As Japan's population shrinks and ages, some rural communities are in danger of extinction. Yet in Tokyo, one mayor has the opposite problem.

Packed trains, overcrowded schools and the country's longest waiting lists for preschool care are the norm in Setagaya, the most populous of Tokyo's 23 wards, as the Japanese continue their drift to the capital. Nobuto Hosaka, the district's mayor, is trying to counter this by developing relationships with rural villages — and he would be happy if people are inspired to leave the city in favor of country life.

"We're experiencing the opposite of the phenomenon that's going on around the country," Hosaka, 60, said in a recent interview at his offices. "It's not my aim to have the population become more and more concentrated in the city. Regional industries are breaking down and there is no one to cultivate the fields, so if people in urban areas want to try it, we want to provide them with opportunities."