by Yuki Negi

I’m Yuki Negi, PhD candidate in social anthropology, University of Tokyo. From April 2022 to September 2023, I conducted field research in Ama Town as part of the community building support staff program (chiiki okoshi kyōryokutai) under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In my contribution to this blog, I would like to briefly present my research project.

The town of Ama is one of Japan’s most important communities in the field of rural revitalization. However, it is a remote island with difficult geographical conditions, about 2-3 hours away from the mainland by ferry.  Some may ask: Is a 2–3 hour drive from the mainland really a big problem?  The answer is yes. The ferry from Ama arrives at the port of Shichirui, located on the outskirts of Shimane Prefecture, which has the second smallest population of all 47 prefectures in Japan. To get to another city, you have to take a bus from Shichirui Port to the train station and then take a local train (which runs every hour). In addition, ferry services are often canceled, especially in winter, due to high waves. The journey from Tokyo (Haneda Airport) to Ama usually takes at least 6 to 7 hours and consists of a combination of plane, train, bus and ferry. If you have 6-7 hours to spare, you can travel directly from Haneda Airport to Hawaii or Southeast Asia. Also, unlike many other Japanese islands, there are no famous sightseeing spots in Ama City, and relatively few tourists come to this island.

Despite these disadvantages, the island has managed to attract young urban migrants and promote industries that take advantage of the natural environment. Today, 20% of the island’s 2,200 inhabitants are urban migrants. The Municipality of Ama has taken the lead in numerous revitalization projects. Most of the people who hold key positions in the municipality are locals who were born and raised on the island. They have all known each other since childhood and maintain a close relationship similar to that of relatives. In this context, such a “closed” kinship group plans and runs various “open” projects to attract new outsiders to the island. When I inquired about the success of rural revitalization upon my arrival on the island, one of the key officials at the town office mentioned that the driving force behind the revitalization efforts was a sense of crisis: the town of Ama, with its history of over 1,000 years, was on the brink of extinction. There was no doubt about that, but it seemed to me that it would be difficult to achieve so much with a sense of crisis. As my research progressed, the question of why this rural island on the national border became a remarkable example of successful rural revitalization came into focus.

Interestingly, even those involved in the revitalization of Ama cannot explain the reasons for this success. Many of them point to external factors. For example, some attribute it to the geographical remoteness of the island, which attracts young urban migrants while keeping out large commercial capital that could disrupt the social and economic fabric of the community. Some residents also attribute this to sheer luck. Some urban residents who have migrated to Ama, on the other hand, believe that the municipality’s effective use of island resources (people, goods, money, etc.) plays a crucial role in attracting other important resources from outside the region, contributing to the success of local revitalization. A key factor in this success is the ability of the members overseeing the rural revitalization projects to understand the situation on the island and grasp its social and economic structure. The economic structure is unique, as there is only one office per industry on the island to avoid competition on the market. Recently, however, many business owners or craftsmen, e.g. in shipbuilding, are retiring. When they retire, there is a risk that the entire industry on the island will disappear. As residents cannot rely on neighboring towns due to the island’s remoteness, this “closed” society must “open up” and welcome immigrants from the city, especially those with special skills or the desire to work in industries that are threatened with extinction.

The Municipality of Ama is the main actor trying to attract urban migrants to the island. In such an island society with a limited population, various services need to be facilitated by the town office. Therefore, the town office, where local knowledge and information is gathered, has become a decision-making center for planning rural revitalization projects, taking into account the overall situation of the island. Although this is not unique, the city of Ama has been very successful in attracting people from all over the country. Urban immigrants to Ama Town include individuals with experience working for large companies in urban areas and with knowledge of central government policies and subsidies, which play an important role in augmenting the small rural community’s budget. Because of the presence of these stakeholders, the staff of the municipal office have the opportunity to understand not only how the inside of the island ‘works’, but also how the outside world ‘works’. They skillfully reconcile this naturally (if somewhat unintentionally) acquired local knowledge with the policies of central government and the needs and aspirations of urban migrants. Ultimately, they show that they are able to bring together the interests and aspirations of three different worlds – locals, urban migrants and central government. The city office successfully mobilizes people (both locals and migrants), goods (natural and historical resources of the island) and money (government subsidies, etc.). The increase in resources has created a virtuous cycle in which the town office has been able to mobilize even more people, goods and money. This continuous cycle is a key factor that contributes to Ama being an outstanding example of revitalization. From this point of view, long distance to Tokyo can be an advantage for the revitalization of rural areas in today’s Japan.

Reference: Yamauchi, Michio (2007), Ritōhatsu ikinokuru tame no 10 nen no senryaku, Tōkyō: NHK Press.

Yuki Negi is a PhD candidate in social anthropology at the University of Tokyo.

by Cornelia Reiher

Twenty years ago, when I lived and worked in rural Kyūshū as a JET Program participant, I was almost the only foreigner in town. The JET Program aims to promote international exchange between Japan and other countries, and the foreign participants work temporarily as English teachers or as international relations coordinators in municipal or prefectural offices. During the field research for this project on domestic urban-rural migration, I found that rural Japan has become much more diverse compared to the early 2000s. Not only the number of domestic urban-rural migrants, but also the number of foreign residents in rural areas has increased. These include long-term residents such as marriage migrants from various countries, but also temporary migrants such as women with “show business” visa, certain skilled workers, technical interns from Southeast Asia and migrants from Europe, North America and Australia who teach English or work in the field of cultural exchange (Faier 2007; McConnell 2000; Oishi 2021; Uekusa and Lee 2020).

Rural regions in Japan are increasingly perceived by urbanites as a field of experimentation where diverse lifestyles are possible and people are happier because they can contribute to and even bring about social change (Klien 2020). But whereas domestic urban-rural migrants receive financial and other support to attract them to rural areas, this is not always the case for other groups of migrants.

Technical intern trainees, for example, migrate to Japan temporarily through Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), a short-term labor rotation system established in 1993 with a stated objective of transferring skills to workers from East and Southeast Asia. At the end of 2022, 324,940 people were employed through the TITP. In my field sites, the number of technical intern trainees far exceeds the number of domestic urban-rural migrants. In the countryside with its aging population, many technical trainees work in agriculture. They often live on the farm in remote areas without access to public transport. Although essential for rural economies, they do not enjoy the same freedom of movement, economic benefits and rights as domestic urban-rural migrants or transnational migrants with a different visa and are mostly invisible in my field sites.

Compared to technical intern trainees, foreign residents from Europe, Australia and North America have a better visa status and economic resources. Although small in numbers, this group has increased in recent years. Roughly speaking there are two groups: short-term residents who are students or participants in exchange programs, as for example artist-in-residence programs who stay a few months, but often visit several times. And there are long-term residents who have settled in the country, bought houses, have a permanent job or have started their own businesses. Some of them are hypervisible because they are often portrayed in the local and regional media as living proof of the attractiveness of Japan’s rural areas. Although not all of the foreigners I spoke to enjoy this status of local celebrity, they all contribute to rural revitalization in various ways, for example by renovating empty houses, running cafes and guesthouses, or coordinating artist-in-residence programs. Some are graduates of the JET program who have decided to stay. Recently, the chiiki okoshi kyōryokutai (COKT) program has also started accepting foreigners who are hired to support other foreigners, for example as technical interns. This is where the JET program, the COKT program and the TITP overlap.

To summarize, all newcomers, whether they are Japanese citizens or foreigners, return migrants or new to rural communities, face different difficulties. However, there are differences in terms of the support they receive and how welcome they are. As local governments have recognized the importance of migrants in sustaining rural communities, this is slowly changing. However, the hierarchy between the different migrant groups in rural Japan is an important issue that needs to be addressed as there will be more foreign workers in agriculture, care and factories in rural areas in the future. Local governments in rural areas will need to pay more attention to their support and welfare.

References

Faier, L. (2007), „Filipina Migrants in Rural Japan and their Professions of Love”, American Ethnologist 34, 1, 148–162.

Klien, S. (2020), Urban Migrants in Rural Japan: Between Agency and Anomie in a Post- Growth Society, New York: State University of New York Press.

McConnell, D. L. (2000), Importing Diversity: Inside Japan’s JET Program, Berkeley: University of California Press.

Oishi, N. (2021), “Skilled or unskilled?: The reconfiguration of migration policies in Japan,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47, 10, 2252-2269.

Uekusa, S. and Lee, S. (2020), “Strategic invisibilization, hypervisibility and empowerment among marriage-migrant women in rural Japan,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46, 13, 2782-2799.

by Cecilia Luzi

In October 2022, I left Berlin for fieldwork in Japan. I was excited yet scared, as I was moving to a place I had never been before, and I had to conduct research alone with my one-and-a-half-year-old son. It felt like a fantastic adventure ahead but also a big leap into the unknown. After spending ten months in Japan, I returned to Berlin in early August 2023. In this post, I want to share my fieldwork experience.

I spent the first five months in Buzen and the next five months in Hasami. I chose to start in Buzen because I had built connections with potential research participants online before my departure… I spent ten days in the only hotel in town in search for long-term accommodation and a rental car and expanded my network among urban migrants. During my stay in Buzen, I had a packed schedule. I explored the area, joined small markets, mochi-making sessions, kagura festivals, akiya renovation meetings, informal community meals, and talked with both locals and migrants throughout the day. In the evening, I took notes, sent messages to friends and informants, and planned for the next day. I quickly discovered that while the migrant community in Buzen was relatively small, they had connections with people in nearby towns who shared similar experiences. Within a month, I had met almost everyone in the extended migrant community. To establish trust and connections, I spent an additional month getting to know their daily routines before starting formal interviews. This familiarity allowed me to get closer to migrants and conduct most conversations in their homes, which provided valuable insights into their private lives. While in Buzen, I had to move three times. At first, I lived in a renovated warehouse at the foot of Mount Kubote. In January, I rented part of an old house that belonged to a deceased elderly lady. Finally, in my last month, I lived in a trial house owned by the municipality. Although the frequent moving was a bit of a challenge, I was able to experience different living conditions and develop a deeper understanding of the community area.

When the time came to move to Hasami, I began my search for accommodation two months in advance. For the first three weeks, I stayed in the municipal trial house, which was smaller, recently constructed, and better equipped than my previous accommodation. After that, I moved into a share house for employees of a major ceramic company coming to Hasami’s headquarters temporarily from all over Japan. The house was located in the heart of Hasami, attached to the company’s headquarters and main warehouse. Upon arriving in Hasami, I immediately noticed a significant difference in daily life compared to Buzen. There were many cafés  and restaurants, some of which reminded me of those in big cities like Tokyo or Fukuoka. The streets were always busy, and the supermarket parking lots were full between 5 and 6 pm. From my arrival until late May, there were events taking place almost every weekend in Hasami or nearby municipalities. One of the most notable events was the tōki matsuri, which is held every year during the golden week holiday season. This market involves all the ceramic kilns in Hasami and keeps the whole town busy for over a month.  Accessing migrants’ homes was more difficult in Hasami. Unlike in Buzen, where most people had flexible schedules, the migrants in Hasami were mostly company employees and artisans. Therefore, I conducted most interviews in public places like cafés, restaurants and workshops.

Buzen and Hasami are very different. Buzen stretches from the mountains to the sea. Hasami has a compact center, which makes daily activities easier and saves on gasoline costs. In Buzen, it was difficult to find accommodation for the first 10 days. The town has only one hotel, an old ryokan run by a couple over 75 years old. While the locals were warm, helpful and curious about my presence, finding accommodation and childcare for my son was a challenge. Gradually building informal relationships during my stay helped me get everything I needed. In Hasami, the experience was smoother, possibly due to the city’s familiarity with welcoming outsiders thanks to the ceramics industry and its appeal to urban migrants across the country. I quickly realized that there were structures and services in place to help newcomers. Even in the town’s administration, everyone was helpful and provided me with all the necessary information to manage the bureaucratic procedures for my stay.

During my fieldwork, I was able to observe first-hand how both locals and migrants in Buzen and Hasami interacted with their environment by immersing myself in the daily rhythms of the two towns. I visited local grocery stores, supermarkets, cafés and museums and chatted with shopkeepers, service staff and locals. I also had the opportunity to interact with the local authorities, which gave me valuable insights into the services and infrastructure of both cities. As I had a car during my stay and I was able to explore even the most remote mountain villages. I also spent my free time with migrants, visiting friends’ homes and observing them at work. Through my son I also gained an insight into the childcare systems of both towns.

Despite the challenges I faced, especially when navigating a small rural town in Japan with my child, the kindness and empathy I received from everyone I encountered was invaluable. It helped me connect with people on a deeper level and understand how moving to rural areas can have transformative power. Now that I am back in Berlin, I have realized that this emotional journey embodies the true value of field research and participant observation.