Two decades ago the Kurosaki's shopping arcade was hopping with shoppers. Today, it is virtually bedridden . . . with pneumonia and bedsores.

Over a quarter of a million people live in Kitakyushu's Yahata Nishi Ward, and yet the heart of that ward feels like a cold wet stone.

The culprit? An AEON shopping mall located one station over. I was hearted to hear that local governments have finally wised up to how destructive those malls can be to local economies, often wiping out generations of businesses in one fell swoop.