by Cornelia Reiher

Susanne Klien is a professor at Hokkaido University and the author of the book Urban Migrants in Rural Japan: Between Agency and Anomie in a Post-growth Society (2020). She has supported our project from the beginning and participated in several of our events. In August 2023, Susanne came to Berlin again to participate in our PhD workshop “Urban-Rural Migration in Japan” at Freie Universität Berlin. I took the opportunity to interview her for our blog and talked to her about rural Japan research, urban-rural migration and the future of rural areas.

Susanne Klien at FU Berlin’s campus in 2023
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

Cornelia Reiher: When did you start researching rural Japan and why?

Susanne Klien: That was quite a long time ago. I think it was in the early 2000s when I had the opportunity to do research on the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and that was my introduction to rural Japan. I was very fascinated by older farmers and people living in the countryside. I never had the opportunity to talk to these people before, and it gave me a completely different view of Japan. Japan is often associated with the gaming industry, with cosplay, with everything that is somehow urban or thought to be urban, but I think it’s very important to explore Japan from a rural point of view as well. I would say that the rural is often associated with agriculture and with older people, but recently there are also many other aspects of rural life that could be urban as well, so I would be very careful about defining rural Japan as related to the past. I would even argue that rural Japan can in some ways be seen as the future of Japan because we have severe depopulation in Japan and this is a problem that will be a problem for all developed countries in the future. So we could even consider rural Japan as the vanguard of contemporary Japan.

”[R]ural Japan can in some ways be seen as the future of Japan.”
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2022

Cornelia Reiher: You have been doing research in rural Japan for many years. Have you noticed any changes or new developments during this time?

Susanne Klien: Yes, big changes. I think there are a lot of funding opportunities, and that has led to more and more people going to rural Japan. They try to live in rural Japan, even if they are not so interested in rural areas at first. But eventually, they like it there very much and they stay there. So there is a larger number of people who move to rural Japan, including people who like city life very much. But they find, especially during and after the pandemic, that living in rural areas with fewer people, more space and easier access to food has many advantages. Especially in urban areas, food can be scarce, for example, during a disaster. I think living in rural Japan can also give people a sense of security.

Cornelia Reiher: You mentioned that many people move from the cities to the countryside. What role do these urbanites moving to the countryside play in the future of rural Japan?

Susanne Klien: I think they can help local people see their villages, their places, from a new perspective. They can help them understand what makes their places attractive to newcomers. I think they can also help to reinterpret local food. By using local ingredients, newcomers can contribute a lot beyond the economic sphere, for example in terms of intergenerational exchange. Newcomers can cook and eat with the elderly and offer new perspectives to older people who normally don’t meet so many young people. I think urban-rural migration has many advantages.

Cornelia Reiher: Many young scholars are now interested in rural Japan. Do you have any advice to them? Is there anything they should look out for when studying rural Japan?

“[Newcomers] can help local people see their villages, their places from a new perspective.”
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2022

Susanne Klien: I think there are many issues to think about. More research needs to be done on many aspects of rural Japan, but I think one topic that is particularly pressing is human and non-human entanglements. For example, research on rural Japan from a non-human perspective or on the nature of exchanges between humans and non-humans in rural Japan is very interesting. But also dealing with exhaustion, a sense of fatigue and tiredness during fieldwork in rural Japan is important because these are problems many researchers have experienced, I think.

Cornelia Reiher: Thank you so much.

by Christian Ditzler

As one of the leading countries struggling with a shrinking and aging population, Japan is facing serious challenges such as rural depopulation and the decline of local industries. Many businesses face an uncertain future when it comes to finding a potential successor, and this issue is particularly evident in the agricultural sector, where the average age of farmers in Japan has reached the age of 68 (Schaede & Shimizu, 2022, p. 18). This sector, traditionally characterized by long hours and strenuous labor, is desperately in need of young and educated workers—an increasingly scarce resource. However, Digital Transformation (DX) – a prevalent term in the vocabulary of any modern Japanese politician – is in the process of revolutionizing countless sectors in Japan offering new solutions to these pressing issues. Introduced by the Japanese government in 2022, the “Digital Rural City State Concept” (dejitaru denen toshi kokka kōsō) underscores the significance assigned to DX, as it is a broad strategy designed to invigorate rural regions through the promotion of innovative technologies. At the same time, DX has given rise to what the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) calls “smart agriculture” (sumāto nōgyō), which is said to hold the potential to revolutionize labor-intensive sectors and breathe new life (and labor) into them (MAFF, n.d.).

Smart Agriculture
Copyright © Istockphoto

MAFF has defined smart agriculture as an innovative form of agriculture that incorporates cutting-edge technologies, such as robotics and information and communication technology (ICT), with the purpose of enhancing labor efficiency and improving the quality of production (MAFF, n.d.). The digital transformation facilitates the integration of large data sets (Big Data) into agricultural practices (Smartagri, 2019). This data, procured through devices like sensors, simplifies the interpretation of growth conditions and aids in the identification of diseases among other environmental variables (Smartagri, 2019). Moreover, automation through drones or other robotic technologies can be employed to perform labor-intensive tasks, such as pesticide application or harvesting specific crops (Smartagri, 2019). Although such robots have traditionally been limited to large-scale farms due to their associated high initial costs, gradual efforts are being undertaken to increase their affordability for future use at the level of the individual farmer (Smartagri, 2019). Vertical Farming, defined by its indoor, layered, fully regulated and automated environments using artificial lightning, serves as another example of smart agriculture (Schaede & Shimizu, 2022, p. 34). This approach maximizes output by controlling numerous crucial factors, freeing agriculture from geographical constraints, weather conditions and seasonal restrictions, thereby providing significantly higher yields compared to conventional farming methods throughout the year (Schaede & Shimizu, 2022, p. 18).

Analogue farming in Japan I
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

Concurrently, the digital transformation, often referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, has also resulted in the emergence of what MAFF has termed the new “sixth sector” (Schaede & Shimizu, 2022, p. 35). This sector synergizes all three sectors of an economy – extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, and services (or sales) – symbolized mathematically by the product of 1x2x3, hence the name, the sixth sector (Schaede & Shimizu, 2022, p. 18). Through the incorporation of new advances in production and the internet in the distribution of products, farmers can not only produce but also process and sell products directly to consumers. Furthermore, the Internet of Things (IoT) makes it possible to understand market trends and consumer needs, paving the way for cost-effective production, distribution, and sales (Smartagri, 2019).

Analogue farming in Japan II
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023 

The potential of DX, and through it, the sixth sector, to revolutionize agriculture and spawn new business models has been exemplified by a farmer featured in the magazine “Turns”. Despite his lack of experience, he relocated to Yamamoto in Miyagi Prefecture to start his own business as a farmer (Inui, 2021). Drawing on the IT skills he had acquired from his previous job in Tokyo, he learned from local farmers and soon launched his own venture using a wide range of technologies (Inui, 2021). Sharing his data gathered through IoT systems, he facilitated a novel approach to integrating data into farming, which had been historically reliant on experience and intuition (Inui, 2021). By setting up a training program for prospective farmers alongside the establishment of a brand for direct sales of his own strawberry products such as wine, jam and sweets through online platforms and his own store in Tokyo, he managed not only to raise his personal standard of living but also to contribute to his community by attracting both tourists and potential farmers (Inui, 2021). This aligns with the ideal scenario as envisaged by MAFF that aims to expand the sixth industrialization efforts and actively connect agriculture with secondary industries like food manufacturing and tertiary industries such as tourism, thereby creating new value-added products, leveraging local resources, attracting young IT-educated workers and reviving local communities (MAFF, n.d.).

Smart Agriculture: Robots harvesting tomatoes
Copyright © Istockphoto

However, despite the demonstrated potential of DX, it still encounters substantial challenges in terms of large-scale application. Issues such as the high costs and technological complexities of new technologies (Smartagri, 2019), as well as intellectual property protection concerns still require solutions (Schaede & Shimizu, 2022, p. 37). Moreover, in the Digital National Garden City Concept, the Japanese government recognized the need to develop suitable agricultural areas, such as large plots of farmland to utilize automated agricultural machinery (CAO, 2022, p. 76). This plan also acknowledges the necessity of making adjustments in Japan’s numerous mountainous regions that complicate the use of such machinery (CAO, 2022, p. 76). Thus, it remains to be seen to what degree these issues can be resolved to facilitate digitalization’s potential contribution towards rejuvenating the agricultural sector and consequently, rural areas in Japan.

References
Cabinet Office of Japan. (2022). Dejitaru denen toshi kokka kōsō [Digital National Garden City Concept]. 
https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/digital_denen/pdf/20221223_honbun.pdf.
Inui, H. (2021). DX ga kaeru nōgyō to chiiki no mirai [Agriculture Transformed by DX and the Future of Regions]. Turns, 46,p. 54-59.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. (n.d.). Rokuji sangyōka to wa [What is 6th industrialization?]. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/inobe/6jika/attach/pdf/index-1.pdf.
Schaede, U. & Shimizu, K. (2022). The Digital Transformation and Japan’s Political Economy. Cambridge University Press.
Smartagri. (2019). Sumāto nōgyō to wa donna mono ka? ICT o katsuyō shita nōgyō no meritto to dōnyū no kadai [What is ‘Smart Agriculture’? The Benefits and Challenges of Implementing ICT in Agriculture]. Smartagri. https://smartagri-jp.com/smartagri/20.

*Christian Ditzler is a student in the BA program in Japanese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin.

by Ngo Tu Thanh (Frank Tu)

Political scientists often argue that it is impossible to discount the weight of cultural and historical influences on governance (see for example Conrad 2006). Nagasaki Prefecture, located in the picturesque northwest corner of Kyushu Island, is a region defined by rich history and culture. To delve into the interplay of culture and governance, a crucial question arises: to what extent does culture influence the governance of regional revitalization in Nagasaki? A core feature of Nagasaki’s cultural landscape is its historical interaction with foreign countries. One example for this extensive interaction with the outside is the establishment of Dejima island in 1635 by the bakufu. Dejima transformed Nagasaki into a pivotal international trading hub, leading to a phase of prosperity (Willis 2007).

Nagasaki Prefecture – a picturesque region with rich culture and history
Copyright © Ngo Tu Thanh 2022

However, some actors involved in regional revitalization believe that this transformation in the past has consequences even today. A leader of a prominent financial institution in Nagasaki and recipient of a special award from the Rural Revitalization Minister – pointed out that the bakufu ‘s decision to designate Nagasaki as Japan’s global gateway and the economic growth it brought about, might have “influenced the mindset of Nagasaki’s people” (interview, 15/09/2022) that is also present in Nagasaki’s contemporary governance. It shows in Nagasaki’s reliance on the central government and on international networks. An academic specialized in regional development and public-private cooperation, who has been advising the prefectural government on regional development told me: “Large development projects in Nagasaki were typically initiated by the central government and contracted out to the private sector” (online interview, 04/10/2022). This tendency to rely on the central government and big projects was also affirmed by a prefectural assemblywoman who underscored that Nagasaki’s historical development strategies, which are based on construction, shipbuilding, and government funding, are still prioritized by many prefectural politicians in Nagasaki even today (interview, 03/10/2022).

Inside Dejima – where Western travelers resided in the past
Copyright © Ngo Tu Thanh 2022

The other continuity from the past is Nagasaki’s effort to revitalize through internationalization. A historical study by Ma (2023) shows Nagasaki’s efforts to revive its past development and culture through internationalization with the “Nagasaki Urban Renaissance” initiative of 2001. The initiative was more than an economic plan that solely focuses on growth. It was rather an attempt to diversify from heavy industries, turning Nagasaki into a hub that would attract resources from diverse sectors such as tourism, media, and shipping (Ma, 2023, p. 317). When asked about her vision for Nagasaki Prefecture, the assemblywoman mentioned above said she dreams of a Nagasaki Prefecture that could leverage its international history for development. She noted that instead of only relying on the national government for diplomacy, Nagasaki should promote international relations at both the prefectural and individual levels. Her vision further illustrates Nagasaki’s changing culture of governance, slowly moving away from centralization towards collaborative governance. This collaborative governance also reflects in what other interview partners told me about an increased push towards industries like traditional crafts and tourism through public-private partnerships, moving away from heavy industries and centralized governance (online interview, 04/10/2022). The cases of Goto Island and Hasami Town, where the private sector and civil society have been proactive in driving development efforts, were often discussed as success stories by the respondents, illustrating Nagasaki’s gradual move towards diverse development strategies and collaborative governance (interview, 03/10/2022). In summary, Nagasaki offers an intriguing example for the role of culture in regional revitalization and its governance. Nagasaki’s history is significant. How this pivot towards a collaborative governance model in recent times is related to culture and the past should be further explored as the evolving interplay of culture and governance is a fascinating topic.

References
Conrad, Burkhard. 2006. “Informal Politics.” Hamburg Review of Social Sciences 1 (3): 256–72.
Ma, Scott. 2023. “Global History in Two Chronotopes: Time, Identify and the Practical Past in Nagasaki, Japan, 1990 and 2006.” Rethinking History 27 (2): 312–39.
Willis, David B. 2007. “Dejima: Creolization and Enclaves of Difference in Transnational Japan.” In Transcultural Japan: At the Borderlands of Race, Gender and Identity, 239–63. New York: Routledge.

by Asina Kara

At the end of 2018, I did an international youth volunteer service in a retirement home in Hiroshima City for one year and was fascinated by the area. The city center itself is not as big as in other Japanese cities such as Kyoto, Osaka or Tokyo, but it offered everything I needed. I lived on the outskirts of the city. I come from Berlin, so it felt very much like country life. But I felt connected to nature for the first time in my life, which went hand in hand with a sense of freedom. Since I have so many fond memories of Hiroshima, I would want to live there again. As in my case, where you move can be by chance. But often, people move to places they already have a connection with. This is true for two Japanese families who decided to move to a small town in Hiroshima Prefecture away from the crowded city and towards more freedom. But how much freedom do families have when they bring their children? In this post, I will introduce the experience of two families who moved to the countryside.

Hiroshima Prefectures is famous for its beautiful landscape and heritage sites like the torii of Itsukushima Shrine
Copyright © Asina Kara 2018

Takanori and Mikasa moved from Tokyo to a small town in the northeast of Hiroshima Prefecture in 2021 because city life became too stressful for them and they wanted to take over Mikasa’s grandparents’ house. They had the house renovated and live there with their two young daughters. Digital transformation allows them to do many things digitally “thanks” to the Corona pandemic. Takanori is employed in Tokyo but now works remotely. This is very compatible with his family life, as he can now spend more time with them. Mikasa, meanwhile, works in their field.  They love having food, work and their children in one place and often eat home-grown vegetables, rice and meat from wild boar and deer that Takanori has hunted himself. The older daughter, however, feels lonely at times because she left her friends behind in Tokyo, but also enjoys spending time with her new friends, even though her class consists of only eight students. The younger daughter, on the other hand, likes to collect horsetails and chestnuts by the wayside, which makes family walks much longer. The family really enjoys spending time together in nature. Mikasa believes that her children can gain experiences in the countryside that would not be possible in Tokyo [1].

Small towns and villages in Hiroshima Prefecture attract many young urbanites.
Copyright © Asina Kara 2018

Jinsaku was born in Hiroshima City and moved from Tochigi Prefecture to a small town in the southeast of Hiroshima Prefecture. In Tochigi, he had worked for a large machine manufacturer and then quit because he began to doubt his life as an employee as he was constantly under time pressure. He became a farmer and has to work hard every day. He became interested in the small town where he now lives when he saw a 150-year-old house there. He rebuilt it and now earns a living there. His dream was to have a happy home with a family, which came true when he married and had two daughters. With his wife Chiaki, he initially grew and sold vegetables, but this was not enough to support the family, so they decided to focus on viticulture. This helped to support the family financially. Together with the children, they eat some home-grown vegetables, but now spend most of their time growing grapes [2].

Many urban-rural migrants start farming after moving to Hiroshima Prefecture
Copyright © Asina Kara 2018

These two examples show that work-life balance seems to be quite possible, but both families sacrifice a lot of time to farming, and one family struggled to maintain a stable income. Takanori had the opportunity to continue his old job remotely from Tokyo. So he has a stable income and is also financially independent from farming. This means that the family could make a living even if Mikasa did not earn so much money from farming. This gives the family security. Jinsaku, on the other hand, has become dependent on farming and therefore has to sacrifice more time. The pressure to feed his family is correspondingly higher. So in terms of livelihood and income, the experiences of these two families are very different. But whether part-time farming or full-time farming, both are physically demanding and should not be underestimated. However, rural life for a family does of course have its nice sides, because the children can move freely outdoors, they can eat the harvested vegetables together with the family and the family can spend time together in nature, which would be difficult to do in a big city.

References:
[1] Hiroshima-ken (2022), Tanbo to hata o te ni shite yume datta shizen nō o jitsugen, https://www.hiroshima-hirobiro.jp/interview/details/002055/, last accessed 27 June 2023.
[2] Hiroshima nyūsu (2020), Ijū kara 13-nen datsusara nōgyō seinen no “yume no tsuzuki“, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhBxEBk_2IM, last accessed 27 June 2023.

Asina Kara is a student in the BA program in Japanese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin.

by Cecilia Luzi

After a meeting in Fukuoka, a professor asked me: “Everyone says it’s better to raise children in the countryside, but I’m curious what activities there are for children in places like Hasami that go beyond public parks. What do people usually do with their children?” This question made me think back to the many times I spent with other young mothers and children, both migrants and locals, and reflect on everyday life in rural areas from their perspective.

Playdate at the beach in Ōsaki Peninsula
Copyright © Cecilia Luzi 2023

As described in my last blog post, there is at least one public park in every town in the region. However, when the rainy season descended upon us, outdoor play opportunities were limited due to the bad weather. These days, mothers have to find an alternative. In some towns, there are so-called childcare centers (kosodate shien sentā). These centers offer families with young children the opportunity to spend time together reading books and doing indoor play activities. The playrooms are spacious and offer children the opportunity to run, jump and play with a variety of toys. These centers also host events. In July I attended an event named “Toys Square” (omocha hiroba). Two women created a fantastic play space at the center, featuring an assortment of wooden toys and games for kids between the ages of zero to six.

A Childcare Support Center
Copyright © Cecilia Luzi 2023

During our visit, I talked to a young migrant mother who is originally from Mie Prefecture and has three children, the oldest of whom is six years old, the second five years old and the youngest only eight months old. Right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, she moved with her husband to a neighboring town. She was dissatisfied with the educational concept of the kindergarten there and was looking for a better alternative for her children. She recounted how her daughter would come home every day and scold her family for doing something rude: “You shouldn’t do that (kore dame)!”, which she attributed to the kindergarten’s rigid and outdated teaching methods. She believed that children should be allowed to play freely and discover the world at their own pace. She found the daycare center, which was known for taking a different approach to following the child’s rhythm. She visited the facility and was impressed by their alternative methods. Although the facility is 20 minutes away by car, she enjoys making the journey every day because she has seen a positive impact on her children.

Takeo Children’s Library
Copyright © Cecilia Luzi 2023

Children’s libraries are another wonderful place for children. The children’s library in Takeo, for example, has a particularly welcoming atmosphere and a rich collection of picture books, a café and a playground. During our visits, we often met familiar faces, including friends who have moved to the area. On one occasion, a young woman who moved to Hasami ten years ago told me about her family routine: “Every time we come to the library, it’s curry night for the family! There is a delicious Indian curry restaurant just around the corner and the girls love it!”. Another time we met a family from Hasami consisting of children, parents and grandparents. The grandfather greeted us warmly and told us about their weekend ritual: “We like to come as a whole family at the weekend. We like to play with the kids in the library, borrow books and then go to the onsen for a nice bath!” Since Takeo is known for its hot springs, this is the perfect way to end a fun day at the library.

Inside the Children’s Library
Copyright © Cecilia Luzi 2023

Raising children in rural Japan is a diverse experience. The availability of child-friendly facilities and activities can vary significantly from place to place. Fortunately, Hasami benefits from its convenient location near larger cities such as Nagasaki, Sasebo and even Fukuoka, which offer many attractions for children. However, the attention paid to childcare and support services in many rural towns impressed me the most during my fieldwork, especially in terms of educational approaches and support for mothers and young families. One day I was chatting with a very friendly woman around 60 who runs a Childcare Support Center. I told her of my amazement at the abundance of beautifully illustrated books that have been published in Japan by Japanese authors. She replied, “Many years ago, neighborhoods in rural towns like ours regularly organized gatherings to read to the children. That was really wonderful! Unfortunately, we seem to have lost our passion for reading aloud. But children are the future of small towns like ours. But children are the future of small towns like ours. If we don’t support them, don’t encourage their education and don’t teach them to appreciate the beauty of their birthplace, how can we expect them to stay?”

by Erik Rimkus

One of Japan’s biggest challenges today is demographic change. This includes, first and foremost, the rapid aging of the population, with nearly one-third of the population (29%) aged 65 and older (Statistics Bureau of Japan 2022). But Japanese demographics also pose a second, rapidly growing problem: hyper-urbanization. Nowhere is this more visible than in Tokyo. To this day Japan’s capital has been continuously growing, even beyond its own prefectural borders. The greater Tokyo area or “National Capital Region“ (jap.: Shutoken), consisting of the Kanto region and the neighboring Yamanashi Prefecture, is considered to be the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with a total population of 44.37 million people as of 2021 (Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism 2022: 42). Even though Tokyo’s population influx died down a little during the pandemic (The Japan Times 2022), due to a strong continuous flow of (esp. young) people moving to the capital, Tokyo is expected to grow even more. Now over one-third of Japan’s population (apx. 35%) is living in this metropolis (Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism 2022: 42).

Tokyo, Ueno
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

On the other hand, this naturally leads to most other parts of Japan becoming increasingly underpopulated and over-aged, causing a variety of problems. These problems range from a shortage of skilled workers to the disappearance of entire towns and villages, with “869 municipalities – nearly half of Japan’s total population – […] at risk of disappearing [by 2040]” (Richarz 2019). However, although seemingly all of Japan is migrating to Tokyo, a counter-movement of people fleeing the megacity is slowly taking hold. Whether people frustrated by their hectic lives are being pushed away from living in this hyper-urban area or are being drawn to the countryside by the promise of affordable housing, closer contact with nature, or a more thoughtful and slower-paced lifestyle, these intra-national migrants, often referred to as ijūsha, are exactly what many rural areas are counting on.

Shirakawa, Gifu
Copyright © unsplash.com 2020

To inform and support potential newcomers, many prefectures and municipalities promote their areas in newsletters and magazines. One example is the magazine “Turns“. This magazine often reports about people who moved to the countryside and their stories of success. The magazine’s official subtitle is: “Connecting with rural areas in the Future “ [Kore kara no chiiki to no tsunagarikata]. But, despite what it sounds like, Turns is not only about successfully growing strawberries in small rural towns Miyagi. One article for example describes the relocation of two young people from the greater Tokyo area (Tokyo and Yokohama) to Nagasaki, the capital city of the prefecture of the same name (Fukami 2021: 100-101). This is not the only case of major cities being described and categorized as chiiki or “rural areas“. In fact in the discourse surrounding “rural revitalization“, many places presented as “rural areas “ are in fact large cities like Nagasaki with a population of close to 400.000 people (Nagasaki City 2023). This perception of almost every place outside of Tokyo as rural seems to have become a common view in Japan. I have also made this experience while in Japan.  A good friend of mine, who grew up in Gifu-City and moved to Tokyo to study, once told me how people react when they find out, where she is from. Questions like: „Did you even have Starbucks or MC Donalds there?“ illustrate very vividly how people from Tokyo view places outside their megacity.

Nagasaki, Japan
Copyright © unsplash.com 2022

Tokyo’s hyper urbanization has far-reaching implications for Japan. For one thing, it may change the way people see and experience “big” and “small rural areas.” There is simply no other place in Japan that compares to the “megacity” of Tokyo. I believe that demographic changes in Japan and the hyper-urbanization of the capital are leading to a new dominant view of Tokyo and non-Tokyo, as opposed to the previous distinction between “rural areas” and urban areas. However, these small and large rural areas do not necessarily share the same problems, and little or no differentiation could fuel rivalries in attracting new residents, for example. If Japan does not want to lose more and more communities in the coming years and decades, it must successfully promote rural areas and revitalize its rural areas. But to do so effectively, it may need to acknowledge the differences between towns and cities of different sizes and the changing perceptions of rural areas.

References:
Fukami, Hiroshi (2021) „Nagasaki-shi de mitsuketa watashitachi no ‘saikō no kurashi’“ [„The best way of life“ can be found in Nagasaki], in: Turns, 43 (10), p. 100-101.
Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism (2022), „Reiwa sannendo shutoken Seibi ni kansuru nenji Hōkoku“ [2021 Annual Report on the Metropolitan Area Development], https://www.mlit.go.jp/toshi/daisei/toshi_daisei_fr_000063.html (Accessed on July 06, 2023).
Nagasaki-shi (2023), „Kongatsu no ugoki (Suikei jinkō nado saishin no shuyō tōkei)“ [Movement of the Month (Latest Major Statistics such as Estimated Population)], https://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/syokai/750000/751000/p007001.html (Accessed on July 09, 2023).
Richarz, Allan (2019), „In Japan’s vanishing rural towns newcomers are wanted“, in: Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-15/in-japan-s-vanishing-rural-towns-newcomers-wanted (Accessed on June 26. 2023).
Statistics Bureau of Japan (2022), „Current population estimation as of October 1, 2022“, https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/jinsui/2022np/ (Accessed on June 26, 2023).
The Japan Times (2022), „Net population influx into Tokyo hits lowest point in 2021 amid pandemic“, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/01/28/national/tokyo-population-influx-lowest/ (Accessed on July 09. 2023).

Erik Rimkus is a student in the BA program in Japanese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin

by Cornelia Reiher

After three months of teaching, some of my memories of fieldwork have already faded, but by integrating the topic of urban-rural migration in Japan into one of my courses this semester, I was able to share my fieldwork experiences with students. In a BA course on mobilities, ten students examined the internal and transnational migration of Japanese citizens and the technologies that enable migration, new lifestyles and new forms of work. Students read and translated academic articles, Japan’s latest digital strategy for rural areas, blogposts from urban residents who have moved to the countryside and articles from Turns, a magazine that focuses on rural areas, urban-rural migration and rural revitalization. We also watched promotional videos by prefectures, municipalities or individual migrants.

Some of the students from the BA course on mobilities at the Japanese Studies Institute at FU Berlin
Copyright © Cosmo Hümmer 2023

In class, we discussed many phenomena related to urban-rural migration, paying particular attention to mobilities other than human. With a focus on technologies, we explored how digital transformation has enabled urban-rural migration and changed rural lifestyles. Students were particularly interested in new forms of work such as digital nomadism, remote work and workation, as well as the digitalization of agriculture. We also looked at social media as a means that migrants use to stay in touch with their friends and families in their former place of residence, but also with each other. Looking at the different types of social media networks that migrants use to stay in touch and support each other by sharing information, but also by positively portraying themselves and their experiences in the countryside, provided many interesting starting points for discussions with the students, who could easily connect migrants’ experiences and use of social media with their own life worlds.

Issues of the magazine Turns we read during class
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

In addition to reading and discussing the various sources, I also wanted to encourage students to write about what they had learned. But instead of simply writing a term paper that only I would read, I asked students to write posts for this blog based on the course readings. So in the following weeks, this blog will feature posts from BA students in the Japanese Studies program at Freie Universität Berlin who participated in the course on mobilities.

The rural idyll in Japan many urban-rural migrants are looking for
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

All the contributions are about urban-rural migration in Japan, but the topics of the contributions are very different. They range from traditional crafts to digital transformation in agriculture. One paper discusses what rural areas are, while others focus on the migration experiences of individual migrants and their families or on new forms of work such as remote work and workation. All contributions are based on Japanese sources that were read, translated and summarized by the students. In some cases, the contributions were inspired by the students’ own experiences in the Japanese countryside and also tell personal stories. I hope readers will enjoy students’ perspectives on urban-rural migration!

by Cecilia Luzi

As mentioned in previous blog posts, field research with a child comes with some challenges, especially when it comes to finding appropriate spaces to play and relax. In this article, I would like to talk about an unexpected place that has become a sanctuary for both of us during our fieldwork in Japan: the onsen (hot springs). During my months of field research in Kyūshū, I made some fascinating discoveries about onsen. For example, I observed that some elderly local women visit the onsen every day, whether in the morning or right after lunch, to bathe for an hour or so before returning to their daily activities. Their skin looks gorgeous, and they look much younger than their actual age. I also discovered that there are family baths, kazokuburo, in Kyūshū where you can pay for an hour’s private bath for your family. Although I was unfamiliar with this, I quickly got used to it because it was a nice way for my family to spend the last few hours of the weekend together before my partner had to catch the train back to Kyōto. Finally, I learned that the people of Kyūshū pay very close attention to the quality of the water in the onsen. They can notice even the slightest change or difference in water quality from one bath to another. It always surprises me when I hear that some people take over an hour’s drive just to have a good bath with high-quality water at the end of the day, even if there is an onsen only ten minutes from their house.

A family bath (kazokuburo) in Takeo
Copyright© Cecilia Luzi 2023

In my last few months in Japan, I had some memorable experiences in the onsen. The first house we stayed in had a traditional Japanese metal kettle bath, called a goemonburo, heated directly from below with firewood. This was a great experience. However, when it was too cold to go outside and prepare the fire, or when I was too tired, we would go to the onsen, which was just a five-minute walk up the street. I often met locals there, and over time their faces became familiar to me. Sometimes there were tourists there, too. One day I met three girls who had come from Kitakyūshū to spend the night at the nearby campsite. They wanted to take a nice bath before going to sleep. “Everyone here says there’s nothing interesting in the area, but I don’t think that’s true,” one of them told me. “The nature is beautiful in every season, and the people are very nice!”

The entrance in one of my favorite onsen
Copyright© Cecilia Luzi 2023

On another occasion, I visited an onsen in Beppu with one of my friends. It was a small onsen up in the hills. It was a cold winter day, and it was very pleasant to bathe in the warmth of the onsen while it was drizzling in the mist… In the pool outside, we struck up a conversation with an old lady who lived nearby and came to the onsen every day. There was also a woman who had just moved with her husband from Kitakyūshū to Beppu after they retired. The elderly lady, who claimed to be 82 years old but looked at least ten years younger, gave the newcomer a list of places to go, including suggestions for cheap onsen for only 100 yen and meals at the university cafeteria: “It’s both delicious and very cheap. You should go there. I go very often!”

A nice meal after a bath in Beppu
Copyright© Cecilia Luzi 2023

When I went to an onsen recently, I was with a young woman who had moved to Hasami from Tōkyō just two weeks ago. I got out of the bathroom early to get my son dressed, and a very funny lady who had already approached me inside started asking me what had brought me to Hasami. Soon all the people in the locker room joined the conversation, especially a young mother with two children who were playing with my son. I asked her where she was from, and when she replied, “Hirado” the other ladies blurted out, “That’s very far away! And you came here just for the onsen? Surely that must take more than an hour!” The young woman nodded, and then suddenly one of the others came up to me and said, “You should go to Hirado while you’re here! It’s a beautiful place.” As soon as she finished, another lady listed a number of other places in the area that I should visit before leaving, and then another lady started naming good onsen and inviting me to try different ones. Suddenly, the entire locker room turned into some kind of travel agency promoting tourism in Nagasaki Prefecture. They were so good at it that I joked that a municipality should hire them!

Takeo Onsen complex during the cherry blossom season
Copyright© Cecilia Luzi 2023

Onsen are great places to engage in conversation and learn more about the daily habits of locals. They can serve as a place to relax as well as a social space for conversation and community building. For my child, onsen became a playground. For me, they became an opportunity to learn more about the daily rhythms of the local community. Exchanges in the bath are very conversational and provide a unique opportunity to connect with others in a relaxed and informal setting. It reminded me of the little bars you find in the main square of any Italian village in the countryside, where people meet to have a drink, chat and give each other unsolicited advice.

by Cornelia Reiher

Finding housing in rural areas is a very important and sometimes difficult part of the urban-rural migrant experience. Previous blogposts have pointed out that while there are many abandoned houses in rural communities, it is often difficult to find housing because the owner is unknown or because they do not want to sell or rent their house. While many urban-rural migrants with families are looking for a house (ikkenya) or an apartment, single people, in particular, do not want to live alone for economic reasons or because they feel lonely. Therefore, sharehouses, a concept that has recently become more popular in Japan (Meagher 2020: 16), are now available in rural areas. However, there are not yet that many sharehouses and those in the areas I studied were established only in the last five years.

View from the window of the sharehouse over the roofs of the town
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

During my fieldwork, I met many residents of sharehouses. For most, living in the sharehouse was temporary, but there were also some long-term residents and those who have stayed for a short time, left and then returned to live in the sharehouse for a longer period of time. Sharehouses in the countryside seem to serve several functions: They provide a place to live and often work, new experiences and encounters with diverse people from different backgrounds and valuable information about the city for newcomers. They can also be places where locals and newcomers meet. For example, in the basement of one sharehouse I visited, there is an event space that can be transformed into a coworking space, a café, a concert space, or a pop-up restaurant where locals, Japanese migrants and foreign residents come together.

The living room and kitchen of the sharehouse where I stayed
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

I lived in a sharehouse myself during my last field research in the spring and shared the house with two people, a man and a woman in their thirties, who had moved to the city from big cities in Kanto and Kansai. Since the sharehouse had only opened last October, three rooms were still unoccupied and were therefore rented out to short-term visitors like me. On the first floor were three bedrooms and a bathroom. Upstairs was the kitchen, which was also used as a living room, another bathroom and two bedrooms. The decor was a very stylish mix of DIY renovation, old furniture, textiles and IKEA.

The sharehouse was renovated by its owners with the help of volunteers
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

Although I had met a resident of the sharehouse during my last field research, I was very nervous about sharing a house with strangers. My last experience with a shared apartment was during my student days, and I didn’t really know what to expect. But it turned out to be a very pleasant experience. We prepared and ate meals together, went out for drinks or just had a nice chat when we met in the kitchen. According to my temporary roommates, one advantage of living together is that they can share food and there are no leftovers. Although they both do their own grocery shopping and each has a basket of non-perishable food like coffee that is not shared, they order vegetables together from a farmer and share them. And if they need something that is not available in town, they order it individually online. Most of the migrants I interviewed agreed that ordering things online makes life in the countryside much more convenient. It was very interesting to see what was shared and what was not shared by the residents of the sharehouse and how they organize their shared space.

A radish from a local organic farmer’s food delivery and a box from Amazon
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

Staying in the sharehouse made me realize how important they are for newcomers. Both of my roommates agreed that they came to this city because of the sharehouse and its owners. They both learned about the sharehouse from others who lived there for a short time or helped the owners renovate the sharehouse. They were also impressed by their social media accounts, and when they first visited, the owners introduced them to interesting people, which is why they both think the city is exciting, offers many opportunities, and is home to interesting people. In light of the difficult housing situation in many rural communities, sharehouses can provide housing for newcomers, independent of the sometimes quite limited community support systems. They also offer newcomers many opportunities to connect with locals and learn from the experiences of other urban-rural migrants. Thus, sharehouses are important hubs for urban-rural migrants and also places where many activities take place that make rural communities more interesting.

Reference:

Meagher, Caitlin (2020), Inside a Japanese sharehouse: dreams and realities, London and New York: Routledge.

by Ngo Tu Thanh (Frank Tu)

Buzen is a small coastal city located in the northeast of Fukuoka Prefecture. Despite its small size, both area-wise and population-wise (approx. 24,000 residents), Buzen City has amazed me with its efforts to promote international cooperation and multiculturalism. After fieldwork in Buzen, in this blogpost, I want to share my experiences and the reasons why officials in Buzen are working hard for the city’s internationalization. My first (online) contact in Buzen in September 2021 was with Ms Ngo Thi Nhung, a Vietnamese national working in the City Hall of Buzen, who is a member of the chiiki okoshi kyōryokutai (COKT) Program and also contributed to our blog . I was surprised that Ms Nhung was recruited to work at the city hall and being a Vietnamese national myself, I was also happy to meet a fellow “comrade”. When I connected with Ms. Nhung via Facebook I realized that she is also one of Buzen’s foreigner-friendly official Facebook page admins. Her role in promoting Buzen’s public relations really sets Buzen apart from other localities, as she connects the local government with the public. Thanks to Ms Nhung I could directly arrange appointments with local officials via Buzen’s Facebook page. Last year, I was able to secure an online meeting with both Ms. Nhung and her direct supervisor, who told me that promoting international cooperation is one of Buzen’s main regional revitalization strategies.

Months had passed since our first online interview and when I finally made it to Japan, I attended a diplomatic event between Vietnam and Japan in Fukuoka in July 2022, where chairmen of Vietnamese provinces and their counterparts from Fukuoka Prefecture and other localities in Kyushu came together to promote bilateral partnership. To my surprise, I saw the booth of Buzen City at the event and, more importantly, I also met the official whom I interviewed online. This coincidental encounter was really a joy as neither I nor the Buzen’s official expected to meet each other at an event hosted by the Consulate of Vietnam in Fukuoka. We exchanged contacts and talked briefly. He told me that Buzen is currently trying to strengthen its partnership with Taiwan and Vietnam, and the Mayor of Buzen was at that time on a business trip to Vietnam with Ms. Ngo Thi Nhung to cultivate new opportunities.

In August, I finally went to Buzen. After visiting the city hall and conducting interviews with officials, I learned that the city had just established a new division for international cooperation and multiculturalism (kokusai kyōsei suishin shitsu) with four members, including the official I met online and in Fukuoka, Ms Nhung and another COKT with an international background, who has lived in Switzerland and Taiwan for several years. This new division was established as part of the mayor’s vision to develop the city by strengthening the partnerships with Taiwan and Vietnam and supporting foreign nationals living in Buzen. For instance, Buzen is trying to invite Vietnamese universities to establish local branches in the city, where both international and local students can study. Also, Buzen is looking for business partners in Vietnam who can import Buzen’s local products. Next, in order to promote mutual understanding and support foreign residents (most of whom are Vietnamese technical interns), Buzen also organizes Vietnamese language sessions for locals, and Japanese language courses for foreign nationals. In order for me to directly experience their activities, the officials also invited me to join two events.

I joined a meeting between local officials and a Taiwanese professor who is teaching in Kitakyushu to prepare a Taiwan festival in Buzen in 2023. The event aims at promoting tourism and mutual understanding. The Taiwanese professor came to the meeting with a meticulous plan for the festival and presented his ideas for activities to be conducted at the festival. These included hosting Taiwanese cooking lessons and launching sky lanterns. He also prepared some sample Taiwanese foods for us to try. At the end of the meeting, the officials said they would continue to discuss the plan in the months to come. The officials were very open and flexible with the plan and to test new strategies and ideas. The meeting also made me aware how academics interact with bureaucrats in rural Japan.

The second event I joined was a Vietnamese cooking day organized by Buzen’s local residents and supported by the city hall’s staff. The event featured one of Buzen’s signature agricultural products: loofahs (hechima). Since loofahs are frequently used in the Vietnamese food culture, local residents wanted to learn how Vietnamese people cook it. For this reason, many Vietnamese residents in Buzen joined the event, and together we made six different loofah-based dishes. The event was also a way for local residents and Vietnamese nationals to meet and learn from each other, thereby increasing mutual understanding. After the event, the officials had organized a discussion session where participants could exchange ideas to promote multiculturalism in Buzen. Given that the majority of Vietnamese (and other international) migrants in Buzen are technical interns (ginō jisshūsei), the conversation quickly turned towards this topic. First, Japanese residents acknowledged that the Technical Intern Training program is highly problematic and, in many cases, cruel to Vietnamese participants. While the goal of the program is to provide interns with technical skills that can be transferred back to their home countries, many interns have to undertake repetitive and low-skilled jobs. Ms Nhung made a passionate speech, saying that she had heard of many cases where Japanese firms mistreated and abused Vietnamese interns, considering them only as cheap labor. She hoped the authorities would improve the program. Buzen’s local officials also shared this passion and asked for suggestions to protect and support interns in Buzen by establishing direct hotlines for interns to consult and report cases of mistreatment. That said, some Vietnamese technical interns who participated in the event said that they were personally treated decently, despite the challenging jobs that they were undertaking. During the discussion session, both local residents and officials of Buzen seemed very sympathetic, polite, and willing to take immediate actions.

In summary, Buzen, although a small city, offers great potential for regional revitalization with its efforts in international cooperation and multiculturalism. I personally had a wonderful time in Buzen and very much look forward to visiting the city again.