Nanmoku seeks to attract young people from Peru through sister-city ties — The Japan Times

Authorities in the village of Nanmoku in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, hope to attract young people from the Peruvian district of Belen through a sister-city agreement. Last year, the communities reached an agreement on cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and recently the mayor of Belen and two female students visited Nanmoku, The Japan Times reports.

A village with an aging population

About 1,300 people live in Nanmoku, and 70% of its population is aged 65 or older. A 2014 report by a think tank described the village as the most vulnerable to disappearance. Nanmoku Mayor Saijo Hasegawa said that about 60 people die in the village each year, while only two or three children are born.

The community has already tried to attract young people from other parts of Japan, but the mountainous area lacks jobs and land suitable for cultivation. Hasegawa said the village needs to expand its contacts and attract new residents, including foreigners. Without this, he said, there may come a time when even public transportation stops operating there.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Interest from young people in Belen

Belen is a district of the city of Iquitos in northeastern Peru with a population of more than 60,000. Its median age is about 27. District Mayor Lina Arista Lopez said that because of the economic situation, young people may be interested in moving to other cities. Belen residents are mainly involved in informal trade and agriculture, growing cassava, rice and corn.

Nineteen-year-old student Wendy Sangama said after a week-long trip around Japan that she could imagine living in Nanmoku. Another student, 23-year-old Ketsy Yauarkani, also said she would settle there if she had the opportunity. At the same time, the procedure for obtaining residency rights for potential settlers remains unclear.

Hasegawa stressed that he does not want to hire workers through agencies on a short-term basis, but to welcome Belen residents as new members of the community ready to build long-term lives in the village. One Nanmoku resident noted that newcomers may face a language barrier: a car is needed for life in the village, and knowledge of Japanese is required to obtain a driver's license.