For years, women in Japan have been fleeing the countryside to big cities. The flight, coupled with population decline, appears to be having an outsized impact on Okinawa. An analysis by the Okinawa Times says that six out of 10 of Japan’s most gender-imbalanced municipalities are located on the island chain.
Using data from Japan’s residence registration system, the Times found that Kitadaito, a village of 549 people on Kitadaito Island, had the country’s worst male-to-female ratio, with 1.53 men for every woman. The island is a remote part of the Okinawan chain, located almost eight hours away by car from the main island’s city of Naha.
Another village, Tonaki, some three hours to the west of Naha, doesn’t fare much better. Among its 295 people, there are 1.45 men for every woman. Minami-Daito, a more populous village of 1,246 to the south of Kitadaito, comes in at 1.41. The three towns together have the worst male-female ratio out of Japan’s 1,700 municipalities.
Another three locations – Yonagunicho, Aguni, and Zamami – are also in the top 10. A total of 18 locations in Okinawa figure into the top 100.
The numbers get even worse when you zoom in on the 20-39 age bracket. In Tonaki, there’s only one woman for every two men of those ages. In Minami-Daito, that number is 1.82.
Hard life, little opportunity
The poor numbers spell trouble for the Okinawan islands as Japan’s population continues to decline. All in all, the government estimates some 744 municipalities across Japan could disappear completely by 2050 as the number of women between ages 20 and 39 in those locations dwindles.
It’s hard to gauge how much of this is due to population decline versus women who were born in these islands leaving. One thing is for certain, though: Okinawa isn’t the easiest place in Japan for women to live.
Contradicting the myth of the Okinawan “blue zone,” data from 2021 found that 42% of women in the prefecture who drank did so excessively, imbibing in amounts that could negatively impact their health. While that reflected a national upward trend, the rate in Okinawa exceeded the national average of 30.6%. Okinawa also leads the nation in alcohol-related traffic deaths per capita.
As with other small municipalities, women are also leaving to seek opportunities in bigger cities, free from the fetters of traditional gender roles.
“When I told my parents and relatives I was going to look for work in Tokyo, they pushed back,” Kana, a 28yo woman from Okinawa, told NHK. “They said I should be looking for a good partner so I can hurry up and get married.”
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