Mountain Villages in the 21st Century in Japan

Abstract

In Japan, mountain villages experienced serious losses of population in the period of rapid economic growth. Therefore, the central government took policies in line with depressions in mountain villages, investing a large amount of financial funds to improve backward conditions. Local economies were dramatically reconstructed by newly located manufacturing and construction industries. However, the economic system for sustaining mountain communities faced increasing difficulties after the 1990's. On the other hand, the Great Merger of the Heisei Era is under way, involving small municipalities in mountainous areas.In the 1990's, population losses continued in most mountain municipalities, although some municipalities around the three major metropolitan areas show a slight increase or tendency to stagnate. The rapid aging of the population is crucial, especially in the western part of Japan. As for the economic recession, the manufacturing labor market is shrinking sharply due to the rapid shift of factories to developing countries represented by China. The construction industry maintains employment because of public investment to achieve a national economic recovery in the early 1990's. The mountain village economy has been transformed by economic globalization and structural reforms by the Japanese government. The author proposes an alternative economic sector named the integrated cultural service industry composed of agriculture, forestry, tourism, and local culture. The consolidation of municipalities in mountainous areas is examined on the basis of the history of mergers and the present consolidation plan. Most mountain municipalities will be obliged to merge, because the population size of mountain municipalities is below 10000, which is the critical level for survival without merging. Such consolidation involves the risk of hiding the problems of mountain village communities from society. The author points out the future prospects of mountainous areas for overcoming the peripheral economic conditions and conserving natural eco-systems. Such a future direction emphasizes the significance of a global point of view, which leads to a reevaluation of mountainous areas in the 21st century.