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Regional Revitalization in Japan

What is regional revitalization? It is the national strategy in Japan to curb population imbalances, which also includes reviving rural economies. In order to do this, towns and municipals are finding unique ideas to curb the problems by rediscovering their specialties and strengths. We will discover in details the related issues and unique solutions from Japan.

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Why is Regional Revitalization important in Japan

Although this is a big topic in Japan, there are a number of underlying issues that derives from it.

Population movement in Japan leading to declining population and overpopulation

Population Decline is but one of the reasons for the decline of towns and municipalities. As the population move away to bigger cities, it is estimated that the population of women in these areas will decrease approximately half. This puts rural areas at the risk of disappearing.

On the other hand, regional revitalization is also concerned about overpopulation. When populations move away from rural towns to metropolises, population density and resource demands increase in these cities. It is estimated that there is a population of more than 13.8 million in Tokyo, accounting for about 11% of Japan’s population.

On the whole, there is an alarming imbalance in Japan’s population. 40 out of 47 prefectures are facing a population decrease.

Population change as of 2018. Blue areas indicate a positive growth in population. (Image: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)

Other issues revitalization can help tackle

One of the key issues is the forestry trade in Japan. 66% of Japan is covered in forests. The forestry trade is facing a threat as a resource untapped. Furthermore. without proper work on the forests, it could lead to environmental disasters like landslides and flooding. Yet, less than 0.1% of Japan’s workforce is in involved in the trade.

The spiral down of a local economy is another problem. As population density decrease in rural regions, it becomes harder for local stores to provide services and goods. Consequently, shops close. This in turn impact jobs, not to mention convenience of living. Populations move away to more convenient areas. This vicious cycle also exists in other topics, such as public facilities such as schools.

Solutions and examples of regional revitalization for rural regions

With the size of projects and number of issues involved across the various prefectures, comes many unique ideas that leverage on the towns’ and municipals’ strengths. Following are some examples.

Hirota attracting youths back to rural regions through work life satisfaction

Hirota town is located in Iwate Prefecture, in Northeastern Japan. Instead of simply promoting the goodness the region has to offer, they are concentrating on providing work life satisfaction. Young professional disillusioned by city life are thus finding this town attractive.

Read about Hirota and the youths

Leveraging on relationship population to revitalize rural regions

Relationship population refers to those who have a connection to the region, but currently not a resident living there. Otetsutabi is a platform for sharing of skills while traveling. It also helps to build such relationships at travel destination. By creating such connection between city dwellers and rural residents, it improves the vitals of the areas beyond the city.

Discover how Otetsutabi builds relationship population

Reversing the roles of renting with an upside-down real estate system

Here is a unique solution to the akiya problem in Japan. property owners who are unable to maintain or sell their properties, often due to depopulation and aging, entrust their homes to Sakasama Fudosan. It then seeks potential renters who “advertise” themselves, thus reversing the traditional role of owners seeking renters.

Learn more about Sakasama Fudosan's unique system

Creating a community hub to increase human traffic

(Image: PR Times)

What if the solution to improving local economy is as simple as increasing walking population in the area? “Waiwai!! Container 2” in Saga Prefecture is a model example of revitalizing the local community by creating a place of gathering (which adapts to community needs), encouraging residents and visitors to walk and visit the shops they pass. Don’t miss this if you are interested in improving local economy in a built-up area setting.

Interview into Waiwai!! Container 2 here!

Regional Revitalization trends in Japan

Trend of “regional revitalization” on Google Trends.

Regional revitalization has always been a standard issue of many prefectures in Japan, as 44 out of 47 prefectures are facing a minus or zero growth in population. With the threat of depopulation and economic decline looming over, citizens of young and old are working together to find solutions. We saw a growth in interest around the late 2019s. This was a period when SDGs awareness was increased, and communities began to use SDGs as a lens to discover new resources and values they could use to revitalize the rural regions of Japan.

Although the trend dipped as around the period of the coronavirus pandemic, the trend returned and stayed strong towards the end of 2022. Recently, eco-tourism has been boasted as the solution to bringing income to local economies, and thus a sustained interested towards the end of 2023.

By the way, there is a declining trend of the term “population decline” in Japan in the past five years. What’s interesting is not the slow, constant climb of interest of the term “population decline”. The interest is coming from areas facing that dire problem, including Akita, Aomori and Yamagata prefectures. The term “regional revitalization” is looking at equal rate of decline. The focus had moved from “discussion” to “action”, as Japan takes action to solve specific areas such as forestry and the craft trade.

Regional Revitalization Law

Enacted on April 20, 2016, the Regional Revitalization Law has three main aspects:

  1. Subsidies for promoting local revitalization: providing support for local governments’ voluntary and independent projects at the forefront.
  2. Tax system to support local revitalization: establishing a tax incentive for corporate to donate to local revitalization projects conducted by local governments.
  3. “Active lifetime town” system: a strong focus where middle-aged and elderly people can lead a healthy and active life, and receive continuous care.

Organizations promoting regional revitalization in Japan

[Reference] Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Statistics Bureau
[Reference] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Articles about regional revitalization in Japan