Society How a small Saitama town is defying rural decline

[thomas]

JT takes a look at how the small rural town of Yokoze managed to attract a crowd of young urbanites.

Yet while hundreds of municipalities across Japan struggle to stem the outflow of young people to the country's largest metropolitan areas — particularly Tokyo — Yokoze has managed to attract a growing number of newcomers, many of them in their 20s, resulting in a small but symbolic net migration gain in 2025. A key factor behind that result is a decade-long, town-backed program that encourages entrepreneurs and companies to test new concepts, attracting a steady stream of visitors and potential migrants. While similar public-private efforts often get bogged down in bureaucracy, Yokoze has developed a reputation as a place where ideas can quickly be put into practice.

What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival

Faced with the same demographic pressures confronting other towns, Yokoze is experimenting with a different approach.

www.japantimes.co.jp

https://www.kentaku.co.jp/miraiken/market/pdf/research/sumicoco/release_happiness2025_saitama_20250903.pdf