Revitalizing Japan’s aging and depopulating countryside

Abstract:

Depopulation in Japanese rural areas began in the 1950s and progressively became a national problem. While the government has taken measures to revitalize local communities, a movement of young people returning to rural areas–a new phenomenon known as « den’en kaiki 田園回帰 »–also emerged after the great disaster of March 2011. Hence the crucial need to analyse these phenomena and reflect on the next generations of people living in the countryside.This communication will explore the current state of Japanese rural villages and explain how newcomers, most of whom are educated, urban-born individuals, are revitalizing Japan’s declining rural communities. As a newcomer in a small rural community in Tokushima Prefecture himself, Taguchi Tarō will question the reality of den’en kaiki, the tools used to invigorate these areas, and the result of these revitalization processes.

 Profile:TaguchiTarō obtained his PhD from Waseda University’s Department of Architecture, Laboratory of Urban and Rural Planning. He is currently an associate professor at Tokushima University. He specialises in regional design policy, with a focus on the revitalization of rural and fishing communities. He is a member of various committees involved in regional policies at the local and national levels. He also belongs to the national program responsible for training young local leaders willing to redevelop the Japanese countryside.

Moderator: Rémi SCOCCIMARRO (UMIFRE 19-MFJ)
Organization: Bureau français de la MFJCo-organization: CCIFJ