Rural Japanese communities are seriously depressing. Dilapidated houses inhabited by octogenarian and nonagenarian widows. Shuttered primary schools. Rusted jun

Rural Japanese communities are seriously depressing. Dilapidated houses inhabited by octogenarian and nonagenarian widows. Shuttered primary schools. Rusted jungle gyms in parks that are overgrown with weeds. When my family first moved to Japan, we spent a few months living with our in-laws in a rural agricultural village. Not even that rural by Japanese standards, it’s only a 10 minute drive from a relatively thriving city center. But there are telltale signs of a shrinking and aging population everywhere you look. I remember one day I took my three year old son to the park, and it was just so quiet (except for the sound of bugs and frogs), and so neglected, that I was overcome with sadness and hopelessness. It reminded me of “Childhood’s End” by Arthur C. Clark. We ended up buying a house on the other side of the city in a relatively new housing development and it’s basically the complete opposite. Kids are out playing in the street and nearby parks, neighbors are friendly - it’s a great place to raise a family. I can definitely understand why rural communities are being hit especially hard by shrinking population, and how one could go 25 years without any babies being born. Nobody (or most people, at least, the family in this story is definitely the exception) wants to raise a family where there are no other families around, the elementary school has been closed, job opportunities are scarce, etc. So people move elsewhere.