Aging Japanese mountain village seeks help from Peruvian sister city
The village of Nanmoku in Gunma Prefecture has signed a sister-city pact with Belen, Peru, hoping cultural exchanges will draw young residents to address its shrinking and aging population.
Nanmoku, a mountain community in Gunma with just over 1,300 residents, signed a sister-city agreement with Belen in northern Peru to combat a looming labor shortfall and a demographic tilt toward older ages. Mayor Saijo Hasegawa, 73, warned that the village could lack enough people to sustain basic services within five years. The partnership, facilitated by Masao Aizawa, a Peruvian of Japanese descent, will focus on cultural and tourism exchanges, with a group of Belen’s mayor and youth slated to visit Nanmoku this fall.
The village hopes to attract some visitors to remain and work, offering online Japanese lessons and pathways to qualifications in nursing and elder care. However, local assembly members have questioned the need for foreign residents and raised issues about public safety and legal residency status. Hasegawa believes even a modest influx of reliable workers could help preserve the community.
Why it matters
It shows how rural Japan is turning to international partnerships to counter demographic decline and labor gaps.
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