[jfs] The Zero-to-One Village Revitalization Movement in Chizu Town, Tottori Prefecture

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Japan for Sustainability Newsletter #177
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May 31, 2017

Copyright (c) 2017, Japan for Sustainability

Japan for Sustainability (JFS) is a non-profit communication platform to
disseminate environmental information from Japan to the world, with the
aim of helping both move onto a sustainable path.

See what's new on our web site: http://www.japanfs.org/en/
E-mail: [email protected]

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In the May 2017 issue of the JFS Newsletter:

- Fewer People Think Continued GDP Growth Necessary or Possible --Survey
Results Released

- The Zero-to-One Village Revitalization Movement in Chizu Town, Tottori
Prefecture

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Fewer People Think Continued GDP Growth Necessary or Possible --
Survey Results Released

Changes in technology are enabling our modes of living to be perceived
visually better. At the same time, though, changes in people's sense of
values are transforming the times almost imperceptibly.

The Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society (ISHES), a
JFS partner organization, has been conducting surveys on these "almost
invisible changes," in order to provide a clear picture of them. During
the past several years, the institute has conducted surveys twice asking
whether GDP growth is necessary or even possible. The results of those
surveys indicate changes in people's sense of values about happiness and
well-being, the things that are most important to them, how people work,
economic growth, and the desirable state of the economy.

In this issue, we introduce the results of a survey on economic growth
conducted in March 2017 by the Edahiro Junko Laboratory, Faculty of
Environmental Studies, Tokyo City University, in cooperation with ISHES.

Reference: Previous survey conducted in 2014
The Dilemma of Economic Growth - Necessity vs. Feasibility Results of
Survey on Economic Growth
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035130.html

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The Edahiro Junko Laboratory at the Faculty of Environmental Studies,
Tokyo City University (Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture)
released results of a survey on economic growth on April 13, 2017.

The survey was conducted to discover what people think about the
necessity and possibility of growth in the GDP, an indicator of the size
of economy. Its significant results are described below.

The survey asked people whether or not they thought continued GDP growth
was necessary. In response to the question, 66 percent of respondents
(823 people) replied that it was "necessary" or "somewhat necessary."
Compared with a similar survey conducted in 2014, the percentage had
dropped significantly from 83.4 percent (see Fig. 1).

Figure 1.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/files/nl_170615_01_en.jpg

The survey also asked about the feasibility of continued GDP growth. In
response to the question "Do you think that it will be possible for the
GDP to keep growing?" 35.4 percent (442 people) responded with "possible"
or "somewhat possible." This percentage had also dropped from that in
2014, 42.8 percent (see Fig. 2).

Figure 2.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/files/nl_170615_02_en.jpg

Of respondents who agreed or somewhat agreed that continued GDP growth
was necessary, 43.1 percent (355 people) agreed or somewhat agreed
that it would be impossible for it to keep growing. In the 2014 survey,
the analogous figure was 31.6 percent, indicating that the number of
people tending to think it impossible is increasing among those who tend
to think that continued GDP growth is necessary.

The survey asked the respondents to explain their choices. "Declining
birthrate and aging population" and "declining population" were the most
common reasons cited by respondents for considering continued GDP growth
"necessary" but "impossible" or "somewhat impossible." Many of those
replying that continued GDP growth would be "possible" or "somewhat
possible" expressed expectations for Japanese technological capabilities
and diligence, also noting "There will be no growth if we don't believe
in that possibility" or, simply, "I believe."

On the other hand, many respondents who disagreed or somewhat disagreed
that continued GDP growth was necessary focused on the negative aspects
of continued GDP growth, such as economic growth not equating to
happiness, this being a time for quality rather than quantity, or
concerns that we might end up imposing an uncompromising lifestyle on
society if we pursued only economic growth.

Compared to the results of the previous survey conducted three years ago,
the number who considered continued GDP growth in Japan necessary turned
out to be substantially lower, as did the number who thought it feasible.
The survey can be said to show how people's thoughts and values are
changing with regard to the GDP as a means of measuring economic growth.

Now that we are hitting the Earth's limits, a new form of economy is
required that can provide happiness without requiring further GDP growth.
The Edahiro Laboratory will study this theme further, looking at
"steady-state economy" "sufficiency economy" and "highly resilient,
community-based economies."

* This survey was carried out by the Edahiro Junko Laboratory at the
Tokyo City University Faculty of Environmental Studies, (Tsuzuki-ku,
Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture) from March 16 to 18, 2017, with a
subsidy from the Asahi Group Foundation. It was conducted by the
Japanese online research company Macromill Inc., with the
participation of 1,248 citizens in their twenties through seventies,
who completed the survey as monitors registered with the company. The
percentages of the monitors' generations, genders, and places of
residence (metropolitan areas versus mid-to-small-size regional
cities or rural areas) were made proportionate to demographics
identified by Japan's national census.

* The previous survey in 2014 was conducted similarly online by
Macromill, completed by 500 monitors.
(http://ishes.org/en/news/2015/inws_id001513.html)

* In the 2014 survey, the choices were "necessary," "somewhat necessary,"
"somewhat unnecessary" and "unnecessary," whereas in the 2017 survey
the choices were "agree," "somewhat agree," "rather disagree" and
"disagree." In addition, the 2014 survey asked "Do you think that it will
be possible for the GDP to keep growing?" while the 2017 survey asked
"Do you think it will be possible for Japan's GDP to keep growing?"

Survey led by:
Edahiro Junko Laboratory
Faculty of Environmental Studies
Tokyo City University
URL: http://www.yc.tcu.ac.jp/~edahiro-web/(Japanese only)

In cooperation with:
Institute of Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society (ISHES)
http://ishes.org/en/

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The Zero-to-One Village Revitalization Movement in Chizu Town, Tottori
Prefecture
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035837.html

A Japanese town often mentioned as a municipality making innovative
efforts to promote regional revitalization is Chizu Town (or Chizu-cho) in
Tottori Prefecture, western Japan. This town is located in the
prefecture's southeast region, sharing a border with Okayama Prefecture,
and is about 30 minutes from Tottori City (the prefectural capital) by
limited express train. With a population of 7,300 and 93 percent of its
area covered by mountainous forests, the town has made it onto an
association's list as one of The Most Beautiful Villages in Japan.

In Japan, several other towns are also gaining attention for their efforts
to promote regional revitalization, such as Ama Town in Shimane Prefecture
and Kamiyama Town in Tokushima Prefecture. In many cases, there is often
a prominent leader. You might hear about Mr. A working in the Ama
Municipality Office, or Mr. B working in a non-governmental organization
in Kamiyama Town. But in Chizu-cho, there seem to be no such "star
players." Even so, a variety of wonderful initiatives have been created,
and many residents participate in revitalizing the region while the
local government gives them solid support. To find out more about the
town's efforts and the source of its "power," we visited Chizu-cho and
interviewed Daisuke Kunioka and Kengo Ashitani, who are working for the
Chizu Town Office.

Zero-to-One Village Revitalization Movement in Chizu, Japan

Chizu-cho's efforts are based on the "Zero-to-One Village Revitalization
Movement in Chizu, Japan," which was launched in 1997. The "Zero-to-One"
in the name indicates the aspiration of residents to create "one"
(something) out of "zero" (nothing).

As with many local towns in Japan, Chizu-cho has been a "village society"
for generations. In the traditional structure of a village society, an
"oyabun" or boss stood between the village headman and peasants. By
custom, everybody was expected to obey the oyabun, so each person has
little opportunity to offer a personal opinion or initiate change.

Against this backdrop, there was once an oyabun who thought, "This
custom is not good. I must do away with this close-minded and
conservative custom and encourage local people to have an awareness of
protecting their town on their own," and he tried to listen to the
opinions of residents. This led to a launch of a movement. Chizu-cho's
initiatives are based on this idea: "The important thing is to create a
mechanism to enable local residents to communicate their opinions.
Without the opportunity to do so, they cannot take personal
responsibility."

At first, this movement was launched separately by each rural community,
but it is now conducted by each district. Chizu-cho has six districts,
and five of them have set up a regional promotion committee. Under the
movement, local residents propose projects that will make use of local
characteristics, and the town subsidizes the cost of the projects. Each
district is implementing various initiatives, such as identifying and
utilizing valuable local resources, and interacting with people in urban
areas.

The town government provides each regional promotion committee with
financial aid in the amount of one million yen (about U.S. $8,930) in
the first and second year and 0.5 million yen (about U.S. $4,460) from
the third year on, with the aim of having the committees be financially
independent by the tenth year. In Zero-to-One Movement, each regional
promotion committee plays a central role and a member of the town
government is required to participate in the committee as vice president.
Because of this arrangement, each district and the municipal government
can carry out discussions, projects, etc., based on a more cooperative
and open relationship.

The town government tries to serve strictly as a coordinator, for
example, by introducing outside advisers for project planning and by
connecting project members to town government's sections that are
relevant and necessary for projects. Its stance on the movement is that
the town government coordinates between people concerned but the final
decision is always to be made by each district. As town officials have
face-to-face communication with district members on a daily basis, it's
easy for district members to talk to town officials and town officials
can talk to district members casually when something comes up.

There are specific cases where district members have actively used the
coordination offered by the town officials. For instance, two district
promotion committees successfully attracted a call center and bakery
from outside the town respectively by allowing them to utilize buildings
of a former school and vacant houses in their districts, generating
income and jobs for the communities. Another district started growing
specialty mushrooms (Auricularia auricula-judae), in a project with a
ten year time-frame for development.

The regional promotion committee system calls on all residents to
participate. Through committee activities, those who may have once been
indifferent to town administration start to develop a sense of working
together, often ending up leading others to join projects and events. At
the same time, various existing organizations, such as senior citizens'
clubs, women groups, and youth groups, now have stronger bonds than ever
as they better coordinate with each other and hold events together
thanks to the regional promotion committees serving as common platforms.

Committee presidents' meetings are held regularly three to four times a
year, in addition to activity presentation meetings, in which members of
all committees participate. Through these and other efforts, committees
exchange information, learn from each other and incorporate good
practices of other districts, helping each district improve their mutual
cooperation and respective activities.

"Hundred-People Committee"

As one can see, the Zero-to-One Movement, in which a regional district
is a unit for carrying out various activities, is based on local ties.
Besides this local basis, Chizu-cho has another platform based on
activity themes, where people who either live or work in the town can
freely participate in pitching ideas and creating projects, regardless
of where they live or work in the town. This platform is called
"Hundred-People Committee," which was established in 2008.

One hundred in the name simply means "many." The aims of this platform
are to gain many ideas about town development not only from the town
government but also from many residents and people working in the town
and to get citizens themselves to create projects for the course of
future town development.

The committee has now seven subcommittees by theme, including
commerce & tourism, living, health, forestry, specialty agricultural
products, education & culture, and wildlife pest control, and 96 members
are participating in their activities. The term of office of members is
one year; however, it is basically renewed every year. Members operate
subcommittees by themselves and town officials also participate in
subcommittees as clerks.

Each subcommittee draws up projects and presents them at the public
presentation in December (fiscal years and annual budgets typically go
from April to the following March the next year). This means that
resident groups conduct presentations on their projects to make a
budgetary request in front of the mayor, vice-mayor, town management
members, managers of departments relevant to their projects, and other
town officials.

In the past, almost half of the presentations were to make requests or
petitions. The mayor clarified that budgetary requests would not pass
when members made petition-type presentations, and so only around half
of the projects were realized. However, since now they make proposal-type
presentations, approximately 90 percent of the projects, other than
practically unfeasible ones, get funding.

Interestingly, sometimes the town government increases the budget
allocation for a project as a result of the presentation. While
discussing each project through questions and answers at the public
presentation, the town sometimes offers more money than what was
requested if officials like the idea and think the scope should be
expanded, or think some cost has been overlooked in the budget.

Since 2009, the town government has appropriated its budget for projects
of the Hundred-People Committee. A total of four million yen (about
U.S.$35,700) was appropriated for eight projects in fiscal 2016.
Depending on the projects (e.g., projects for improving the proportion
of people getting health checkups, or expanding the use of wood stoves),
some funds are appropriated from the original town budget. The funds are
usually appropriated for small-scale projects for which the local
governments' funds cannot easily be used or projects that even company
employees and other individuals can easily work on.

One example of the projects that were created by the Hundred-People
Committee is a project for indigo dyeing. In this project, a group of
young people started growing Japanese indigo plants and dyeing cloth
indigo blue to carry on the traditional craft from an artisans'
collective whose members were aging.

Various other projects include a project for collecting plastic bottle
caps (so-called eco-caps) to be recycled to buy vaccine, a project for
growing rhubarb to make jam, a project for children to grow rice in
fallow fields and send to an orphanage in Kenya, and a project for
processing deerskin and developing wild game meat dishes.

Nine years have passed since the start of this effort and eight years
have passed since the start of the budget appropriation. Some projects
have come to fruition; the indigo project became an independent project
and rhubarb jam started to be sold at stores.

Forest Kindergarten Project

This is a project that was launched by the Hundred-People Committee and
has grown successfully. The forest kindergarten is a type of preschool
education focusing on outdoor experiences in a natural environment,
which spread from Denmark in the 1950s. The project plan was proposed to
the Hundred-People Committee, in response to one woman's desire to raise
children in the forested environment of Chizu-cho. The plan was accepted
and a forest kindergarten called "Marutanbou" (a log in Japanese) was
established. After a few years of operation, Marutanbou is now being
undertaken as an independent project.

Marutanbou has been very popular since its opening in 2009. About half
of its kids are newcomers from other areas. Hoping to enroll their kids
in the forest kindergarten, some people decide to move to Chizu-cho even
before their baby is born. Some others move there to learn childcare and
kindergarten operations as trainee staff, aiming to open a forest
kindergarten in their home town in the future. Tottori Prefecture now
has three forest kindergartens, and almost all the staff members
received on-the-job training at Marutanbou in Chizu-cho before opening a
new kindergarten or working there.

Ki-no-Yado Project using Local Currency

Another project launched by the Hundred-People Committee in 2010 is the
"Ki-no-Yado" project that collects forest-thinning materials and uses a
local currency. The project was conducted under the Hundred-People
Committee for a few years before becoming an independent project.

Forestry is a major industry in Chizu-cho, and trees need to be thinned
out at the appropriate time, but many forests in Japan are in poor
condition without being thinned because of the high costs of operations.

To promote forest thinning and maintenance, Chizu-cho buys forest
thinning residues from people engaged in forestry, using a local
currency at a rate of 6,000 yen (about U.S.$54) per ton. The thinning
residues collected, an annual amount of 300 to 400 tons, are used as
supplemental fuel for a heated swimming pool in town. The local currency
can be used at about 40 affiliated shops in Chizu-cho. Shop owners who
have received the local currency can use it other shops, or can convert
it to Japanese yen at the project office. The local currency is funded
by subsidies from the town and the fuel budget for the pool.

It is worth mentioning that the designs of Chizu-cho's local currency
are created by elementary school children. A currency design contest is
held annually at elementary schools and winners' illustrations are used
for the currency notes. This means that the local currency has completely
different designs every year. Adopting children's illustrations may help
attract the attention of people who are not directly involved in forests
and forest thinning. The currency notes say on the reverse side that
they can be used at various shops, aiming to promote the economic
circulation in the town.

Strengthening the Power for Community Development of the Next Generation

In Chizu-cho, community study projects "Making Proposals to Community"
started at elementary and junior high schools in 2014. Budget funds have
been allocated since 2015, and elementary and junior high school
students are already working on projects.

Chizu Agriculture Forestry High School is engaged in indigo dyeing. As
the town developed in centuries past as a post town, its students design
a store curtain for each inn station and dye it with indigo. The school
also launched a project to put grates outside of sash doors by being
taught by joiners in the town. This work is very useful to keep the
scenery of the post town beautiful. The students also sell agricultural
products. They used to sell them at events only several times a year,
but now they go out of their school to sell them once a month using
vacant shops.

As part of the community studies program in junior high school, students
learn about their community in the seventh grade, make proposals in the
eighth grade, and act to achieve something in the ninth grade. As the
first-year challenge, students made a "Reference Book of Experts in Town."
After being taught by a professional photographer, students took their
own photos and wrote all the text. The book can be found at shops and
libraries in the town.

In the second year, students initiated a project called "Making the Town
Tourist Map for Out-of-Town Peers." Students were divided into groups of
ten, and each group conducted interviews and wrote write-ups. It is
available at the tourist association office and other spots around town.

These kinds of citizen-centered initiatives are having an enormous
impact against population decline, a headache of many municipalities in
Japan. It had been expected that the population of the town (now 7,300)
would be 3,700 in 2040, almost half of what it is today. However, thanks
to the increase in people moving in or intending to do so to send their
children to the forest kindergarten, the steep population decline has
been stopped and the population prediction has improved to 5,000.

There are 120 inquiries about inbound migration a year, and more than
250 people have moved in just by the "empty house bank" since 2010.
Inquiries have been increasing especially since 2012 when the town began
offering grants to renovate homes for people moving in. Now it is more
difficult to find homes for the newcomers than to attract them to come.

"Evacuation Insurance" Program Launched to Thank to Seniors

Chizu-cho started in 2010 to sell what could be called "evacuation
insurance" to families anywhere in Japan. If disaster strikes,
policyholders are given the right to stay in the town with free lodging
and meals for seven days. If no disaster strikes in a given year, the
policyholders will receive a town specialty, such as rice, vegetables or
craftwork, once a year. The policyholders also have the privilege of
enjoying the town's experience-based programs, such as staying at a
private home or participating in "forest therapy," at half-price. The
annual insurance policy costs 10,000 yen (about US$ 89) for one person,
15,000 yen (about US$ 134) for two family members, and 20,000 yen (about
US$179) for 3 to 4 family members. The number of policyholders is now
about 250.

At first one might think this is a unique project to improve the
resilience of urban residents, so it may be surprising to learn that its
real purpose is to repay an obligation to elderly people in the area.

Chizu-cho is mountainous area of which only two percent is farmland.
Most farmers cultivate vegetables and crops for home consumption, using
no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. In most cases, they grow a little
more than their family will eat.

The town buys up surplus farm products grown by the elderly farmers and
uses them as gifts for the policyholders. The insurance was launched as
an idea of the mayor who wanted to show gratitude to the elderly people
who had spent their lives building the town.

A group named Chizu Yasai Shinsen-gumi (a "group for fresh vegetables of
Chizu" in Japanese) was formed as the town's purchasing mechanism for
surplus farm products. About 80 farmers participate in the group. The
town office takes charge of the group office and employs part timers for
collection. The surplus farm products are now used not only as gifts for
the policyholders. Farmers also go to Kobe to sell them directly, or
restaurant staff from neighboring areas come to the farmers to purchase
them.

Conclusion

Japan has rushed into an era of declining population numbers. While the
Tokyo metropolitan population is still increasing, the rest of Japan is
seeing drastic declines and an aging of the population, which results in
big problems with how to retain and recreate communities.

Chizu-cho used to be a so-called village society where individuals could
not freely express their own opinions. The town was divided in two due
to the large-scale merger of municipalities from 1999 through 2010.
Believing in the importance having ways for individuals to express their
opinions, the mayor has been building mechanisms to attract the good
ideas and energy of residents. This story has really been moving.

The local Zero-to-One movement has been creating money-making zones. The
Hundred-People Committee has been playing a role as an incubation center
to plan and carry out specific projects. We think a strength of
Chizu-cho is they are making an effort from two perspectives: local
focus and project themes. Other success factors in sustainable town
building include involving elementary, middle and high school students
in town building; and town officials exclusively playing the role of
coordinators. We can expect many new projects of, by and for communities
to appear in Chizu-cho.

In Chizu-cho projects, there are no national stars involved, but all
residents here are the real stars, from elementary school students to
the elderly folk working in the fields. The town could be a good model
for towns and villages not only in Japan but also around the world. We
look forward to watching its future development.

Written by Yuka Kume and Junko Edahiro
*This article was based on interview funded by the Asahi Group Foundation.

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Does this article trigger any ideas that might apply in your own
community? Please share your ideas and leave comments!

http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035837.html#comment

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[JFS Web Site Additions of the Month]

- "Goal 14: Life Below Water" SDG video competition
Himi City and JFS selected among the top 10! (2017/05/09)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/information/jfsnews/jfsnews_id035827.html

- This month's cartoon:
Modern alchemy (2017/05/08)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/manga/manga_id035825.html

- JFS Newsletter No.176 (April 2017)

Current Status of Renewable Energy in Japan(2017/05/15)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035824.html
Supporting 'Good Companies' that Create Future Society(2017/04/28)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035814.html

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