Successive Japanese governments have grappled with ways to halt the depopulation of the countryside. Each has failed, amid a general decline in the country’s population and the ongoing concentration of work and opportunity in major metropolitan centers. The government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this week launched its initiative to address this challenge.
Success depends on creating a living environment that provides real quality of life: not only the creation of meaningful and lucrative jobs but also the time and accoutrements to enjoy the fruits of that labor. This demands a sweeping effort. It will take more than a paycheck to revitalize the nation’s rural communities.
As early as 1970, governments recognized that Japan’s countryside was losing population and special measures were needed to reverse that trend. Plans were drawn up to stimulate the development of depopulated areas.
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