MAEBASHI, Japan - Japan's most graying municipality has turned to its Peruvian sister city in search of a way to reverse its population decline and address the labor shortage that together threaten its survival.
The mountain village of Nanmoku in Gunma Prefecture, where 65.2 percent of residents were aged 65 or older in the 2020 census, signed a sister-city agreement with Belen in northern Peru in November, hoping cultural exchanges under the framework will eventually bring young people to live and work in the Japanese village.
"In five years, we may no longer have enough people to support the community," said Nanmoku Mayor Saijo Hasegawa, 73. "We need people from overseas if we are to survive."
The village with a population of just 1,337 at the end of July once thrived on sericulture and forestry, but the labor shortage is now straining its essential services, with care workers in short supply and many of its community bus drivers in their 70s.
The move comes at a time when Japan as a country faces a labor shortage stemming from its low birthrate, and is increasingly turning to foreign workers, even as anti-immigrant sentiment has also grown among the public in recent years.
Nanmoku has tried to attract new residents from across Japan by introducing vacant homes to potential migrants and taking other steps to encourage relocation. It has also entrusted the operation of a nursing home and a roadside station to a nonprofit organization established by residents to enable more flexible hiring.
But those efforts have failed to bring a significant increase in newcomers from elsewhere in the country.
Hasegawa then began looking overseas, believing cooperation between local governments could provide a more dependable way to build ties with young people interested in coming to Japan.
The connection with Belen came through Masao Aizawa, a 35-year-old Peruvian of Japanese descent who works in auto sales in the city of Isesaki, also in Gunma Prefecture.
Aizawa made a donation to Nanmoku to promote multicultural coexistence in 2022 and, after learning about the village's population decline, helped connect it with Belen.
Belen, with a population of about 80,000, many of them young, is located near the upper reaches of the Amazon River and is known for its river fish. According to Nanmoku, Belen too had been seeking exchanges with municipalities in Gunma Prefecture, where many Peruvians live.
After a series of online discussions, Hasegawa said he sensed a favorable attitude toward Japan in Belen. He later traveled there, where the two sides agreed to promote cultural and tourism exchanges and share knowledge in areas including sports and science.
Belen's mayor and several young people are expected to visit Nanmoku for about 10 days this fall to experience its culture and customs.
Nanmoku hopes such exchanges will eventually encourage some young people from Belen to stay longer and work in the village. For those who do, it plans to support online Japanese-language study and help them obtain qualifications in fields such as nursing and elderly care.
But such efforts still face hurdles. Some village assembly members have questioned whether the village needs to bring in people from overseas and voiced concerns about public safety.
It also remains unclear what residence status would apply to those who come to Japan for work.
Hasegawa said attracting people to settle in Nanmoku is not easy, but he believes even a small number of reliable workers from overseas could help secure the village's future.
"If even a small number settle here, we can keep the village going," he said.
