The mountain village of Nanmoku in Japan's Gunma Prefecture has signed a sister-city agreement with Belen, Peru, to attract younger workers [1].
This partnership represents a drastic attempt to ensure the survival of one of Japan's most rapidly aging communities. By establishing cultural ties with a younger population, Nanmoku hopes to reverse a demographic trend that threatens the village's existence.
Nanmoku is facing a critical labor shortage driven by an aging demographic. According to the 2020 census, 65.2% [1] of the village residents were aged 65 or older. This shift has left the community struggling to maintain essential services and local industry.
The agreement, which was signed in November 2023 [1], focuses on promoting cultural exchanges between the two regions. Local officials said these exchanges should eventually encourage young people from Peru to move to the mountain village to live and work.
Belen, located in the northern region of Peru, provides a stark demographic contrast to Nanmoku. The city has a population of about 80,000 [2] people. The disparity in age structures is the primary driver for the collaboration, a strategy to bridge the gap between a shrinking rural Japanese town and a growing South American urban center.
While the initial focus remains on cultural diplomacy, the long-term goal is to create a pipeline for migration. Nanmoku officials said establishing these formal bonds is the most viable path to plugging the severe worker shortage that currently plagues the region [1].
“Nanmoku hopes to reverse a demographic trend that threatens the village's existence.”
This agreement highlights the extreme measures rural Japanese municipalities are taking to combat 'shutter towns' and total depopulation. By looking beyond traditional regional partnerships toward South America, Nanmoku is testing whether international cultural diplomacy can serve as a sustainable recruitment tool for foreign labor in sectors that are no longer attractive to the domestic workforce.
