The government of Japan plans to send advisers to 71 remote islands in border waters that need special assistance to prevent them from becoming uninhabited.
The move comes ahead of the enforcement next April of a law stipulating special measures to strengthen support for such islands in eight of the 47 prefectures.
The advisers to be dispatched will consider measures to revitalize regional economies, the sources said Monday.
The central government plans to include funding for the dispatch in a fiscal 2016 second supplementary budget.
The envisioned measures will be reflected in plans at the prefectural level on maintaining regional communities.
The lawmaker-initiated legislation was enacted last April mainly in response to China’s increasing maritime activities.