Rural Japan loses population

YOUTH EXODUS: DON'T BLAME US, SAY WOMEN IN MALE-DOMINATED COUNTRY AREAS

By pledging to revitalise depopulated rural areas, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had hoped to help his party retain its majority in last Sunday's general election.

Over 40% of municipalities risk extinction, according to a recent study, because of an ageing population and an exodus of young people from the countryside - particularly women who wish to escape sexist attitudes.

AFP spoke to three women about their experiences.

Ren Yamamoto, 25, rejects the idea that women who move away should be held responsible for the situation.

"Should individual women be blamed for that?" said the web producer, who lives in the mountainous Yamanashi region.

When job hunting, Yamamoto found companies there "outdated" compared to the capital, with a culture of "asking women to step back" in roles to support their male colleagues.

"Japan is still a society where gender roles for men and women tend to be fixed" but in places like Tokyo, women "suffer less discrimination and enjoy more options".

Yamamoto launched an online channel to highlight why women leave their home towns, with one contributor comparing countryside life to the 17th to 19th century Edo Period.