Japan’s ailing rural towns push free beer, other perks to urbanites in tax-sharing drive

Article: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/08/15/national/social-issues/japans-ailing-rural-towns-push-free-beer-perks-urbanites-tax-sharing-drive/#.VArPEmSSwTI
 

As the title suggests, the article focuses on how the popular muraokoshi undo movement, as suggested by Moon, has propelled popular support for Furusato policies employed by the local governments. I have chosen this article as it clearly articulates the various motivations of the multitude of actors involved in this movement. These include the local government, various interest groups, villagers, as well as urbanites.

The Abe administration under current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe serves as the largest proponent of the movement. Given that local elections are drawing near, the administration is thus driven towards success, which would put them in favorable light. As quoted in the article, their success indicator is to ‘invigorate rural economies before local elections’ in 2015. Granted, it appears that power serves as a motivating factor, but national interest is too a powerful influencing force. Propelled by fears that ‘900 population centers may disappear within a generation’, the Abe administration is thus morally obligated to prevent such a phenomenon. Based on reports, the Furusato movement was focused on ‘increasing the non-resident population’ instead of popular belief – that economic motivation was the key factor involved.

Yet while that is the official statement made public, it is undeniable that economic factors are key to the success of the Furusato movement. The article shows how varying interest groups have lobbied in favor of Furusato, since the movement would help boost Japan’s regional economic influence. As a result, the government has since ‘pledged 4 trillion to boost railway and road construction projects’. Such projects serve to increase ease of travel to rural ‘furusatos’, which in turn increases economic revenue for the villagers.

Undeniably, increased economic revenue (Moon) is of most importance to the villagers. Due to constant outmigration as well as an aging population, rural villages have begun to find it hard to use farming as their source of livelihood. Surviving on farming is thus not lucrative – other sources of income are thus necessary. This also points back to the commodification of nature for Man’s use, as mentioned in Moon’s piece.

And lastly, the article suggests that contributions to the Furusato movement are largely motivated by moral obligation. (Moon, Robertson) For instance, Hisako Yoshida, a tax accountant, only started contributing to the movement from normative pressures. Given that her clients are all participants in the system, she sought a connection with them by participating in it as well. Besides, considering the trend of feeling displaced and lacking a place of belonging, urbanites are thus more willing to donate and contribute. This is further supported by policies employed by the government, which allows them tax deductions, and ‘ease of donation through simplification of payment procedures’. Doing so allows them to feel a sense of belonging to a ‘furusato’ of their own, be it their hometown, or an ‘adoptive’ village they have chosen.

While the Furusato movement has gained much ground within the 6 years of its implementation, I am of the opinion that it is not all good and may actually be rather unsustainable. For instance, the article mentioned that the movement achieved a ‘record 65 billion’ in donations – which sounds like a massive amount. Yet upon closer inspection, one realizes that this amount is as such, only because of the two major natural disasters that happened then (earthquake and tsunami). This is a worrying sign as the losses borne as a result of the disasters might be larger than that of donations. Thus, there might be a net loss as opposed to a net gain. Besides, there is the question of transparency – how much of the funds are being actually used for revitalisation? Also, how sustainable are these sources of donation?

Besides, annual donations do not improve the situation of population decline. Evident from research I have done, it appears that the ‘in-migration’ is largely made up of nature tourists (kalland and asquith) who visit during their holidays, or retirees who seek oneness with nature in their old age. As such, these trends imply that these rural population centers are still susceptible to disappearing, as nature tourists are unlikely to focus on maintaining these rural centers.

Also, as Moon and Robertson suggest, by fuelling these movements and facilitating construction of rail and transport services, environmental degradation is a necessary evil that they have to face.

also – in comparison to the articles on dams, I found it highly ironic that the government could make deliberate decisions that opt to wipe out numerous villages for dam construction while selectively choosing to preserve certain villages. Here, I wonder – so what exactly is the criteria by which they decide by?

Bibliography

Kalland, A. and Asquith, P.J. (1997) Japanese Perceptions of Nature: ideals and illusions. Japanese Images of Nature,  UK: Curzon

O. Moon, “Marketing Nature in Rural Japan,” in Japanes Images of Nature, P. J. Asquith and A. Kalland, Richmond: Curzon, 1997

Robertson, Jennifer. 1988. ‘Furusato Japan: The Culture and Politics of Nostalgia’. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 1(4): 494-518.

 

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