Japan's most graying village looks to Peru sister city for lifeline

MAEBASHI, Japan - Japan's most graying municipality has turned to its Peruvian sister city in search of a way to reverse its population decline and address the labor shortage that together threaten its survival.

The mountain village of Nanmoku in Gunma Prefecture, where 65.2 percent of residents were aged 65 or older in the 2020 census, signed a sister-city agreement with Belen in northern Peru in November, hoping cultural exchanges under the framework will eventually bring young people to live and work in the Japanese village.