Old people power: Japan's rural elderly reverse gas station closures

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TorchWood
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Old people power: Japan's rural elderly reverse gas station closures

Post by TorchWood »

From Reuters:

Old people power: Japan's rural elderly reverse gas station closures
In Shimukappu, a village on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido and home to a popular skiing resort, residents are to reopen the sole gas station in the area, which closed four years ago as sales declined.

It’s a similar story elsewhere in Japan, where oil demand has dropped by nearly a third since 2000 as the country’s population dwindles and new car sales are also down by around a third since 1990.

With that waning demand, the number of gas stations, which also supply winter heating fuels, has roughly halved from a 1995 peak to 31,000 nationwide.
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Re: Old people power: Japan's rural elderly reverse gas station closures

Post by takenoko »

Isn't Hokkaido freaking cold? How do they get around without cars?
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Re: Old people power: Japan's rural elderly reverse gas station closures

Post by Lunagel »

With the exception of Sapporo, pretty much everyone has a car. It's only really in Tokyo and maybe Sapporo/Osaka/Kyoto where you've got enough public transport infrastructure that you can get by without a car. In Hokkaido there's a big train line connecting the major cities, and highway buses connecting the rest, but it's very inconvenient to not have a car. It's pretty much like the States in that sense.
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