日本の地方における空き家危機：小さな町が地元住民と新規参入者を結集し、過疎化と闘う

日本の地方における空き家危機：小さな町が地元住民と新規参入者を結集し、過疎化と闘う

[Music] [Music] Hello, this is uh Stephen. Welcome to the channel Go House Japan. Uh I’m back in um Kamichi town of Toyama Prefecture. Uh if you have been following my channel, this is a place I visited about three years ago and uh now I’m back. It’s very windy, but uh 3 years ago it was during the re raining season as well. It was pouring rain. Uh today is the exact opposite. Um 34 35° very very hot. So, uh, 3 years really went by quickly. Um, 2022, it’s when, um, the news is still crazy about COVID every day. Uh, people are still wearing mask, keeping distance. Um, that’s also when Japan has not opened the border, I think, to uh, travelers from overseas. So, it’s a time that you could actually keep all the popular uh tourist destinations to yourself. Um, in Kyoto, for example, uh Kya, a lot of places are empty uh during the weekdays especially. So, really crazy. It’s been 3 years already. Um my daughter’s uh the older one’s already nine and uh my uh smaller one, she’s already uh four and a half. So uh time really goes by quickly. Um so yes, if you’re a few if you’re a viewer from uh 3 years or more than three years ago, um I really appre appreciate um that you’re still sticking around to watching my videos. Uh I really appreciate the comments that uh anyone who’s who leaves on on the videos. Um it really keeps me motivated to um make more videos like this. If you remember that I visited two Akias uh in Kamichi 3 years ago uh when I was here. Um in fact both of them have found new owners. The one by the river is uh bought by someone from Australia. Um the other one um that’s a bit smaller closer to downtown is al also has a new owner but uh both of them not much repair or renovation work has to be done I think but um hopefully in the next coming years I will be able to uh revisit them and see how they have been changed by uh their new owners. Um, so it brings back to our main topic today. What am I doing here again 3 years after my first trip to Kamichi? Well, if remembered if you remembered from my video three years ago, I initially was interested in buying one of the AKA that I visited, but I came to the conclusion that uh the town is just a bit too dead um to start uh a business here or to use Nakia for any kind of commercial purpose. Well, three years have passed. It seems like there’s some positive change in this town. With the help of Kakimisan, the tallest but uh kindest realtor that you’ll probably meet in Japan, I’m able to talk to the city staff who is in charge of town revitalization regarding the town’s uh initiative. I’m bringing more people into town. [Music] interview. She Shut down. Fore speech. [Music] So you so you to Show. There’s Okay. Do this now. United States. Okay. [Music] [Music] [Music] So, I’m inside the office of the Chiu Okoshi of Kami Town and Kakimisan uh the realtor is kind enough to introduce uh the members of the Luke and uh Karen. So, he helped with the arrangement of the housing. Yes, exactly. He has been supporting me and my family for um finding and buying the house we are living in now. So we really grateful to him for his help. Is it the same for uh Karen as well? I’m not in a house. I’m in an apartment. But actually Kakimisan helped me find that apartment also. So it’s all in this town. Okay. Thank you. I I was living in another country for uh for about a decade. I I I studied in Japan and then I had an offer uh I was working in South Korea um as a arts instructor and then um I got the chance to come back to to Japan. Uh coinciding with uh my son becoming a primary primary school student. Sorry, voice is cracking. coinciding that my son was going to become a primary school student. We decided to to come back to to Japan and uh yeah um my wife and I were considering where to to go and you know where to live and and both we we had experiences u had experience living in in a in a big city. I was living in Tokyo. My wife is from Yokohama. So uh we decided that we we wanted to be uh a little bit more closer to nature this time. So uh we were looking for uh you know places outside the city and we we we found Kamichi and we are you know happily living here since uh April. I I’ve lived here in Tokyo for 10 years. my student you know uh periods I was studying in Tokyo and um you know Tokyo is a really nice exciting place to to live but now you know I’m in in another place uh there I I want you know also to to give my son the chance to to grow up grow up in a in a you know in a different environment where it’s green and mountains and sea so yeah we are we’re now here um so Karen And how about yourself before coming? Before coming here, uh I was living in Kyoto. I was working for a study abroad nonprofit putting together exchange uh programs for exchange students. I was in Kyoto for six years. Um but before that I have come and gone to I’ve gone between America and Japan quite a number of times starting with being an exchange student myself in Kawoshima in the major major countryside of Kawoshima. So my Japanese hometown so to speak is kind of the countryside. So I was happy to come back to Kamichi Machi and uh come back to my roots I suppose you might say. So I guess compared to Luke, you have more experience in the countryside in Japan. I I guess so. Yeah. Yeah. Because well 10 years you’re basically in basically living here and there not north south of of the city but always in in Tokyo. And your your wife also he she’s not used to like in the countryside. Yeah. She she is from from Yokohama. So this is office by the way. Um there’s three people in total, right? Three members. Uh we we are six members but regularly we we are free working here. So how often do you come here by the way? Every day here I’m every day or four days a week and I leave my son in school and then I come here and work. But it’s your choice, right? Yeah. It’s your choice. Yeah. And and they give you this this space for you to use if you want. Right. With an air conditioner. It’s a very comfortable climate inside by the way. It is. That’s right. It’s raining outside. But um what about weekends? Do you are you engaged to do anything or it’s free? We had some activities uh like the what is that where uh we we rented a or we we set with the railway to to uh run the double-decker uh train special train from Toyama to here and we you know we we made an event of that. We prepare some snacks. We call some entertain entertainment for for the people u you know to to to you know enjoy the the rights. This one actually to be specific what is the platform that has this information for recruiting? Was it the city town page or what if you if you remember? It’s actually it’s I don’t know who runs the page, but it’s a page that lists um all kinds of opportunities and you can search. You can go on there and say, you know, do you want a job that is five days a week or four days a week that requires a car, doesn’t require a car, I don’t know if it’s run by the Japanese government or the information is in Japanese, English? It’s in Japanese. So, I only sell it in Japanese. Do you I don’t think they have a English page. I’m not going to lie. Uh my wife found the information and uh so but she was looking for you know this this Uturn programs that they are very common now nowadays for for you know appealing to people living in the city to come back to the rural areas. and she found it and and told me and then I I I think it was the next day I I came from South Korea to here to to apply and ask information about it. Did you have to be here in person to do that? Uh it it was part of the process uh for for you know finding somebody for for the the job to to come here and have an interview. I did online thing first and then was invited to come here in person and I’m sure it was probably the same for you M uh that there was an interview and then there was also experiencing activities here so that we would know what it was like to be in um yeah the visa was another you know kind of uh lengthy process because once you are accepted when once I wascepted here. I had to work on on the visa that was sponsored from from the uh city town. Yes. Okay. So, they they help with that. Yeah. Yeah. They help. Yeah. So, but for Karen, you you’re already in Japan, so it’s That’s right. I already had a working visa, so I’m just continuing on that visa and then uh after a certain period of time, I need to switch renewal. Yeah. Okay. I know you just joined the program not long ago but uh would you mind sharing what you plan to do within the three years and after the three years if you already have any plans? So the yeah the contract is renewed every year. Uh but uh you work on projects for this um period of three years. So would be divided in you know the the first year being uh for you to understand how this uh community works um you know to to to meet people to get used to the work here and then from the second year you have to find your profession what are you going to do after the third year. So uh they they support you uh from the town hall. We have uh some some grants to to you know expand um by materials we need and so on. And um after that after the third year you are on your own. You you continue being supported. Um hopefully at the time you you know made friends and connections and know the place you want to for example buy or rent as your shop or your office and then you you go and and and develop your your own business. So after the three years it’s up to you to decide to yes to stay to to go but you know they really encourage you to you know meet people meet the community and find your place and find something you want to do here. Is there any shop that you want to do at the moment or? Yeah, I’m I come from design. I I teach design and and and arts. So, probably I will I will choose to become art teacher for the community here. Yeah, that’s why I’m looking for a studio. three years. Maybe he’ll find something good for you. Okay. Hi. Sorry. Uh so care, what about yourself? Like what’s your plan? Uh well, my plan right now is to keep an open mind and I’m kind of a big dreamer and so lots of ideas are floating around in my head. I don’t know what eventually I’ll settle on, but as far as what I’m doing right now, um it’s mostly supporting non-Japanese people who come here. So, running tours, if if somebody I haven’t started yet, but the plan is if there’s a non-Japanese people that come here to go to Nissi Temple, for example, then I can go with them, give them a tour, help them things that they might not actually have a chance to experience unless they will with somebody that’s familiar with the area. Um, I actually kind of started working this job before I started working. That is I arrived in Kami Chimachi and I wasn’t officially under contract yet, but literally the day after I arrived, I saw some non-Japanese people at the station. So, I like hopped on them and I said, “Listen, what are you doing here? You know, what do you like about Kami? what do you think that what would you wish to be able to do here? And then I also uh ran into somebody on the train and so I did the same thing. So again trying to support people who come here to help them have a better experience and that’s tourist or not or in general. Right. Yeah. um not limited to right but ultimately I think it would be wonderful to have a company where I create tours for people. I have friends in Tokyo that are tour guides and so I hope to collaborate with them and again I would hope that people would avoid just the Tokyo Osaka Kilto route if my friend in Tokyo can add on a package like experience what I love to do is homeay experience homeay in kami machi you know work with this person create that program I really wish I was able to spend more time in kami Ichi to learn more about Luke and Karen’s roles and live here. Maybe next time. The next Kamino Iichi event and AKA tours will happen again on December 6th and 7th with over 14 venues and events to join. So do drop by if you’re in area. That’s it for today’s video and thanks again to everyone watching the video. Until next time. Bye-bye.

Rural Japan has been facing major challenges in recent years: depopulation and the increase in vacant homes. I revisited the small town of Kamiichi (Toyama prefecture) to see how locals, town staff, and newcomers from overseas are working to take on these challenges.

I was able to interview the town staff who is in charge of the Akiya bank & Akiya tours, and I also spoke with two foreign residents serving in the Chiiki-okoshi Kyoryokutai (Community-reactivating cooperator squad) from April of 2025. Their experiences show how small, consistent efforts can strengthen rural towns. Special credit to Kakimori-san (local realtor) at REUSE Fudousan, who connected me to the locals in Kamiichi.

0:00 Introduction
4:10 Interview with Kakimorisan & Kanamori-san regarding the Akiya situation in Kamiichi town
6:57 About 0 yen Akiya bank and how it works
10:05 Interview with Luce and Karen, the new squad members of Chiiki-okoshi Kyoryokutai
15:30 The application process
17:50 Future plans working as a squad member of Chiiki-okoshi Kyoryokutai

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