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DOCUMENTARY

New Life Blossoms in an Old Village:
Seven Years of Struggle and Hope

DOCUMENTARY 2013 48 mins Episode(s): 1 English English
The aging of Japan's population is steadily hollowing out the country's agriculture.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, a struggling farming community in Ishikawa Prefecture called Sugaike began trying to attract young residents. Hiroyuki Yago is one of the people who came. He moved from Osaka to Sugaike in order to grow organic vegetables, but there wasn't enough farmland available to rent and he has trouble making a living. Nevertheless, the locals have accepted Yago as one of their own, and he intends to stay. By 2012, there were three new families in Sugaike; abandoned land began to spring back to life, and a local dance festival that had not been held for 10 years was revived. Yago was there at the center of the dancing, cheered on by joyful longtime residents.

This program chronicles seven years in the life of a young man, who wanted to start a new life in the countryside by joining a community that is trying to adapt to the consequences of Japan's aging, shrinking population.

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