Population inflow exceeds outflow in Tokyo area at accelerated pace

What a pity that the Japanese government has failed to address this overcrowding in the Kanto area.

Understandable that many people leave most prefectures in Japan. Many are truly grim.

Yes, but not really in the Western sense. Environmentally, most of Japan's provinces are lovely, lots of green, lots of mountains, lots of land for growing your own food. Contrast this to some of the industrial cities on the outskirts of Tokyo/Nagoya/Osaka where you get public housing blocks right next to petrochemical plants.

What can be very depressing in the Japanese countryside is the weight of obligations on locals. I think lots of people go to the city to run away from this and become anonymous. Job opportunities are a huge problem too, especially for women.

In the future Japan's name will have to change to Tokyo.20 years from now hardly anyone will be living outside of Tokyo and Osaka.

You can live in a country farmhouse in Japan within one hours commute on the express trains of Ueno. I know where I'd live.

"Grim" is a not a term I'd use to describe any region in Japan. It is far more apt to describe pretty much every northern english city as "grim", Bro!

You are funny. Have you ever actually been to the UK or Japan?

Now that I live in the boonies, I am more aware of ‘obligations’ to the local shrine, school, neighborhood group etc. If I don’t play well with others, I am warned, my wife is ostracized, and I suddenly find my house violates several unwritten ‘rules.’ Once I get with the program, these things disappear.

In other words, I can see why people want to live in bigger cities with less ‘neighborly’ advice.

@zichi - What you are describing is common throughout the World within small communities - people help each other. (It used to be like that back in the UK too, but now....). The only difference I see in Japan, is the absence of "nosiness" - if you want your privacy, people don't go out of their way to "spy" on you and maintain a daily "gossip" portfolio upon you. Sure, there's the odd gossip after "events"/"situations" but, it doesn't appear to persist as long as it does elsewhere.

Within Cities, relationships are generally cooler and distant - people come and go - that's simply a matter of fact. This is common everywhere, not just Japan. You can, however, if you live within a small area long enough build up a rapport with those who live there long term, but, it's just not the same as when you're living outside in the sticks.

I recall from my youth, that Countryside-folk such as I was back then, used to call those who live within Large Towns - Townies, and they all generally stood out, particularly those who hadn't a clue about how to even safely walk down a country lane without a pavement, or simply even the way that they dressed...

Though the benefit I see from the City, is firstly if you have properties in one, and the demand for somewhere to live is high in that City, then you can have an additional income from the rent there for yourself to live off whilst you enjoy the life you have found elsewhere.

Hope your prostate issues get resolved - any issues concerning that area of a man's body are painful, even to think about! So good luck! And all the best.

No jobs that are worth applying for outside Tokyo can you blame the young for trying to get better opportunities where there are none?

There's no law stating where someone can move to. Until that happens, which will surely be a warning or suggestion (not a law), be prepared to deal with overcrowding.

They call this a positive thing? What about the rural economies? The horticultural regions of Japan are run by people who should have retired decades ago and will die in the next 2-3 decades. Who is going to produce rice, milk, fruits, vegetables, etc? Japan already imports 70% of its food. If this trend continues they will be importing 100% of their food.

I remember one staff member who came from Akita and told me there was more going on near one station of the Yamanote Line than in his home town.

Understandable that many people leave most prefectures in Japan. Many are truly grim.

They need to decentralize the political power and financing out of Tokyo. If every prefecture had the power to set their own regulations and taxes, independent from Tokyo, that would create competition between prefectures like there is in America. The prefectures that do good will attract people, and soon others will follow them. Fukuoka is doing good in this area but they are severely limited by Tokyo. If they had the power, i am sure many prefectures would've adopted policies that attract businesses. If people had good job opportunities in their own prefectures, they wouldn't need to leave. Also, people would be more willing to vote and participate in politics if the issues they cared about can be decided by their own prefecture, rather than the central government.

If you are in Hokkaido, live in Sweden Hills and commute to Sapporo for work. Then go skiing in Niseko during the weekends.

Understandable that many people leave most prefectures in Japan. Many are truly grim.

"Grim" is a not a term I'd use to describe any region in Japan. It is far more apt to describe pretty much every northern english city as "grim", Bro!

"Grim" is a not a term I'd use to describe any region in Japan. It is far more apt to describe pretty much every northern english city as "grim", Bro!

and any Major city in the west. Just take a Look at London, Paris, New York, San Francisco,

Grim would be polite. More like S hole.

@zichi well said zichi. And also something that a lot of your forgetting, is the fact that Japan has a rapidly aging population. And hence, its population overalls on the Klein. So yes, wow some areas of Japan are definitely suffering because of this, it’s not all negative, considering the fact of the declining population.

*overall IS on the decline.

*So yes, WHILE...

sorry, a couple of typos there.

And actually, I’m looking to move to Japan in a year or two, so this is definitely good to know. I live in the Philadelphia area, actually really close to the city, so overcrowding isn’t that bothersome to me. And I can’t wait to move to Japan! I’m really excited about it.

In the UK it is only grim ‘up North’