“Urban-rural migration and rural revitalization in Japan”

Project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Cornelia Reiher, Freie Universität Berlin

Urban-rural migration is not unique to Japan. What is particular about Japan, are the programs and subsidies initiated by different stakeholders to attract people to move (back) to rural Japan and in turn to revitalize local economies and agriculture. We will compare 1) how municipalities of similar size in different prefectures in Kyūshū appropriate central government’s programs and 2) how these programs impact on inmigration, inmigrants’ experiences and local rural revitalization practices in the respective municipalities. In order to understand the different trajectories of urban-rural migration, we will also compare 3) different types of urban-rural migration according to their initiation by different actors. In a nutshell, this project will shed light on how mobilities contribute to reconfigurations of rural spaces in Japan.