Japan's Mirai Convenience Store shows what acting locally can do for a community's future

A wide range of products, from daily necessities to products using the local specialty of Kito yuzu citrus, are lined up in the spacious glass-walled Mirai Convenience Store in Naka, Tokushima Prefecture, as seen in December. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

NAKA, Tokushima -- A convenience store in a depopulated community deep in the mountains in Tokushima Prefecture is attracting attention from around the world.

Mirai Convenience Store last year won the top prize in one of the world's major design awards for its architecture, which aims to make the most of the rich natural surroundings and holds to a philosophy aimed at solving depopulation issues.