NISHIKAWA, Japan — In the snowy mountains of Nishikawa, a small town grappling with an aging and shrinking population, local farmers are cautiously exploring the use of robotics to sustain their traditional cherry blossom cultivation. Nishikawa, located in Yamagata Prefecture, is among Japan’s most depopulated areas, with an average farmer age of 73 and limited workforce availability. The community sees technology as a possible lifeline amid mounting demographic challenges.

Mitsuya Kaneko, 53, head of the Nishikawa cherry blossom farmers’ union, has spearheaded efforts to introduce modern tools alongside traditional farming practices. Working with local government officials, Mr. Kaneko helped install environmental sensors to monitor orchard conditions and implemented robotic mowers and a robot named Pochi, designed to assist with transporting and loading cherry blossom bundles onto trucks.

Originally scheduled to arrive in November, the 600-pound capable robot was delayed and finally delivered on Christmas Day. Despite initial excitement and government backing, the device has mostly remained unused in a greenhouse corner. Some local farmers, including 84-year-old Hideki Shida, remain committed to manual methods, expressing skepticism about replacing longstanding practices with machinery.

Nishikawa’s struggle is emblematic of broader issues facing rural Japan. Once a hub of agricultural expansion during the postwar economic boom, the town has seen its population decline sharply in recent decades, exacerbated by a national low birthrate and prolonged economic stagnation. The closure of local schools and businesses over the past 30 years has compounded the sense of isolation, while the farming population nationwide has dropped from 2.4 million at the start of the 21st century to under one million today.

Mayor Daishi Kanno, 48, has pursued “smart agriculture” initiatives, securing funding to deploy innovative technologies to offset labor shortages. However, the town has resisted increasing reliance on foreign workers, reflecting a national policy tightening immigration controls even as the workforce diminishes. Currently, only 145 foreign farm laborers work across Yamagata Prefecture.

For farmers like Kaneko’s parents, who continue working in cold, unheated greenhouses despite their advanced ages, the human element remains essential. Keiichiro Kaneko, now in his eighties, obtained a drone operator’s license to assist with monitoring crops but admits the technology has yet to become second nature. “There’re all these rules for what to do,” he said.

Despite government subsidies aimed at rural revitalization, everyday farming in Nishikawa remains physically demanding and fraught with challenges posed by the region’s harsh winter conditions. As the sakura season approaches, the town’s farmers confront the tension between preserving tradition and embracing innovation—uncertain if, or when, robots like Pochi will become indispensable partners in their centuries-old craft.