Tradition and gender inequality push women out of rural Japan as the population shrinks

Tradition collides with a shrinking countryside

On summer nights in Akita Prefecture, young men balance towering bamboo poles strung with glowing paper lanterns. The centuries old kanto festival is a vivid display of strength and balance, and it also reflects strict gender rules. Men carry the poles, women play flutes and drums. Those lines rarely blur. For many young women, the tradition is a symbol of a broader reality in rural Japan, where expectations around family roles and work are set early and challenged slowly. Akita sits at the heart of a national demographic emergency. It has the most aged population, the lowest birthrate, and the fastest population decline among Japan’s prefectures. Young women are leaving at higher rates than young men, a trend that officials and researchers say is accelerating depopulation.

Recent government findings show that about 27 percent of young women want to leave their hometowns, compared with 15 percent of young men. Many cite rigid gender roles and limited career prospects. The country as a whole is losing close to one million people each year, and several hundred municipalities face a real risk of emptying out by mid century. Rural leaders know they must retain women to have any chance at recovery, yet change on the ground remains slow.

National politics have shifted in symbolic ways. Japan now has its first woman in the prime minister’s office, Sanae Takaichi, a conservative voice who has long backed traditional family views. Japan remains low in global measures of gender equality. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 gender gap rankings place political empowerment for women near the bottom of the list of surveyed countries. Symbolic milestones at the top have not yet reshaped daily life in places like Akita.

Why are young women leaving rural Japan?

Work is the first reason many women give. In rural prefectures, women are often steered into temporary or part time roles. Permanent jobs and promotions are far more common for men. Pay gaps combine with long commutes and limited childcare to make career planning hard. At home, expectations around housework and caregiving are still strong. The result is a feeling among many young women that their ambitions do not fit the path laid out for them in their hometowns.

Chuo University sociologist Masahiro Yamada describes how workplace culture pushes women away. He has studied rural employment patterns and the structure of promotion ladders that favor men, especially in small and midsize firms. Before speaking bluntly about the resistance to change, he warns that progress requires decisions by local managers and community leaders, not only new laws from Tokyo.

Masahiro Yamada, a sociologist at Chuo University, said: “Middle aged and older men in rural areas do not want to change the current situation of discrimination against women, where women are stuck in temporary or part time jobs and only men get promoted. Women do not want to work in these places, so they move to Tokyo.”

Social pressure adds another push factor. Young women who return home for holidays often hear questions about marriage and children before any talk of jobs or study. Many describe a vague unease, called moya moya, when they sense that challenging gender expectations risks criticism. In that climate, leaving can feel like the only way to breathe.

Tradition, religion and the kanto festival

Festivals are the pride of many towns. They also set expectations. In Akita’s kanto festival, men known as sashite carry poles that can reach 40 feet, with wooden crossbars and lanterns. Women are assigned to the music. Some practitioners cite Shinto beliefs to explain these roles. The message to girls grows up alongside the music and the lanterns: support the event, do not carry the pole.

One foreign college student who trained as a pole carrier was told an old story that the goddess linked to the pole does not like being touched by women. That story has lived for generations and continues to shape participation today.

Raz Tripp, a college student who carried a kanto pole, said: “The reason only men can be sashite is because the goddess resides in the pole, and she does not like being touched by women. She gets jealous.”

Some young women accept the performance roles as part of the festival’s identity. They still push back against behavior around the fringes. One college senior recalled unwanted contact at drinking parties linked to the event, and says she supports culture without the excuses often made for bad behavior.

Miwa Sawano, a college senior and former club member, said: “I accept kanto’s gender roles as part of Akita’s traditional culture, but I object to the club’s drinking parties with local residents. Things like sexual harassment happen. Kanto performers wear shorts, and girls’ legs get touched a lot by the local men.”

Policy responses aim at family growth, but root causes persist

Many local governments have promoted childcare benefits, dating events, and matchmaking schemes to lift marriage and births. Those efforts rarely address why young women leave in the first place. The women who depart say they want equal pay, reliable career tracks, safe workplaces, and the freedom to define family on their own terms. Calls for equality are often dismissed as unrealistic in small towns, which deepens the feeling that progress is out of reach.

In Yamanashi Prefecture, a young activist taped more than one hundred interviews with rural women and posted them online. She met national leaders to explain why policies that focus only on marriage cannot stop the exodus. Her message underscores a shift in how many young adults think about work, family, and dignity. They want choices, not instructions.

Ren Yamamoto, who gathered rural women’s stories, said: “Policies to support women have been centered on child care and marriage without addressing the reasons why women leave rural areas. Policymakers have not faced the fact that women have their own choices to make. We feel like we are seen as baby making machines.”

The cost of losing women for towns, schools and employers

When women leave, schools lose future students, clinics lose future nurses and care workers, and small factories lose managers. A study found that about 43 percent of municipalities, mostly rural, are at risk of vanishing as the number of women of childbearing age falls. The signs are visible already: labor shortages, shuttered shops, and millions of vacant homes known as akiya.

Some rural leaders see a silver lining in the akiya glut. They invite newcomers to renovate abandoned houses and start small businesses. In one island community, a young couple bought an akiya for about 6,500 dollars, spent roughly 19,000 dollars on repairs, and turned it into a guesthouse, then started a second renovation for their own home. The local visa program helped them launch a small farm and honey operation. These stories show how vacant property can attract new residents and money.

Newcomers can bring energy and ideas, yet they are not a substitute for the steady presence of local young women. Tourism guesthouses and farms do not restore the schools, clinics, and offices that depend on long term families. Rural economies need both: outside investors who commit to place and local women who can build careers and raise the next generation if they choose to do so.

Politics at the top, change on the ground

Sanae Takaichi made history by becoming Japan’s first woman to serve as prime minister. Her long record in the ruling party signals continuity more than reform on gender policy. She has opposed several measures that many equality advocates support, including allowing married couples to keep separate surnames. Symbolic breakthroughs do not guarantee new rules on hiring and promotion in rural factories or in town halls. They do not change who is invited to carry the festival pole.

Japan’s low standing on the World Economic Forum gender gap metrics reflects a gap in political representation, corporate leadership, and pay. Rural areas often sit at the back of the line when change arrives, because they rely on smaller firms and networks governed by long standing relationships. That is why national policy needs local implementation, and local leadership needs women in the room.

Breaking the taboo

Talking about gender inequality can feel risky in small towns. Journalists and community organizers describe pressure not to report or discuss the issue. The fear of backlash keeps many people quiet. When someone does speak up, there is often an immediate personal cost. Yet silence has a cost too. Communities lose young people who want to be heard, and the chance to update traditions in ways that keep them alive.

Local voices are starting to push the door open. Independent reporters have begun covering the link between depopulation and gender roles. Students and alumni of festival clubs share both pride in tradition and frustration with the parts that exclude or harm. The conversation is still tentative, yet it is essential for towns that want to stay on the map.

Miwako Miura, an independent journalist in Akita, said: “The deeper you go into rural areas, the more people try to not talk about gender issues. People are afraid that if they say something that crosses the line, they will be criticized. It is a taboo.”

What could keep more women in rural communities?

There is no single fix, but several practical steps stand out. The first is better work. Rural governments can design hiring incentives and awards that reward companies for equal pay, clear promotion paths, and transparent evaluation. Regional banks and business groups can link financing and procurement to fair workplace standards. Anti harassment rules must be enforced in offices, schools, and festival organizations, with clear reporting channels and consequences.

Childcare and eldercare must expand in number and hours. Many women leave not because they reject family, but because practical support is thin. A reliable bus line, extended day care, and after school programs can mean the difference between keeping a job or quitting. High speed internet and low cost coworking hubs make remote and hybrid jobs possible outside big cities. Those options can help couples avoid the common pattern in which the man’s job sets the family’s address.

Culture can evolve while staying rooted. Festival committees can open new roles, create mixed teams, and set codes of conduct for rehearsals and community events. Some traditions have already adapted in the past when safety or logistics required it. Updating participation rules is an honest way to honor both history and the people who keep it alive today.

College senior Miwa Sawano said: “Let Akita be depopulated. There is no way of stopping it, honestly speaking. They will not realize they have a problem until the women leave.”

Sawano’s frustration captures a hard truth. Many women have stopped waiting for permission to change things. They leave, build careers, and find communities that match their goals. Towns that want them back will need to compete on dignity, safety, and opportunity.

Key Points

• Akita Prefecture has Japan’s most aged population, lowest birthrate, and fastest population decline, making it a case study in rural gender inequality.
• About 27 percent of young women want to leave their hometowns, compared with 15 percent of young men, citing rigid gender roles and limited jobs.
• Women in rural areas are often pushed into temporary or part time work, while promotion tracks favor men.
• Festival rules and Shinto based customs, such as men only pole carrying at Akita’s kanto, reflect and reinforce gender segregation.
• Government policies that promote childcare and matchmaking often miss the root causes that drive women away.
• Researchers warn that around 43 percent of municipalities are at risk of disappearing as the number of women of childbearing age falls.
• Akiya, or vacant homes, create chances for newcomers, yet renovation and tourism do not replace the loss of local young families.
• Japan’s first woman prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, backs traditional family views, and national gender rankings remain low.
• Local change makers, including students, journalists, and organizers, are challenging taboos and asking for safe, fair, and modern workplaces.
• Keeping more women in rural Japan will require equal pay, promotion paths, childcare, anti harassment enforcement, and inclusive cultural practices.