In a small coastal town on the Sea of Japan, Uber Technologies Inc. is deploying an unusual strategy.

The average age of an Uber passenger in Kyoto's Tangocho district, population 5,914, is at least 70. Even stranger: Most of these elderly customers don't own a smartphone, so they have to call someone with a device to summon rides. This isn't the typical target market. Go to any big city around the world with millennials glued to their gadgets, and chances are Uber will be there.

Uber is finding modest success in the hamlet, once known for supplying fabric to kimono tailors in the ancient capital, a three-hour bus ride away. Decades of depopulation have left Tangocho with mostly older folks. There's only one bus route, which weaves its way through the mountains every hour, making it difficult for residents to shop and take care of basic errands.