A Tiny Bank Runs Dry of Borrowers as Population Shrinks in Japan

Many Japanese banks in the countryside are struggling due to a shrinking population, but at a tiny credit union in the northernmost tip of the country, the situation is extreme.

Wakkanai Shinkin Bank serves customers in the city of the same name in northern Hokkaido. Once a bustling fishing hub, it has seen the number of residents roughly halve from its peak in 1964. Loan demand has plummeted, and the bank has turned to investing in Japanese government bonds to eke out a profit, a strategy that is now coming into question.