连续三个月人口净流出！疫情促使日本民众和公司离开东京

疫情之下，很多日本人离开了东京，有的是出于对食品安全的担心，有的是因为失业，还有很多人是拜远程办公所赐。这是东京多年来首次连续三个月出现人口净流出。

When the coronavirus outbreak caused rice and instant noodles to disappear from supermarket shelves in Tokyo this year, Kaoru Okada, 36, decided to leave the capital because he was worried about food security.

今年新冠疫情的暴发促使大米和方便面从东京超市货架上消失，因为担心粮食安全，36岁的冈田薫决定离开东京。

Okada settled in the central Japanese city of Saku, Nagano prefecture, about 160 kilometres northwest of Tokyo, maintaining his online retail and export business while growing vegetables in shared farms and threshing rice.

冈田迁居到日本中部的长野县佐久市，在东京西北方向约160公里处。他继续在网上做他的零售和出口生意，同时在共享农庄里种蔬菜、给稻米脱粒。

thresh [θreʃ]: vt.（给谷物）脱粒

"I moved out of Tokyo in June as soon as the domestic travel ban was lifted, thinking now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Okada told Reuters. "Living close to a food-producing centre and connections with farmers give me a sense of security."

冈田告诉路透社说：“六月份国内旅行限制令一解除，我就搬离了东京。我认为现在是离开东京千载难逢的好时机。住在食品生产中心附近，和农民建立联系，让我有安全感。”

As the pandemic has pushed many companies to allow telecommuting, it has also caused population to flow out of Tokyo - the first time that has happened in years, the latest government data showed.

疫情迫使许多公司允许远程办公，也导致人口流出东京。政府最新数据显示，这是多年来东京首次出现这种情况。

The shift could boost Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who made revitalising Japan's decaying rural regions a core plank of his socioeconomic platform.

这一改变对日本首相菅义伟有利，他将振兴日本衰落的乡村地区作为自己社会经济战略的重要一环。

In September, 30,644 people moved out of Tokyo, up 12.5% year-on-year, while the number moving in fell 11.7% to 27,006, the data showed.

数据显示，九月份有3万零644人搬离东京，同比增加了12.5%，迁居东京的人则减少了11.7%，只有2万7006人。

It was the third straight month that those moving out outnumbered those moving in, the longest run on record, led by people in their 20s and 30s.

这是连续第三个月东京流出人口超过流入人口，也是有记录以来东京人口净流出持续时间最长的一次，流出人口以二三十岁的人为主。

Mizuto Yamamoto, 31, now uses telecommuting to skip Tokyo's jam-packed morning trains.

31岁的山本瑞人如今用远程办公的方式躲过了东京人挤人的早高峰列车。

An employee at staffing firm Caster Co, he moved about 150 km west of Tokyo to Hokuto in the mountainous Yamanashi prefecture last year with his wife and 2-year-old son.

山本是人才服务企业卡斯特公司的员工，去年他和妻子带着2岁的儿子搬到了东京以西约150公里处的北杜市。北杜市位于多山的山梨县。

"It was good to move to quiet areas like Hokuto surrounded by rivers, the Southern Alps and Mt. Fuji," Yamamoto told Reuters. "There's no crowd of people, which reduces the virus risks."

山本告诉路透社说：“搬到北杜市这样依山（赤石山脉和富士山）傍水的清静之地很不错。没有拥挤的人群，可以降低感染病毒的风险。”

Premier Suga, from rural Akita prefecture in the north, made the revitalisation of Japan's countryside one of his key goals.

来自北部秋田县乡村地区的首相菅义伟把日本乡村地区的复兴作为自己的一个主要目标。

Despite a lack of jobs and infrastructure to support them, local governments and businesses have been trying for years – largely in vain - to draw more people to rural areas.

尽管缺少支持乡村复兴的就业机会和基础设施，地方政府和企业多年来一直在努力吸引更多人来乡村地区，不过基本都是徒劳。

Hidetoshi Yuzawa, an official in Iida, Nagano Prefecture, said Nagano is among the most popular places to migrate because of how much support, including mentors, it offers newcomers.

长野县饭田市的官员汤泽秀俊表示，长野县是最受欢迎的迁居地之一，因为那里对新来者提供很多支持还有指导。

With help from Iida, Mio Nanjo, a 41-year-old pastry chef, is renovating a traditional house into a cafe, which she plans to open in the town of Matsukawa next spring.

在饭田市的帮助下，41岁的糕点师南条澪正在将松川的一座传统住宅翻修成咖啡馆，她计划来年春天开业。

A single mother of three, Nanjo moved from an area southwest of Tokyo this summer after the pandemic shut down the confectionery where she was working and her son lost his job at a truck maker.

南条澪是一位有三个孩子的单身母亲，疫情迫使她所在的糖果店关闭，她的儿子也丢掉了卡车制造厂的工作，于是今年夏天她就从东京西北部地区搬到了饭田市。

"The move allowed me to start all over again," Nanjo told Reuters. "There's no point of clinging to Tokyo, where there are crowds and many people commit suicide."

南条澪告诉路透社说：“这次搬家让我一切都从头开始。死守着东京没有任何意义，那里挤满了人，还有许多人自杀。”

Jobs are also leaving the city.

就业机会也在流出东京。

A major staffing firm, Pasona Group Inc, said in September it would move its headquarters and 1,200 employees to Awaji island off Kobe, western Japan, the home of 68-year-old chief executive Yasuyuki Nambu.

大型人才服务企业保圣那集团九月份表示，将会把总部和1200名员工迁到日本西部的神户市附近的淡路岛，那里是68岁的总裁南部靖之的家。

The lockdowns this spring were a decisive factor, Nambu said, adding that the trend would continue as companies and employees changed their mindsets about work-life balance.

南部靖之说，今春的封锁是一个决定性因素，并补充道，随着公司和员工改变对工作与生活平衡的思维方式，这一趋势将会继续下去。

"Regional society is stress-free, and you can live a life rich in delicious foods and activities such as fishing and farming," Nambu told Reuters.

南部靖之告诉路透社说：“小地方没什么压力，你可以过上美食果腹的生活，还能钓钓鱼，种种地。”

Other firms, such as Caster, have already based their business model on telecommuting, making it easy to hire workers by offering jobs wherever they are, said Shota Nakagawa, 34, CEO of the company in the southern Japanese city of Saito.

卡斯特公司的首席执行官、34岁的中川翔太表示，像卡斯特这样的其他公司已经把远程办公作为自己的业务模式，这样无论员工在哪，都可以为他们工作。卡斯特公司位于日本南部的西都市。

"Workers can avoid commuting on rush-hour trains and companies can spare transportation costs and reduce office space, all of which will improve profits," Nakagawa said.

中川说：“员工可以避免在高峰时间段挤列车通勤，公司也可以省去交通补助花费，减少办公空间，这些都可以提升利润。”

But in Saku, Okada, the online business owner, has no intention of living there forever - although that doesn't mean he'll move back to Tokyo.

但是网店老板冈田可没打算在佐久市住一辈子，不过这也不意味着他会搬回东京。

"As long as I can work anywhere, I will keep hopping to find a place best suited to my life at the time," he said.

他说：“只要我可以在任何地方工作，我就会继续换地方，找到最适合自己当下生活的理想之地。”