{"id":1195,"date":"2022-11-11T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-11T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2022-12-16T16:24:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T15:24:01","slug":"its-time-to-say-goodbye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/2022\/11\/11\/its-time-to-say-goodbye\/","title":{"rendered":"News from the field: It\u2019s time to say goodbye!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Ngo Tu Thanh (Frank Tu)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 3rd<\/sup>, 2022: I\u2019ve just returned to Tokyo before flying back to Berlin this Sunday. This is almost the end of my fieldwork in Japan! After six months, five cities, and countless memories, I know now that fieldwork can generate not only data for research but also new friendships, life experiences, inspiration and even career opportunities. As my flight back to Berlin is approaching, I can\u2019t help but feel somewhat melancholy. \u201cSo that\u2019s it?\u201d, I think to myself. As a young researcher, I struggle to deal with my attachment to the field, and I also wonder if my personal bonds with several respondents may affect the objectivity of my analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n

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My fieldwork has come to an end. It was an amazing experience<\/strong>
Copyright \u00a9 Ngo Tu Thanh 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I keep thinking back to May when I conducted my first interviews with national policy actors in Tokyo. How nervous I was back then! After these initial meetings, I came to realize that many policy actors, including even politicians and high-ranking government officials, were highly supportive and there was no reason why I had to be afraid to discuss with them. In fact, some research participants, despite their extremely hectic schedules, were kind enough to keep following up on my research progress and meet me multiple times until my very last days here. These respondents have become my friends and mentors, and we even promised to meet again in Germany next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also had great experiences in Ky\u016bsh\u016b. I was especially impressed with Fukuoka Prefecture, and more specially Buzen City \u2013 a small yet spirited municipality that has been making great rural revitalization efforts through international cooperation and digital transformation. My respondents from Fukuoka<\/a> Prefecture and Buzen<\/a> gave me the feeling that Fukuoka is a place of new ideas, challenges, and vitality. My respondents here are also extremely proactive and modern. Since all of them added me on social media and preferred texting to sending emails, I could contact them right away whenever a question arose. Sometimes, after our meetings, they even texted their new ideas and opinion about rural revitalization without me asking.<\/p>\n\n\n

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One of my research participants is a charismatic leader, academic, businessman
and a native of Yame City, where I attended high school<\/strong>
Copyright \u00a9 Ngo Tu Thanh 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to Fukuoka, Nagasaki seems to have a slower pace, or in other words, is more \u201crural\u201d. Yet, I was able to experience the charming, relaxing life in Nagasaki. I stayed at an Airbnb in Nagasaki, and my host \u2013 a Nagasaki native \u2013 is very knowledgeable about rural revitalization and interested in the project that our research team is conducting. He also used to work in a local politician\u2019s office. In order to help me grasp the local context, my host guided me to many historical places in Nagasaki, invited me to join local events, introduced me to other local residents, and even drove me to Hasami Town \u2013 my other main field site. He is also familiar with several of my respondents and prepped me before my interviews. For instance, he told me about the backgrounds and policy orientations of several local politicians. While in Nagasaki, not only did I get to hear the voices of policy actors, but also those of local residents. Many of them were highly critical of how the prefecture handles rural revitalization. More importantly, the people I met in Nagasaki became a part of my everyday life. We formed a close-knit community and had dinner together every other day as we lived very close to each other. One of my new friends also came to Tokyo to see me off on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n

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An evening picnic with my Airbnb host and new friends from Nagasaki<\/strong>
Copyright \u00a9 Ngo Tu Thanh 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not my first time in Japan or living abroad. After having lived in six countries, I thought I was used to saying goodbye. Yet, it is still quite emotional to know \u201cthat was it\u201d. However, I\u2019m sure that the end of the fieldwork is not the end of these new \u201cfriendships\u201d (if I may use this word at all\u2026 as many respondents are older and way more accomplished than I am). In the upcoming months, I will do my best to make the most out of the valuable information my respondents shared with me and finish my PhD dissertation. I cannot wait to visit Japan again as soon as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ngo Tu Thanh (Frank Tu) October 3rd, 2022: I\u2019ve just returned to Tokyo before flying back to Berlin this Sunday. This is almost the end of my fieldwork in Japan! After six months, five cities, and countless memories, I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4973,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4973"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1195"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1273,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions\/1273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}