish on 15 December. If you are unlikely to spend them in Hokkaido shops, the gift card from the postal application (no expiry) leaves nothing on the table. After receiving points in the app, you can also exchange the entire balance for private points without spending a single point (see below).

Eligibility and deadlines: household heads as of 1 May, newcomers excluded, and postcards can no longer be resent

• Eligible: anyone registered as a household head on a Hokkaido resident record as of 1 May 2026, including foreign nationals. People who moved into Hokkaido on or after 2 May are not eligible. Members of organised crime groups are excluded.
• No income limit. One payment per household; the amount does not change with household size.
• The postcard is a sealed, forwardable reply postcard sent to household heads from 24 June. Requests to resend lost or undelivered postcards closed on 9 October.
• Only the app or the post. There is no web form, and municipal offices do not accept applications.
• If you apply both ways, whichever is received first takes priority and cannot be cancelled. You also cannot change the option you chose.
• If a gift card is returned undelivered, it is resent once only. Resend requests close on 15 December.
• Victims of domestic violence and people living in facilities at an address other than their resident record can ask the office, which decides case by case. Simply not having updated the address does not qualify[Handling of household heads (PDF, in Japanese)].

Using Domin Points: 9,800 shops for food and daily goods, but not tobacco, utilities or medical co-payments

You pay by scanning the QR code displayed at the shop with the Hokkaido app. It is not a system where you show a barcode on your own phone. Participating shops can be found under "Shop information" in the app or in the list on the dedicated site.

The points cannot be used for the following.

• Payments to national or local government (taxes, utility bills and so on)
• Real estate and financial products
• Gift certificates, stamps, official postcards, prepaid cards and lottery tickets
• Investments and debt repayments
• Manufactured tobacco and e-cigarettes
• Cash on delivery and convenience-store bill payment services
• Business expenses
• Co-payments under health insurance or long-term care insurance
• Anything else the prefecture deems inappropriate

There is no provision excluding alcohol.

To give points to family members, you can transfer them in the app in 1-point units. The recipient must also be registered in the app with their own My Number Card.

Separate municipal schemes: apply and collect separately from the prefecture's ¥5,500

Municipalities in Hokkaido are also handing out vouchers and points from the same national grant. The prefecture lists only the municipalities that asked to be listed, and most finished distributing by September. As of 14 October, the following three are still running[Hokkaido, list of municipal schemes (in Japanese)].

Kitahiroshima City has announced a "second round" with details still to come. Municipalities not on the list may also be distributing something, so search your city's website for 物価高 商品券 (price-relief vouchers). How to search, and how vouchers and points are treated for tax (effectively untaxed thanks to the ¥500,000 deduction for occasional income) and for public assistance income assessment, are covered in which cost-of-living payments you can still apply for.

The programme costs ¥16.81 billion, funded by the national emergency grant for regional revitalisation in response to price rises[Hokkaido, list of economic-measure projects (PDF, in Japanese)]. No take-up rate has been published. All that is known is that, as of 29 July, gift cards had been delivered to roughly 450,000 households that applied by post.

Contact and fraud warning

• Call centre: 0120-842-076 (9:00 to 17:00 including weekends and holidays, until 30 December). Municipal offices and regional bureaus do not handle enquiries.
• Prefectural staff and the programme office will never ask for your My Number, bank account or PIN, take your passbook or cash card, or make you scan an unfamiliar QR code. Ignore any such contact and call the police consultation line #9110.

Summary

• Every Hokkaido household head (about 2.82 million households) gets ¥5,500 worth per household. Apply by 16 November: app until 23:59, post must arrive by then
• App with My Number Card gives ¥5,500 in Domin Points; returning the postcard gives a ¥5,000 JCB gift card. Whichever is received first is final
• Points expire 15 December. If you cannot use them up, exchange the full amount for Amazon gift cards, PayPay and so on without spending any (also by 15 December)
• Not usable for tobacco, taxes, utilities or medical co-payments. Points can be transferred to family in 1-point units
• Postcard resend requests closed on 9 October. Monbetsu, Shibetsu and Moseushi have separate municipal vouchers or points until 31 December

Sources

• Hokkaido Prefecture, Economic Planning Division, "Residents' Living Support Points programme" (in Japanese)
• Hokkaido, Domin Points official site: FAQ, implementation guidelines, shop list (in Japanese)
• Hokkaido, "Handling of household heads" (PDF, in Japanese)
• Hokkaido, "List of municipal price-relief schemes" (in Japanese)
• Hokkaido, "List of economic-measure projects" (reference material 3, PDF, in Japanese)

This article is general information based on Hokkaido's published materials as of 14 October 2026. Eligibility and participating shops follow the programme office's guidance. For individual cases, check with the call centre or a professional.