depopulation

Last month, a man was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for leaving human remains at a garbage collection station near his residence in Adachi Ward. The remains had been cremated and were mixed in with shards of funerary urns, and according to a ...

Five years after Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, the city is starting to recover economically through efforts to fill vacant homes and rebuild the once-desolate downtown. Japan, witnessing depopulation on a massive scale due to its aging society and low birthrate, ...

In her latest work, "The Emissary," Yoko Tawada joins the ranks of other Japanese writers who use their writing to comment on the catastrophic and irrevocable effects of environmental disasters on society.

Build a stone museum and they will come? That's the idea behind the K's Labo museum on Kitagi Island in Okayama Prefecture.

Common sense might tell you that, as small towns and villages in Japan face aging and declining populations, they would do whatever they could to encourage their remaining residents to run for a seat on the council when election time comes. But in the town ...

While the country's rapidly graying demographics again headlined the internal affairs ministry's latest census, the annual report also highlighted the fact that only the Tokyo area is seeing significant population growth, due primarily to an influx of younger people. At the same time, a larger ...

Shinichiro Tsukada says his small plastering company in Tokyo wouldn't survive without the 22 Chinese and Vietnamese workers who make up half his payroll. "They're treasures, real treasures," he said. "Workers are disappearing as our population ages. Buildings cannot be built because there aren't enough ...

Swapping his dress shoes and business suit for flip-flops and swimming trunks, Shingo Takei starts the day by walking to the beach to go stand-up paddleboarding. Instead of commuting to the office, the co-founder of a human resources startup returns home for breakfast and spends ...

Nestled in the mountains on the border of Hiroshima and Okayama prefectures is Takahashi, a city of about 31,000 people which lies 30 minutes by train from the popular international tourist destination of Kurashiki. Home to Bitchu Matsuyama Castle, built in 1240 on top of ...

Regional universities should not be taken lightly anymore; now is the time for them to shine.