Sixty traditional folk events halted in rural Japan due to depopulation, aging

The Japan Times

January 13, 2017 | Unit 4: Culture

Synopsis

In Japan, 60 traditional folk events, that celebrate the folk culture of the country, have been put on halt. This is due to the population of the country growing older. The younger population of Japanese have migrated from the rural countryside to the big cities. Because of this, not many young people populate Japan's rural areas. This has resulted in these folk culture events being halted because the older population is not capable of  organizing the events on their own. Different communities are attempting to ensure that Japanese folk culture stays alive by trying to teach children about it in school.

Analysis

This news story ties in two of the units we learned this year, and briefly refers to another one we did. This news story shows how the aging of a population actually does have an effect on the country. In this case, Japan's folk culture events have been halted because there are not enough people to help support these events. The article discusses how the younger population has migrated from the rural areas of Japan into the large cities, for what can be inferred to be an increase in job opportunities. It was also interesting to see that the Japanese are still trying to ensure that their folk culture is not completely destroyed, by having the children be taught in school about their culture. This article relates to human geography because it discusses how a graying population is affecting Japan's celebration of its folk culture.