Tag - rural-life

 
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July 05, 2025
 

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RURAL LIFE

Jonah Ndeuludila (right) is studying at Tochigi Prefecture's Asian Rural Institute in order to bring skills back to his job at Namibia's Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 2, 2024
Over half a century, seeds of change grow at a Tochigi farm
Founded by Toshihiro Takami in 1973, ARI promotes organic, subsistence farming methods and the practice of servant leadership.
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo, according to media reports.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2024
Japan scraps idea to woo women out of city with cash
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo.
Participants take part in a mystery-themed matchmaking event organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government at Jindai Botanical Gardens in Tokyo in March.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 28, 2024
Japan to support women moving from Tokyo to countryside for marriage
The plan is aimed at helping those interested in relocating at a time when the population of young women in the countryside is shrinking.
An empty street in Fukiya, Okayama Prefecture. Japan may be both experiencing overtourism in some places and witnessing the opposite in others.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024
Japan doesn't have too many tourists, statistics suggest. It just feels that way.
The country received 0.2 tourists per capita in 2023, compared with France's 1.5, Greece's 3.4, Portugal's 2.5 and Spain's 1.8.
A sign warning about the frequent appearance of bears in Tono, Iwate Prefecture, in April 2021
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024
Japan moves to permit use of rifles to hunt bears in residential areas
Under a proposed legal revision, hunters would be allowed to fire rifles if there is a risk of human injury or a bear has entered a building.
Foreign visitors learn how to make sushi in a cooking class at Sushi Making Tokyo in the Asakusa district of Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2024
Japan government paper seeks to promote rural areas to foreign visitors
Foreign tourists primarily spend their time and money in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, according to the paper.
A government report says the excess concentration of population in Tokyo has not changed over the past decade.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2024
Overconcentration in Tokyo unchanged over decade, government says
The government reported that the excess concentration of population in Tokyo has not changed over the past decade.
A self-driving vehicle travels along a public road in Eiheiji, Fukui Prefecture, on May 25.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2024
Self-driving gets off to bumpy start in Fukui town
In the year since the service began in Eiheiji, financial and technical problems have emerged.
Farm minister Tetsushi Sakamoto stands as an amendment on Japan's farm policies clears parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 30, 2024
Japan enacts revised 'constitution' for farm policies
The revised law newly underscores the necessity of ensuring food security at a time when supply chains are being destabilized.
A government panel in charge of promoting women's active engagement in professional life has said gender wage gaps may be behind the outflows of young women from rural areas in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
May 28, 2024
Gender wage gaps seen behind outflows of women from rural areas
Experts have said that local governments need to make wage gap rectification part of regional revitalization efforts in order to stem outflows of women.
Toshio Itoya, a community leader in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, says that people will come of their own accord if there is money to be made.
JAPAN / Society
May 21, 2024
Noto Peninsula faces youth exodus amid slow earthquake recovery
The inability to earn a living in quake-hit cities is making them seek greener pastures elsewhere, a community leader says.
A couple looks out onto the Fukuoka nightscape. Due to its distance from Tokyo and its close proximity to South Korea and China, professor Tomoya Mori believes that Fukuoka is one of the few metropolitan regions of Japan that will see some form of growth in the decades to come.
JAPAN / Society / Perspectives
May 20, 2024
Why half of Japan's cities are at risk of disappearing in 100 years
Professor Tomoya Mori believes depopulation will alter the urban landscape of Japan in an unexpected way.
In 2023, Bryan Eastlake (left) began a three-year contract with the local Takahama tourism association to write, post photos and otherwise promote the small town in northern Kyoto Prefecture to a wider audience.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
May 20, 2024
The new vanguard of rural revitalization efforts in Japan
Currently, the Regional Revitalization Corps has around 200 foreign residents working in different industries around the country.
Fukushima Prefectural Police are looking into any possible connections between Tuesday's robbery in rural Minamiaizu and a spate of similar cases in nearby prefectures that started late last month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2024
Police probe Fukushima robbery's links to spate of rural home invasions
Several robberies targeting houses in mountainous areas have taken place in Tochigi, Nagano, and Gunma prefectures since late April.
Despite bustling cities like Tokyo and Osaka, Japan faces a rising number of abandoned properties, particularly in rural areas, which pose risks to communities and economies.
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2024
Abandoned homes will be a big part of Japan’s future
Statistics reveal a significant increase in vacant and abandoned homes, with projections indicating a further rise unless addressed soon.
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
JAPAN
May 1, 2024
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
The preliminary figure jumped by 510,000 from 2018, when the previous survey was taken, and doubled from 4.48 million in 1993.
The trial hearing of Masumi Hayashi, who denied killing four people and poisoning 63 at a festival by lacing a pot of curry with arsenic, was the focus of The Japan Times’ front page of May 14, 1999.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
May 1, 2024
Japan Times 1999: Hayashi admits fraud, denies curry murders
The disturbing case of the Wakayama curry killer would continue for years, resulting in the eventual execution of the woman convicted of the crime.
Chika Kon asks a question at a mock assembly session organized by the town assembly of Zao, Miyagi Prefecture, in July. Kon is now a member of the assembly.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 29, 2024
Local councils in Japan take measures to counter candidate shortfall
Efforts are being made to encourage participation to avoid undermining essential functions such as administrative oversight.
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Apr 27, 2024
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Efforts to revitalize rural areas through various incentives has yielded limited results as people continue to gravitate toward urban centers.
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2024
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
The country is looking to nudge affluent tourists to lesser-known destinations with the offer of unique experiences of culture, craftsmanship and nature.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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