過疎

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 過疎, read かそ, and it combines 過, meaning excessive, with 疎, meaning sparse.
• Basic usage: 過疎 means depopulation that leaves an area's population excessively sparse and makes local services harder to sustain.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Depopulation in progress and challenges in an already sparse area
  • Both examples use the form 過疎. A mountain village is losing population as the number of young people declines, while a sparsely populated region needs ways to support transportation.
• Fewer young people in a mountain village and discussion of transport support
  • 若者が減り、山間の村では過疎が進んでいる。 — The mountain village is becoming depopulated as the number of young people declines.
  • 過疎地域の交通を支える方法について話し合った。 — We discussed ways to support transportation in sparsely populated areas.