Katsuya Kodama’s wife died two years ago, and the 77-year-old keeps her ashes on a Buddhist altar in their suburban home. "I talk to her morning and night, tell her everything," he said. "I sit on the chair she used in the bath while
Katsuya Kodama’s wife died two years ago, and the 77-year-old keeps her ashes on a Buddhist altar in their suburban home.
“I talk to her morning and night, tell her everything,” he said. “I sit on the chair she used in the bath while ill. Sitting where she sat makes me feel close to her.”
That sense of loss cuts through Sakura in Chiba Prefecture, including the Sennari district where Kodama moved 30 years ago.
Back then, it was filled with young families; now, nearly half of Sennari’s residents are over 65 and the population of Sakura, a city of 175,000, is falling by about 400 a year.
The next town over is the more youthful Inzai, where life is much different. Only about 21 percent of its population of 100,600 is older than 65 – 12 percent below Sakura as a whole and almost 7 percent below the national average – and it is buzzing with new development.
Like Sakura, Inzai –also in Chiba Prefecture — lies within commuting distance of Tokyo, roughly an hour west by train, and Narita airport, about 40 minutes east. Both cities sprawl across a mix of developed and open land, prime for growth.
But the demographics of the two cities underline their divergent fortunes.
Inzai will still be growing in 2040, government forecasts say, while Sakura is set to shrink by up to 20 percent. Japan’s population is predicted to decline by 16 percent in the same period.
The key difference: Inzai was redeveloped starting in the mid-1980s with young families in mind. Its mayor enthusiastically lobbied national and regional governments to bring in a major housing project called Chiba Newtown. As it grew, Inzai dangled entertainment complexes and parks to lure residents, with tax breaks for employers.
Sakura has by contrast grown in the more piecemeal fashion typical of other Japanese cities, with little thought given to bringing in new blood. Residents say its government, controlled by one political party since 1955, allowed local stores to fold and did not attract new businesses.
