Jeffrey Irish, a 48-year-old American, is the unlikely village chief of Tsuchikure, a remote farming hamlet in Japan's southern Kyushu island. The tall, even-tempered Californian got the position because he satisfies the post's main requirements: He hears and sees well.

Home to more than 100 residents in the 1950s, Tsuchikure has seen its young people move away in search of jobs and never return. After eight years without a death, it had four villagers die this year; three are in the hospital and one-fifth of the houses sit empty.

Following the death of a 99-year-old woman, Mr. Irish proposed renting out her empty home. The villagers balked. Newcomers, they said, could upset the delicate harmony of the close-knit community.