As more city dwellers show an interest in relocating to Japan’s rural regions, particularly in the face of COVID-19, local governments and nonprofit organizations are working even harder to entice them to commit. Websites abound, detailing almost every consideration, from finding employment and housing to navigating community activities and neighborhood responsibilities.
For some people, mulling over the information is the only way to make such a life-changing decision. For others, life in the countryside cannot be summed up with pros and cons, nor can its appeal be subdued by the challenges it might pose; it’s an overwhelming draw.
Nobuyuki Nakano, Tomoyuki Iwai and Rika Hisai are among the latter group. They left Japan’s biggest cities to make new lives in remote places: Horokanai in northern Hokkaido; Inujima in the Seto Inland Sea; and Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture.