Tag - rural-life

 
 

RURAL LIFE

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 26, 2016
Never mind Japan's looming pension disaster — here's a cute squirrel
On our island of just 529 people in the Inland Sea, we have one post office and one bank. The bank, run by the almighty JA (Japan Agriculture), shares an office with the JA dry goods store, which offers everything from rodent poison to a new water heater.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 29, 2016
Plenty of blame to go around for the young and older alike
The 50s must be the point where you can no longer blame things on young people and so switch to blaming middle age.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 24, 2016
Guesthouses are proliferating in Japan's countryside, but at what cost?
To ensure they can continue working into their twilight years, many owners of traditional Japanese inns are keen to change their business model.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 27, 2016
Seto Inland Sea island finds salvation through art, but on its residents' own terms
Until recently facing a shrinking, aging population, Ogijima is growing thanks to its thriving community-based art scene.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Mar 14, 2016
Japanese like the look of life in Nagano
Nagano Prefecture is the place that Japanese would most like to move to if they were to relocate to the countryside, a survey shows.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 29, 2016
Alarm over the death of a doctor ripples across the Seto Inland Sea
The death of the island's only doctor has come as a major shock to the islanders of Shiraishi and beyond.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 24, 2016
NGO's Japanese founder foments organic revolution in Vietnam
Seed to Table helps locals rediscover lost agricultural wisdom and pull themselves out of poverty with duck and cow 'banks.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 27, 2015
Taking a longer view in defense of clutter
There's a worrying trend in Japan that is spreading throughout the world: that of throwing things out.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2015
Quaint Kyoto farming community gears up for influx of tourists seeking a less-beaten path
Miyama in the city of Nantan, Kyoto Prefecture, has been noted in recent years as a farming community worth visiting, yet it is just beginning to adapt to a steep increase in Asian tourists who are tired of conventional sightseeing spots in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 11, 2015
State retirement communities, aimed at luring elderly from cities, take shape in Japan
Ten to 20 cities and towns will be named next year as sites for a state program to create new retirement communities for Japan's rapidly graying populace.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 25, 2015
It's the little things — like ¥10 — that remind me why I'm still here
It's times like these that I chuckle to myself and am reminded why I love living in Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 24, 2015
Water, water everywhere in Japan, but fewer people to pay for it
Water is relatively abundant in Japan, but there are less people around to pay for the infrastructure that processes it and delivers it to homes.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 27, 2015
Can art bring people back to Japan's depopulated islands?
I've seen island revitalization projects come and go, but the idea of an NPO riding on the coattails of a successful art trend in the area strikes me as having some promise.
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2015
The coming crisis in housing
The government's policy on housing should veer away from encouraging new construction and focus more on developing the market for secondhand houses.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 30, 2015
I've often thought about your doppelganger, but have you?
Have you considered that maybe your double lives in Japan? And that you might meet them someday?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 2, 2015
Moriumius project brings young life and learning back to the Tohoku disaster zone
A unique educational project aims to revitalize the Miyagi town of Ogatsu, which lost around 80 percent of its buildings and 10 percent of its 4,300 population to the 3/11 disasters.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 24, 2015
Fostering entrepreneurship beyond the foreign community
Some people say that as long as you have blond hair, blue eyes and white skin, you can get a job, succeed and even become a celebrity in Japan. So imagine what would happen if there were two such people, married to each other!
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2015
Japan to tap private sector to scour nation for potential hit products
In a rare move, the government plans to ask private companies to use their creativity and resources to discover "hidden" specialty products across the country and turn them into hit products.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 4, 2015
In shrinking villages, abandoned graves are a sign of generational flight
In the nation's declining provinces, it is not only the living who are neglected.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2015
Crowdsourcing may hold key to unlocking Japan's working potential
As Japan tries to mobilize underemployed workers and revitalize business outside major city centers like Tokyo and Osaka, crowdsourcing — the allocation of tasks to remote workers online — may become a valuable tool.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree