Japan's demographic decline first of all affects the countryside, which is losing inhabitants at an impressive rate. To reverse, or at least stem, the trend, the city authorities of a small town, Mishima, in the Miyagi prefecture, have seen fit to give anyone who moves to live in the village a cow. In the event that the cow is not particularly coveted, a monetary alternative of 500 yen has also been contemplated. The case of Mishima is not isolated: villages and small urban centers scattered almost everywhere in Japan are competing to attract new residents.
Hida, for example, located in the central part of the island of Honshu, promises new citizens an annual donation of 60 kilos of rice for a decade, while Nikaho, located further north, dispenses free admissions to local hot springs . But there are also those who offer free meals in school canteens and health insurance. However, all these efforts are not producing the desired results and the demographic drying up of the countryside seems unstoppable.
The imbalance in population density is therefore a new problem that adds to those already afflicting Japan in the demographic field: the marked aging of the population and one of the lowest birth rates in the world. "The country is losing its balance," said Hiroya Masuda, former interior minister, "and if Tokyo is overcrowded beyond all tolerance, the countryside is practically deserted."
“The government” replies Yoshihide Suga, head of the cabinet secretariat, “is well aware of the damage that comes to the country from the lack of adequate population in the countryside. Creating stable and substantial settlements in rural areas is a priority for our administration". Despite the good intentions of the government, however, the problem seems difficult to solve in a national context where the demographic collapse promises to be truly impressive: in the next 40 years it is expected that the current 127 million Japanese will be reduced to no more than 86.
