Japan's aging business owners are selling their legacies for cheap to young entrepreneurs who are down to hustle

Aging owners are putting Japan's small businesses up for sale. These young entrepreneurs are stepping up. Provided by Takayuki Otawara. Japan's aging population and rural exodus are fueling a small-business succession crisis. With no heirs, many aging business owners are listing their companies on succession platforms, often at low prices. Meet the young entrepreneurs betting on themselves to keep these businesses alive. Six days a week, Kengo Ohama is up before the sun. He takes 5 minutes to get ready, and is soon out the door for an hourlong motorbike ride to the neighboring town of Mihara in Hiroshima, Japan. By 6 a.m., he pulls up outside a log-cabin-style building, home to Country Road, the café and roastery that he's been managing with his wife since April. Kengo Ohama took over Countryroad, a café in Hiroshima, Japan, early this year. Provided by Kengo Ohama.