Sixty traditional folk events halted in rural Japan due to depopulation, aging
Sixty traditional festivals and dances in 20 prefectures designated by local governments as intangible folk culture assets have been ended or suspended due to population declines and the aging of rural communities, a survey has found. The importance of folk culture assets has been underscored ...
The slow life in rural Japan is converting more young people
Aging settlements nestled in mountain valleys or fishing villages are drawing more than just retirees who want to live in seclusion. Nowadays, aspiring young people are feeling the charm of such locations, sensing the potential to start anew, leading in some cases to the rescue ...
Lowest birthrates on record bedevil schools
Record low birthrates in Japan and the United States will raise unprecedented problems for education officials in both countries.
Japan's hale seniors offer vital help in nursing care of elderly peers
With the rapid aging of Japan's population, healthy older people are providing indispensable support for the nursing care of their fellow seniors. Setsuko Kawaguchi, 65, works three to four days a week at the Ikoi no Mori nursing care facility in Tsu, Mie Prefecture. Starting ...
The government has a duty to explain in detail and in an easy-to-understand manner how the reform bill now in the Diet would contribute to rebuilding the pension system's finances.
Both pressure and perks used to coax seniors into giving up driving licenses
These days have seen frequent news reports of elderly drivers losing control of their vehicles, slamming into stores, running over pedestrians and traveling in the wrong direction on expressways. In one case, on the morning of Oct. 28, an 87-year-old man in Yokohama driving a ...
Half a million societal drop-outs drag on Abe's economic dreams
Nagisa Hirai was an active child who loved playing soccer with the boys. But that early happiness dissipated on her first day at elementary school when she became frightened after being unable to find her classroom. Over time, she became a hikikomori, a Japanese term ...
The Abe administration must take a stronger lead in pushing forward the decentralization of some national government functions if it is really serious about pursuing the project.
Vacant homes could greatly boost the short supply of inexpensive public housing.
Collective homes a solution for those in Japan who don't want to live alone
When her mother passed away, a 59-year-old single woman was struck with a sense of absolute loneliness. "There were times when I didn't speak to anyone on weekends, and I felt a sense of crisis, thinking I shouldn't live on like this," said the woman, ...
Single mothers courted to plug Japan's local labor gaps
While some employers are unsympathetic to the circumstances of single parents, others see them as a solution rather than a problem.
The Abe administration's regional revitalization policy has done little to close the growing gap in wealth and population between the large metropolitan areas and the rest of the nation.
