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Japan tosses plan to woo Tokyo women into rural marriages for cash
A widely ridiculed Japanese government idea to lure Tokyo women into marrying men in rural areas by offering cash payouts and train tickets to matchmaking events has been scrapped, officials said Friday.
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to 600,000 yen ($4,140) for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo as part of efforts to reduce a yawning countryside gender gap, local media reported.
Hanako Jimi, minister of state for regional revitalisation, said Friday she had instructed officials to “review” the plan and insisted that reports about the size of payments were “not true.”
Media leaks about the scheme this week drew scorn on social media, where critics saw it as typical in a country where men dominate politics and other areas, more than in any other major industrialized economy.
“Did they think independent, motivated and educated women in the city would think, ‘What? If I marry a local man and move to a countryside, I’ll get 600,000 yen! I’ll do it!’? … Are they serious?” remarked one user on X.
Another said: “Do they still not get it? This is something people who see women as valuable only if they give birth would come up with.”
Many rural areas in the world’s fourth-biggest economy are facing a depopulation crisis, with some small towns having hardly any — or even zero — children.
One cause is that more young women than young men leave the villages and small towns they grew up in and move to big cities, especially Tokyo, for better opportunities in higher education and work.
More than 40 percent of Japanese municipalities are at “risk of disappearing” due to the expected drop in the number of women in their 20s and 30s, a study by a private-sector expert panel suggested in April.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.