Old people power: Japan's rural elderly reverse gas station closures
FULL ARTICLE HEREIn 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.