Rural Japan (villages, land, coastal, buying)

[IWLC]

I've become interested, lately, in the culture of old Japan, especially small town life. There is a wealth of information on the culture on Youtube.


Apart from the incredibly serene lifestyle, what strikes me is that almost everyone is old. It is a universal thing for young people to 'flee' to cities, but now it's at a critical stage. I've seen similar documentaries from Russia, where there are hundreds of abandoned, and nearly abandoned small towns. In Newfoundland, where the government is buying out small town residents because it is too expensive to continue providing utility, road and education services for just a handful of residents. There are dozens of small, coastal towns that will soon be empty. The US is no different. I can't imagine what it will be like when the world is covered with slowly disintegrating ghost towns. Will they, one day be demolished and the land be left to overgrow?





I think a lot of us (myself included) would love to spend our last years in the tranquility of rural life, but when/if the current generation decides to go back to small town life, will there be any small towns left to go back to?

[Jezer]

I apologise in that I cannot comment on Japan, but in your post you did mention other Countries.

It's not dissimilar here in SW France, though not to the same extent.

I get the feeling that many youngsters move away from the small villages and small towns that are in large numbers round here.

There are young families here in our village, and ironically the school in the next village is being kept open as there are enough ex British children to keep the critical mass high enough. Our school village closed last month.

The area is heavily dependent on agriculture and tourism, though the latter is highly seasonal.

However there are enough people around to make it an exceptionally great place to live, and I actually prefer it out of the high season.