TOKYO -- Japan must address the problem of population drain from rural areas if it is to enjoy a new era of economic growth, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Thursday.
In a speech to a gathering of economists and officials in Tokyo hosted by Nikkei, the Japan Center for Economic Research and TV Tokyo, Ishiba said Japan was now involved in building its economy "for the third time" in history -- a view proposed by the late Taichi Sakaiya, a bestselling author and economist who served in some key government posts.
