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July 05, 2026
 

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DEPOPULATION

Kunihiro Nitta, a pharmacist at the Sukoyaka pharmacy in Naha, gives medication instructions to a resident on Minamidaito Island in Okinawa Prefecture via a video call in September.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Feb 2, 2026
Pharmacy in Okinawa goes online to reach residents on remote islands
Sukoyaka pharmacy stepped up after two local pharmacies on Minamidaito Island and Yonaguni Island hundreds of kilometers away were shuttered.
Shares of Next Generation Technology Group, which focuses on buying manufacturing firms without a clear succession plan, rose 202% since their listing last February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2026
Japan’s succession crisis yields country’s best-performing IPO
Shares of Next Generation Technology Group, which focuses on buying manufacturing firms without a clear succession plan, rose 202% since their listing last February.
Workers' cooperatives in Japan are primarily engaged in fields such as nursing care, retail management and support services for children.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 28, 2026
Local governments tap worker cooperatives for services in depopulated areas
The cooperatives are supported by local government subsidies for startup and operating costs, with central government also working to ease access to financial assistance.
China’s marriage market is being hollowed out by a shrinking pool of women of childbearing age and a severe gender imbalance, while those women who do marry are doing so later and having fewer children.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2026
Can China reverse its demographic decline?
China’s births have fallen to historic lows and deep structural forces make any lasting fertility rebound unlikely.
Posts and videos shared on social media have amplified fears about crime in Japan, with unverified claims spreading faster than official crime statistics.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jan 12, 2026
Japan is safe. Why do the Japanese feel unsafe?
Crime is low but anxiety is rising, fueled by demographics, social media and perception gaps shaping how safety is felt.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks during an interview on Monday at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2026
Tokyo governor negative on addressing tax revenue gaps
The central government’s policy of addressing tax revenue gaps between the capital and other local governments would “obstruct the growth of Tokyo,” Gov. Yuriko Koike said.
While the number of users of the unprofitable local lines is unlikely to recover amid population decline in rural Japan, people living near the lines want the railroad services to be maintained.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2026
JR companies and local governments to continue talks on loss-making railway lines
While the number of users of the unprofitable local lines is unlikely to recover amid population decline, people living near the lines want the railroad services to be maintained.
An event to facilitate cooperation between local municipalities and colleges is held in Tokyo in November.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2026
Rural municipalities working with students from urban areas on regional revitalization
The project is aimed at securing human resources for community development and creating “related populations,” or people who are continuously involved in regional communities.
As Japan’s population ages, fewer workers will be supporting more dependents, reshaping the country’s social and economic balance.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Dec 29, 2025
On to 2050: Life in a shrinking Japan
By 2050, Japan’s youth will inherit a transformed country, reshaped by population decline, longer lives and unprecedented demographic imbalance.
Keiji Minatoya, from Kitaakita, Akita Prefecture, reenacts the time he was attacked by a black bear in 2023. Japan’s recent battle with bears has revealed issues that will continue to present challenges for the Japanese government going forward.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 26, 2025
Japan’s growing bear crisis reveals deeper issues
Currently, there are only around 220,000 licensed hunters in Japan, substantially lower than the 532,265 registered in 1970.
Japan’s efforts to halt rural depopulation and revive its countryside require a broader focus on quality of life, productivity and realistic population goals.
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2025
Facts, not fantasy, must guide regional revitalization policy
By 2022, more than half of all municipalities in Japan were designated as “depopulated areas.”
The village office of Tonaki, Okinawa Prefecture. The village recorded zero births in 2023.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Dec 22, 2025
Okinawa’s remote island villages battle acute depopulation
Eight of the prefecture’s 41 municipalities recorded fewer than 10 births in 2023.
Like clockwork, the Year of the Fire Horse has depressed birth rates in Japan due to a stigma associated with girls born in the year.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 20, 2025
Will Japan’s ‘fire horse’ curse strike again in 2026?
In 1966, the stigma related to the Chinese sexagenary cycle caused birth rates to plummet.
Among older Japanese people who die, a rising number are unmarried and without close relatives.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2025
Japan’s isolated elderly leave record sums to government
In recent years, the aging population has seen soaring numbers of deaths and more people reach the end of their lives with no immediate family.
A nurse sits at the reception desk of a maternity ward in Hoshcha, a rural community that has experienced a declining birth rate, in Ukraine, on Oct. 2.
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Dec 5, 2025
Ukraine stares down the barrel of population collapse
The country’s war with Russia has left it with the highest death rate and lowest birth rate in the world.
Recent mergers and lower valuations are fueling investor bets that more deals may come among Japan’s 73 listed smaller banks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2025
Rate hikes drive Japan regional banks toward mergers to survive
Decades after a debt crisis forced a wave of mergers that created mega lenders, the focus now is on consolidation in Japan’s $3 trillion regional banking industry.
Workers from Heisei Chikuho Railway replace an old railroad tie with a new one, securing it with heavy-duty nails.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Nov 17, 2025
Railway in rural Fukuoka stands at crossroads as passenger numbers dwindle
If Heisei Chikuho Railway maintains its current train line operations, it is projected to incur an annual deficit of around ¥1 billion over the next 30 years for maintenance.
The education ministry plans to create ¥300 billion in funds across all 47 prefectures to strengthen financial support for public high school reform.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2025
Japan to set up ¥300 billion funds for high school reform
The funds will be spent mainly on measures to make public schools more attractive, such as hiring outside experts as lecturers and procuring 3D printers and information devices.
At a joint meeting of Japan's National Governors' Association and the Governors Association of the Republic of Korea, officials discussed issues affecting both countries and the need for future cooperation, in Incheon, South Korea, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2025
Japanese and South Korean governors discuss need for cooperation
Officials talked about measures to boost the economy and deal with population decline in the eighth joint meeting since 1999.
Internal affairs minister Yoshimasa Hayashi
JAPAN / Society
Nov 3, 2025
Japan looks to boost ‘connected population’ in bid to revitalize regions
Internal affairs minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is considering to develop a registration system to serve as a “passport” for nonresidents to participate in regional support activities.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Japanese police have arrested nine individuals for their alleged involvement in a special fraud case using Sierra Leone as a base.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
X Games returns to Chiba with new team format
Skateboarder Sora Shirai practices at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Friday afternoon. X Games Chiba begins on Saturday.
NU Festival tests Takanawa Gateway City complex’s culture cred
Veteran improvisers Kazuo Imai and Atsuhiro Ito brought some unruly energy to NU Festival, a three-day multimedia event held at the Takanawa Gateway City complex.  
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan&#039;s renewable goals.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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