{"id":494,"date":"2021-09-17T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/?p=494"},"modified":"2023-02-06T09:41:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T08:41:36","slug":"news-from-the-field-foreign-talents-and-rural-revitalization-in-buzen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/2021\/09\/17\/news-from-the-field-foreign-talents-and-rural-revitalization-in-buzen\/","title":{"rendered":"News from the field: Foreign talents and rural revitalization in Buzen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

The consequences of declining birth rates and population ageing in rural Japan are significant. Accepting more foreign talents to rural areas has been one of the strategies that have been proposed in the Comprehensive Strategy for Communities, People and Work (Machi, hito, shigoto s\u014dsei s\u014dg\u014d senryaku),<\/em> the first holistic policy package for regional revitalization in Japan. More specifically, the national version of the Comprehensive Strategy directly puts forth that municipalities should accept foreign members to join the Chiiki okoshi ky\u014dryokutai <\/em>(Community building support staff program). In line with this strategy, earlier this year, Ngo Thi Nhung, a Vietnamese graduate from Ky\u016bsh\u016b Sangy\u014d University was accepted as the first foreign member of the Chiiki okoshi ky\u014dryokutai<\/em> in the city of Buzen. The acceptance of Nhung was widely reported by news outlets such as Asahi Shinbun <\/em>and Nishi Nippon Shinbun<\/em> [1]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested to find out what she does at work, I contacted her and got an opportunity to do an online interview with Nhung and the head of Buzen\u2019s S\u014dg\u014d seisakuka<\/em> [Comprehensive planning department] on September 01, 2021. Nhung explained to me that she has been living in Japan for 8 years and deliberately chose to move to Buzen after finishing her master\u2019s degree in Fukuoka City this year. Joining the Chiiki okoshi ky\u014dryokutai<\/em>, Nhung currently works as a coordinator for tabunka ky\u014dsei <\/em>(multiculturalism) for Buzen City. In particular, her tasks involve translating pamphlets, organizing cultural exchange events, disseminating information, and supporting foreigners who live in Buzen. Throughout the interview, Nhung repeatedly stated that she wants to connect foreigners and locals in Buzen, and this is also where she believes her role in rural revitalization lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
My online interview with Nhung-san and her colleague <\/em><\/strong>
Copyright<\/em> \u00a9 Tu Thanh Ngo 2021<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why is there a need to bring foreign and local residents closer together in a small rural city like Buzen? The head of Buzen\u2019s S\u014dg\u014d seisakuka<\/em> explained that one of Buzen\u2019s main strategies to counter its declining labor force is to attract international workers, who account for 1.5% of Buzen\u2019s population. The majority of foreigners living in Buzen are young gin\u014d jissh\u016bsei<\/em> (technical intern trainees), who are not yet used to the Japanese culture and have limited Japanese proficiency. For this reason, Buzen seeks to conduct activities to help foreigners integrate, i.e. by holding Japanese language courses, or explaining the rules for transportation and waste disposal to them. The head of Buzen\u2019s S\u014dg\u014d seisakuka<\/em> also stated that he believes that young foreigners can play an important role in maintaining Buzen\u2019s vitality, community life, events, and festivals. For this reason, he hopes that more foreigners will come to the city in the future. He also shared with me that Buzen had just recently concluded a partnership with the Taiwanese Consulate General to attract students from Taiwan, and that the city is currently exploring ways to proceed with the new partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
During the interview, Nhung-san and her colleague showed me a promotion video <\/em><\/strong>
Copyright<\/em> \u00a9 Tu Thanh Ngo 2021<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The interview with Ngo Thi Nhung and the head of Buzen\u2019s S\u014dg\u014d seisakuka<\/em>, as well as the employment of Nhung as a publicly financed COKT member gave me the first impression that Buzen City has a positive view of foreigners\u2019 role in rural revitalization. As for Nhung, she clearly asserted that she was motivated to contribute to Buzen\u2019s revitalization efforts and had been receiving plenty of support from her colleagues. However, she also added that although she had not encountered any problems thus far, there might be challenges ahead. Hence, I really look forward to following up on her once we can go to Buzen for our upcoming fieldwork to see whether things will have changed by then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1]
Hamaguchi, T. (2021) \u2018Buzen-shi ky\u014dryokutai\u2019in ni betonamujin josei \u201cDare mo ga tanoshiku kuraseru kanky\u014d o\u201d\u2019, Nishi Nippon Shinbun<\/em>. Available at: https:\/\/www.nishinippon.co.jp\/item\/n\/741949\/<\/a> (Accessed: 15 August 2021).

\u014cra, M. (2021) \u2018Buzen-shi, Chiiki okoshi Ky\u014dryokutai ni betonamujin tabunka ky\u014dsei ninau\u2019, Asahi Shinbun<\/em>. Available at: https:\/\/www.asahi.com\/articles\/ASP45736PP42TLLS001.html<\/a> (Accessed: 15 August 2021).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tu Thanh Ngo (Frank Tu) The consequences of declining birth rates and population ageing in rural Japan are significant. Accepting more foreign talents to rural areas has been one of the strategies that have been proposed in the Comprehensive … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494","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\/494","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\/3214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":508,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions\/508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}