Tag - rural-life

 
Menu
Search
 
October 20, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

RURAL LIFE

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 23, 2020
Cheap, spacious, crowd-free: Rural Japan is having a moment with the foreign community
Laura Blackhall took a risk purchasing an empty house in the Ibaraki countryside. Amid and following a pandemic, though, it's a choice that just might pay off.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 16, 2020
An outsider's look at the problems plaguing rural Japan
When new people come to town they bring a flurry of new ideas with them. In the small town of Nakatsugawa, this has meant an exciting cultural exchange.
BUSINESS
Nov 4, 2020
As Japan moves to revive its countryside, pandemic drives many out of cities
In September, 30,644 people moved out of Tokyo, up 12.5% year-on-year, while the number moving in fell 11.7% to 27,006, data showed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Sep 25, 2020
Rules on buying farmland eased in rural Hiroshima amid depopulation
Smaller plots are being made available in a bid to attract younger people from the cities to the countryside.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 25, 2020
Go To Travel campaign stirs anxieties outside Tokyo
in some areas, out-of-prefecture motorists have been pelted with rocks and intimidated by reckless driving.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 18, 2020
Call of the wild: The challenges of rural migration in Japan
The surge in new COVID-19 cases in urban areas has had some residents weighing opportunities in more isolated communities. But what sort of life can they expect?
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2020
Japan urges urbanites to tour country, sparking fear of virus's spread in countryside
A central government campaign to spur domestic tourism has drawn both enthusiasm and ire, with some social media users telling urbanites to stay away from rural areas.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 4, 2020
Rodrigo Duterte paying Filipinos to move from Manila to country
The coronavirus pandemic is giving Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte a reason to reduce overcrowding in Manila, which in recent decades has swelled into one of the most heavily populated areas on Earth.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 7, 2020
Local officials and residents fear influx from Japan's virus hot spots
With the number of novel coronavirus infections rising in Tokyo and other major urban centers, some concerned residents are fleeing to nearby prefectures where the number of cases is minimal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 21, 2020
Japan considering fee system for 5G networks to subsidize launch of services in rural areas
The communications ministry is considering introducing a system to charge internet users a fee so that fiber-optic infrastructure for 5G wireless networks can be constructed and maintained across the country, informed sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2019
Japan considers law requiring local governments to fill transport gaps in rural areas
The transport ministry is considering a new system to help maintain public transport services in nonurban areas at a time when the population has been declining.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2019
Japan's government hoping to stop net population inflows into Tokyo by 2024
The central government aims to stop net population inflows into the greater Tokyo area by fiscal 2024, it was learned Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 18, 2019
New communications minister Sanae Takaichi backs 5G networks for Japan's rural areas
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed her eagerness to promote active use of fifth-generation, or 5G, communications networks for rural areas.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 17, 2019
Empty hair salons can't be saved by BOJ
Struggling businesses in rural Japan show the limits of the central bank's massive easing.
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2019
Regional revitalization goes slow
The government needs to review its regional revitalization efforts over the past five years to see if it's taking the right steps to achieve the intended goal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2019
House-flipper takes advantage of Japan's 8 million-plus empty homes
More than 8 million homes lie abandoned across Japan, a symptom of the declining population and people's migration to major cities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Mar 12, 2019
Entrepreneur's message to Japan's forgotten non-college-educated youth: You can choose your life
It wasn't until he turned 18 that Daisuke Kuse saw businessmen dressed in dapper suits up close and personal. Until then, Kuse — having spent all of his childhood surrounded by working-class families and friends in a small town in Kyoto Prefecture — had barely the foggiest idea of who they were....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 30, 2018
Celebrating New Year's the island way
On the small island where I live in the middle of Japan's Seto Inland Sea, new year celebrations are stalwart traditional. Preparations start a week before when the holiday spirit wafts in on sea breezes tinted with chilling temperatures. The island holds a community rice-pounding event to make kagami...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 23, 2018
Girl power! India's 'solar gal pals' light up Rajasthan's rural homes
Buffalo trampled over it? Rain drenched it? Child dropped it? No problem! This solar flashlight can endure it all, said Bassi in a pitch to her neighbors in rural India to convince them to power their homes with clean energy instead of polluting fuels.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 31, 2018
The death of a Japanese countryside festival
Ancient rites bend to an aging, shrinking population, but how much longer can local traditions hold out?
Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
For Uniqlo’s founder, conquering America is personal
A Uniqlo store in New York. In recent years, Uniqlo’s affordable, well-made basic clothes have struck a chord, especially with younger American shoppers, fueling a rapid business expansion.
Japan's fractured politics could ensnarl Takaichi's economic plans
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, attends a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
Sho-time as dazzling Ohtani powers Dodgers into World Series with historic performance
Shohei Ohtani hits a solo home run against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth inning of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
LDP and Nippon Ishin no Kai to form coalition government, report says
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai have agreed to form a coalition, paving the way for the country's first female prime minister, Kyodo reports.
What does Jimbocho think of its unexpected ‘cool’ status?
Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood is a haven for book lovers, its rows of secondhand bookstores spilling over with printed materials.
What you need to see at this year's Tokyo film festival
Chloe Zhao’s "Hamnet"
New film explores how Japan and the U.S. found common ground through baseball
Masanori Murakami became the first MLB player from Japan when he made his debut with the Giants on Sept 1, 1964.
As they wrestle for power, Japan’s political parties must remember their base
Rengo's head Tomoko Yoshino speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 8.
Sumo is about to hit London and the West with a force previously unseen
Preparations advance on Monday for the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER