I knew it was bad.
I just didnโt know it was that bad.
Iโve been reading my local newspaper, the aptly named ใณใใฅใใใฃใผๆฐ่ Community Newspaper.
Now, the newspaper isnโt the thing that is bad, thereโs usually at least one decent thing to read and then a whole bunch of classifieds.
Yet in todayโs newspaper there were two things worth reading, both front page news, one outright cute,
the other outright disastrous.
First up was the pink slide in the shape of an octopus refurbished for the first time in 55 years1. Frankly, it does look like a lot of fun. And some kids from the local nursery school even got to cut the ribbon!
Jealous!
Plus, this time around they thought to put in rubber matting and added some stairs for safety or something.
Yay!
One of the children had this to say:
Iโm so happy. I want to play on it a lot more from now on.
We want that too, buddy!
And then there was the other front page news: โSeverity of Population Loss in Both Cities Amplifiesโ.
Not so fun.
The article explains how both Sakata City and the adjacent Tsuruoka City have been experiencing severe population loss. In fact, in the ten years from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2025, Tsuruoka Cityโs population fell from 133,153 to 116,731, and Sakataโs from 108,098 to 93,924.
Thatโs a 12.3% decline in Tsuruoka, and 13.1% in Sakata!
I officially became a Sakatan on October 31st, 2014, the day I registered with City Hall. That means that I too am included in these numbers,
barely.
Either way, Iโve been here long enough for more than 10% of the cityโs population to fall. I try not to think about it and focus more on what I can do,
and I gotta say,
itโs not making for good reading.
But the pink octopus slide is.
And maybe thatโs the point.
Sure the numbers may be alarming, but as long as there are people here who believe refurbishing a pink octopus slide is good for the community,