i was reading somewhere that it's the rural areas in japan that's depopulating, because all the young people are moving to larger cities in search for economic opportunities.

So while the population of japan is declining as a whole, the metro areas are growing in size.

Maybe not the case in Japan, but I think a more important metric is household formation and sqft demand per person. NYC population declined during and after the pandemic, but household formation rose, leading to increased demand.

https://x.com/ModeledBehavior/status/1646151980966879232?s=2...

Large cities in Japan generally grow while the countryside shrinks. Kids don't want to live in boring towns with no work.

The housing itself is also cheaper. For example, indoor hallways in apartments are considered luxury.