ちょっと新しい"視点"で地方を救う | Akihisa NAGANO | TEDxWASEDA Jitsugyo Youth

Key Concepts

• Regional Revitalization: The core theme of the presentation, focusing on strategies to revive declining rural areas in Japan.
• Demographic Decline: The significant population decrease in Japan, particularly in rural regions, leading to potential municipal extinction.
• Agricultural Diversification: Shifting from a single dominant agricultural product to a more varied and high-value portfolio.
• Brand Building: Creating premium brands for agricultural products to command higher prices and improve profitability.
• Tourism Innovation: Developing unique tourism experiences that leverage natural landscapes and offer a sense of escape.
• Sustainable Tourism: Incorporating eco-friendly practices and renewable energy in tourism infrastructure.
• Unconventional Perspectives: The importance of looking at problems from new and unexpected angles to find innovative solutions.

Summary

The presentation addresses the critical issue of regional decline in Japan, driven by a severe demographic shift. The speaker, Nagano Aki, proposes innovative strategies to revitalize rural areas by moving beyond conventional thinking and embracing new perspectives.

The Challenge: Demographic Decline and Regional Extinction

The video begins by highlighting the stark reality of Japan's demographic crisis. A map is presented showing municipalities at risk of extinction by 2040, indicating that over half of Japan's local governments face this threat. This is further illustrated by a population projection graph, which forecasts a significant drop in population by 2040, with the rate of decline accelerating. This demographic decline is identified as the primary driver of regional衰退 (suita - decline/decay).

Proposed Solution: Revitalizing Regions Amidst Population Decline

The core proposal is to revive rural areas even as the population decreases. This idea is an expansion of a concept that won an award at the Wakayama Prefecture Data Utilization Competition. The focus region for this proposal is the northernmost part of Hokkaido, "Dohoku" (道北).

Revitalizing Agriculture in Dohoku

1. Current Situation and Risks: Dohoku's primary industry is agriculture, which is heavily concentrated in livestock farming (落農 - rakunō). This over-reliance creates significant risks, such as vulnerability to infectious diseases (駅などの液病 - eki nado no ekibyō) and the impacts of extreme climate change (激しい気候変動 - hageshii kikō hendō).

2. Strategy: Diversification and Value Addition: The proposed solution is to create new industries that leverage Dohoku's unique characteristics, thereby diversifying risk and increasing revenue. The presentation focuses on two key industries: agriculture and tourism.

3. Agricultural Innovation: High-Value Products:

• The Challenge of High Transport Costs: Being in the far north of Japan, Dohoku faces high transportation costs. This necessitates selling a limited quantity of high-quality products at high prices.
• Brand Building for Premium Products:
  • Sato Nishiki Cherries: While famous in Yamagata, Sato Nishiki cherries can be grown in Dohoku. Their harvest season is later (late June to early July) due to lower temperatures, allowing them to be sold at high prices in autumn when they are not typically available.
  • Safflower (サフラン - Safuran): This is proposed as a new high-value agricultural product. Safflower is a luxury ingredient, with its stigmas costing over 1,000 yen per 100g. It can be grown in Dohoku's cold climate and harvested within two days, making it highly efficient and profitable.
• Leveraging Land and Environment: Dohoku's vast, inexpensive land is ideal for cultivating safflower. The proposal aims to capitalize on the trend of valuing meat raised in superior environments by positioning Dohoku-grown safflower as a premium product.
• Profitability Projections:
  • Safflower Farming: For a large-scale safflower farm (1 hectare) in Hokkaido, an annual profit of 26.8 million yen is projected, with an astonishing profit margin of 89%.
  • Sheep Farming: For a medium-sized sheep farm with 120 sheep in Dohoku, an annual profit of 8 million yen is projected, with a high profit margin of 70%. The speaker suggests that scaling this to 10 or 20 farms could establish sheep farming as a key industry in Dohoku.

4. The Power of Unconventional Thinking: The speaker emphasizes that these ideas are not born from conventional thinking. By approaching problems from seemingly unrelated perspectives, new connections and values can be discovered.

Revitalizing Tourism in Dohoku

1. Redefining Tourism Attractions: Instead of traditional attractions like temples or castles, the proposal focuses on "nothingness" (何もない自然 - nani mo nai shizen). In an information-saturated world, people are increasingly seeking to disconnect and immerse themselves in nature.

2. Dohoku's Natural Assets: Dohoku boasts vast natural landscapes, including the Daisetsuzan National Park (日本最大の高層湿原であるサ別原野 - Nihon saidai no kōsō shitsugen de aru Sabetsu Gen'ya) and alpine flower fields (リブ島の花畑 - Ribu-tō no hanabatake) found only on high mountains.

3. Innovative Tourism Infrastructure: Eco-Friendly Cottages:

• Immersive Experience: The proposal is to build fully glass-walled cottages in the heart of national parks. This allows visitors to experience the untouched wilderness in solitude.
• Environmental Sustainability: These cottages will be designed with minimal environmental impact:
  • Water recycling systems.
  • Renewable energy sources (wind and solar power).
  • Bio-toilets that do not discharge waste externally.
• Mobility and Customization: These eco-friendly features enable the cottages to be moved to any desired location, allowing visitors to enjoy nature wherever they choose.
• Cultural Integration: Combining this natural experience with local culture and cuisine (北海道の食 - Hokkaidō no shoku) would create a truly immersive and unparalleled experience.

Conclusion: Embracing New Perspectives for Regional Revival

The presentation concludes by reiterating the importance of looking at things from different, unconventional angles. Ideas that might initially seem strange, such as focusing on "nothingness" in tourism or diversifying agriculture with niche products, can be the key to unlocking new opportunities. The speaker argues that breaking free from conventional wisdom and embracing slightly different perspectives is crucial for regional revitalization and the creation of new value.

The core message is that by challenging assumptions and looking beyond the obvious, regions can be revived, and new value can be generated.