The U.S. population is older than ever, and that trend is accelerating. As baby boomers age and birth rates decline, the country is heading toward a demographic reality that Japan has been grappling ...

On my first morning in Tokyo, a barista in a café near Ueno Station served my coffee with a big smile and two short bows. The cashier was just as kind and patient, though I do not speak Japanese.

Japan’s regional economies are facing severe labor shortages. Their survival depends on their ability to persuade foreign workers to stay. By River Akira Davis and Hisako Ueno Reporting from Tokyo and ...