Assessing Japan’s Urban to Rural Migration Program in the Tsunami-Hit Area of Kesennuma

Abstract

This chapter investigates the conditions for migrants to settle down in a depopulated area, through interviews and questionnaire surveys. In Japan, one of the major socio-economic tasks is to revive the rural areas where depopulation is proceeding rapidly, in addition to aging of the community. Japan’s government has therefore been promoting regional development initiatives to create jobs and fulfill hopes of the younger generation to live in rural areas. Kesennuma was one of the most heavily damaged areas by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 11 March 2011. Despite such heavy destruction, a number of young migrants have come to live and work in the area. Following an interview survey and a web questionnaire, a large-scale questionnaire survey was implemented with Kesennuma City Office in March 2019 to assess the reasons of migration. Through statistical examination, it became clear that migrants put importance on the natural surroundings and interaction in the region. Personal mobility, dwelling, work, realization of dreams, and relation with friends and the community were the important factors for satisfaction. From these results, we assess whether the government programs have been supporting the young migrants in rural areas.

1. Introduction

The rapid decline of population due to low birthrates and depopulation in rural areas has been one of the major socio-economic issues since several decades in Japan. On the other hand, the concentration of people in the Tokyo metropolitan area has not stopped, and the government has been promoting regional development initiatives represented by the “Comprehensive Strategy for the Creation of Towns, People, and Work [1].” The main items in this policy package are aimed at four basic goals: (1) to create jobs in rural areas so that people can work with peace of mind; (2) to create a new flow of people to rural areas; (3) to fulfill the hopes of the younger generation for marriage, childbirth, and child rearing; and (4) to create regions that match the times, protect secure lifestyles, and link regions to regions.

This government policy was introduced in November 2014 with the enactment of the Act for Creation of Towns, People and Work. The Cabinet established the headquarters for this project, to initiate various measures in terms of human resource, fiscal aid, and information, and drew long-term development plans for the 5 years to fiscal year [FY] 2019. The second term of this comprehensive strategy started from FY2020 for another 5 years.

In the public, there has been a growing interest in migrating to rural areas, in becoming a ‘related population’, or in having continuous ties with a particular local community and in living in two regions [2].

Besides government initiatives, there have been movements from the private sector to promote migration to rural areas. A non-profit organization, Furusato Support Center was established in 2007, with the slogan of “let us live in rural areas rich in nature; movement of 1 million people to return to their hometowns,” to support those who wish to live in rural areas or in hometowns. About 12 years later, Furusato Kaiki (return to hometown) Fair 2018 held in Tokyo attracted more than 20,000 visitors. Many of them in their 30s and 40s, considering living in rural areas, came for information and advice at regional booths. The number of consultations at the Center increased more than 14-fold in 11 years, from 2901 in FY 2008 to 41,752 in FY2018 [3], indicating that people’s desire to migrate from metropolitan areas to regional areas was increasing.

To investigate the mobility to rural areas, we conducted interviews with 10 young migrants in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, in March 2018. Kesennuma is one of the Tohoku (northeast) coastal areas where the number of young people moving to the region has been increasing significantly after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 11 March 2011. Through the interviews, we found that some migrants had moved to Kesennuma because they wanted to work for the community by getting to know the local people, as volunteers helping the region after the Tsunami destruction. It became clear that these young people were enjoying their independent lives while feeling a sense of fulfillment in their work [4].

Based on the interview survey positioned as the first phase of this research study, the second phase, a web-based questionnaire “Survey on U-turns and I-turns in Kesennuma,” was conducted in November 2018. Responses were received from 108 migrants through the Kesennuma Migration and Settling Support Center, MINATO. The results showed that interactions with the locals and peers were related to the satisfaction of migrants, with an overall satisfaction rate of 80% after moving in.

In March 2019, as the third phase of the research study, we conducted a larger-scale survey of people who had moved into Kesennuma, in collaboration with the City of Kesennuma. Questionnaire forms were sent to 2500 residents who moved to Kesennuma City after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, asking about their jobs and lifestyles, with the aim of investigating the conditions required for migrants to settle down. As some transferees were posted for business reasons, from companies or from other municipalities and government offices, we named them “transferees.” And “non-transferees” were those who had moved in of their own volition. While the transferees are more likely to move out on business appointments, the non-transferees are those who chose to move in of their own choice and are considered to have some potential to settle down.

In Section 2 of this chapter, we review the data on mobility to rural areas in Japan. In Section 3, we discuss the social and economic factors that influence the lifestyles of today’s youth, referring to existing studies. In Section 4, after introducing the policy initiatives, methods used to investigate the goals and objectives of the research study are explained. In Section 5, we investigate the conditions required for people to move and to settle, referring to the results of the Kesennuma City Resettlement Questionnaire Survey. Section 6 clarifies the implications of the research results and reviews policy initiatives. And finally, in Section 7, as a conclusion, we assess whether the government program to promote mobility to rural areas has supported migration and discuss future policy initiatives.

This chapter assesses Japan’s urban to rural migration policy and explores the background of personal mobility as a lifestyle choice, particularly for the younger generation, in terms of their life design. Furthermore, it also examines the conditions for migrants to choose a place to settle down, which leads to regional rebuilding in depopulated areas. Particularly after hazards such as earthquakes and tsunami, which occur and destroy areas from time to time, migration of people is key to reviving the community, not only in Japan but also in many other parts of the world.

2. Mobility to rural areas in Japan

In Japan, during the period of high economic growth from the 1960s, the number of people moving from rural areas [5] to the three metropolitan areas [6] for higher education and employment increased massively. The peak year was 1962, when 390,000 persons moved into the Tokyo metropolitan area. Since the mid-1970s, those moving into the metropolitan areas of Nagoya and Osaka have remained almost flat. But those moving into the Tokyo metropolitan area continued to rise after the economic shock of 2008 and the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.

In the White Paper on Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of 2015,the number of excess transfers, which is the difference between those moving in and those moving out, was minus 1000 and minus 12,000 persons for Nagoya and Osaka metropolitan areas, respectively, in 2014. Meanwhile, the Tokyo metropolitan area had plus 109,000 persons, and the total of regional areas faced minus 97,000 persons, in the same year [7].

Meanwhile, many moved from urban areas back to regional areas or their hometowns, when they started their employment after higher education. But since 2000, an increasing number has remained in urban areas at employment, and some returned to their hometowns only after retiring. The number of out-migrants from rural areas bottomed out in 1961 at 650,000. After the oil shock in the 1970s and the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy in the early 1990s, there were periods of excess outflow from metropolitan areas. However, since 2000, the number of out-migrants from rural areas has continued to increase [8].

Income and employment have been the main factors behind the movement of population from rural areas to urban areas. In the three major metropolitan areas, the relationship between the ratio of in-migration and out-migration and income inequality and employment inequality shows strong correlations. Income disparities, as measured by prefectural residents’ income, and the inflow into metropolitan areas indicate a high correlation, particularly before 1990. Conversely, since the 1990s, there has been a strong correlation between employment disparities, as measured by the ratio of active job openings to active job applicants, and inflow into metropolitan areas [8]. These correlations indicate the presence of a strong economic factor in the mobility from rural to urban areas.

On the other hand, in the survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications [MIC], the recent increase in migration from urban areas to rural areas including depopulated areas [9], based on the ‘permanent place of residence 5 years ago’ and ‘current place of residence’ at the time of the census, was 395,167 in 2000, 280,874 in 2010, and 249,545 in 2015 [10, 11]. However, the percentage of those moving to depopulated areas as a percentage of those moving out of urban areas has remained at around 4% [10, 11].

In the same survey, young people in their 20s and 30s account for a large share of migrants from urban areas to depopulated areas, at approximately 45%. Looking at the age structure by regional blocks, those in their 20s and 30s account for a higher percentage in Hokkaido, Tohoku, and Okinawa blocks compared to the nation-wide figure [10, 11]. These migrants in depopulated areas work mostly in the service sector, such as in town offices or local businesses, as well as starting their own vocation in farming, forestry, and fishery.

The Furusato Support Center, providing consultation services on migration, attributes the rapid expansion of its consultations (Figure 1) to three factors over the past 17 years [12]. One, the economic stagnation and employment uncertainty caused by the economic downturn in 2008; two, the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011; and three, the launch of the government’s Town, People, and Work Creation Headquarters and the grant of a special subsidy for promoting regional development.

Figure 1.

Number of consultations on migration by year. Source: Furusato Support Center, Annual report 2018.

Currently, there is no fixed definition for migration, but the following four patterns are indicated as the main types of migration. One, U-turns, in which people move from the area where they were born and raised to urban areas for higher education or employment and then return to their original areas; two, I-turns, in which people jump into areas they had no connection with; three, J-turns, in which people leave the area where they lived, for higher education or employment, and then move to another location; and four, grandchild’s-turn, in which the grandchild’s generation returns to the area where their parents came from.

The breakdown of visitors at the Furusato Support Center shows that while 35.1% were in their 60s in 2008, 28.9% were in their 30s in 2018, indicating that the largest age group for migration consultations has become younger. The percentage of those to 30s increased significantly from 16.0% in 2008 to 50.5% in 2018 (Figure 2). Furthermore, those in their 20s showed the most significant increase, from 4.0 to 21.6%, over five-fold in the same period.

Figure 2.

Age groups of migration consultations in Tokyo center. Source: Furusato Support Center, News release 20 Feb 2019.

According to Furusato Support Center Tokyo Visitor Questionnaire 2017 [13] distributed in Tokyo, the top priority in terms of migration was “availability of work opportunities,” 60.8%, followed by “good natural environment,” 33.4%, and “availability of housing,” 26.6% (Figure 3). How then, do migrants choose where to settle down?

Figure 3.

Important factors for urban lifestyle. Source: Furusato Support Center, Tokyo visitor questionnaire 2017.

According to the MIC Survey [10, 11], 54.6% of migrants replied they had exchanges or connections with the area they moved to, with 57.5% in female, compared to 36.2% in male respondents. Looking at the total of the UIJ-turns, 74.6% of U-turners, 38.1% of I-turners, and 53.0% of J-turners had exchanges or connections before moving. And as for “what kind of connections?,” 90.2% of U-turners, 25.0% of I-turners, and 68.6% of J-turners replied “family or relatives live in the area,” while 48.8% of U-turners, 52.8% of I-turners, and 34.3% of J-turners responded that “acquaintances or friends live there.” Furthermore, 20.8% of I-turn respondents gave other reasons, including “had a workplace or school,” “had a business connection,” “had visited for sightseeing,” and “was the hometown of a relative, fiancée, etc.” The survey indicates that personal interaction and connections play a major role in migrating to depopulated areas, together with work and life environment.

3. Lifestyles of young people and the socio-economic background

In Japan, the period of high economic growth till the 1970s was followed by a period of stable growth, which is often referred to as producing “100 million people in the middle class.” However, after the collapse of the bubble economy and the prolonged period of economic stagnation since the 1990s, the number of non-regular workers in the labor market continued to increase, and income inequality widened. The current generation of young people in their 20s and 30s were born during this socio-economic backdrop. It was a time when social values shifted from goods to experiences, and the Internet became widespread, making it easier to obtain information and connect with peers.

Sociologist Takayoshi Doi [14] states that the Japanese society has completed its growth phase and is moving into its maturity phase and that people have come to believe that their innate attributes and abilities, rather than their acquired status and abilities, are the most important factors that define their lives. This explains the rise in satisfaction with life, despite the widening social disparity expressed by the relative poverty rate.

Economist Yoko Niimi [15] sees that people tend to evaluate themselves within the group to which they belong and tend to value themselves in comparison to their experiences and surrounding circumstances. In addition, sociologist Noritoshi Furuichi [16] attributes the rise in life satisfaction to the fact that people have come to be satisfied with their lives through the comfort of their relationships and that they no longer have very high hopes, which has increased their sense of satisfaction.

On the other hand, Ryuzo Kutsuwada [17], from a sociological perspective, considers the diversity of young people living in rural areas and makes it a priority to broaden the range of individual life options. He points out the need to separate “economic activity factors” and “ontological factors” as conditions for the establishment of each happiness. From statistical data of his survey of young people in their 20s and 30s in Hiroshima Prefecture, he draws four categories of attitudes toward work and life.

As in Figure 4, Kutsuwada classifies the young people into four major types with the axes in challenge orientation and stability orientation. Group I is the Stable Challenge Type, who work hard in pursuit of a stable lifestyle, characterizing employees in public service, teaching, and good local companies. Group II is the Fulfillment Pursuit Type, emphasizing individual motivation and challenges for new self-employment or new form of public service. Group III is the Lifestyle Pursuit Type, who does not seek motivation in work and likes fulfillment in hobbies and lifestyle. And Group IV is the Average Happiness Type, with no wish to develop their career, putting ordinary life first, which Kutsuwada defines as the majority type.

Figure 4.

Variations of views on work. Source: Ryuzo Kutsuwada, Happiness of local living.

Historical sociologist Eiji Oguma [18] examines the Japanese way of working from a historical perspective and divides the Japanese society into three typologies: the “large company type,” the “local type,” and the “residual type.” He focuses on employment practices as the dominant social practice in Japan and states that the large company type still defines the structure of society today. He states that the absence of cross-cutting standards that transcend the corporate world is therefore the most significant characteristic of the Japanese-style employment and that it defines the society as a bundle of customs.

Oguma states that since around 2000, population shift to urban areas has become the norm, regardless of economic fluctuations and that the number of self-employed and small business workers has declined significantly. And the number of women, the elderly, and young people in the informal employment sector has increased. This view confirms the analysis of the Japanese employment practices of the international economist Masahiko Aoki [19] in his comparative institutional analysis. As Aoki points out, social institutions and practices are interdependent, and it is difficult to change just one of them.

Against such a socioeconomic background, the starting point of this study is that among the current generation of young people, rather than working long hours in large urban companies to achieve a stable life, some are choosing to move to depopulated areas. Such a move to farming and fishing villages can be characterized as in search of satisfaction in work and new lifestyles. It is likely that the migrants discussed in this chapter are those who fall into the ‘fulfillment pursuit type’ of challenge-oriented work style represented in Figure 4.

4. Policy initiatives and research methods

4.1 Government policy initiatives

Here, we review the Comprehensive Strategy for the Creation of Towns, People and Work, initiated in 2014, which was created to counter the declining population. The main objectives were to correct Tokyo’s monopolistic concentration; to realize young generation’s desire to work, marry, and raise children; and, to resolve local issues in line with local characteristics. To maintain Japan’s active society, the principal philosophy was to realize people’s desire and revive local regions.

This policy package aimed firstly to create 300,000 jobs in the 5 years to 2020, with increase in regular employment and improvement of female labor participation rate. Secondly, it aimed to increase 40,000 transferees from Tokyo metropolitan to rural areas and to decrease transferees by 60,000 from rural areas to Tokyo metropolitan. Thirdly, it aimed to raise the percentage of women continuing to work after the birth of their first child, increase marriage rate, and raise the number of childbirth plan by couples. And fourthly, it aimed to establish small local bases and promote regional coordination [1].

The government aimed to develop measures from the lessons learned through conventional policies that tended to be stove-piped, uniform nationwide, disparate, superficial, and short-term. Therefore, the package had the objective to develop measures based on the five policy principles of self-reliance, future, local, direct, and result-oriented.

To support the rural regions, the government structured three major routes; first, by sending private sector personnel with expertise to local municipalities; second, providing grants to promote regional development; and third, encouraging regional municipalities to utilize the economic analysis system for policymaking.

Fiscal support started from 170 billion yen in FY2014 and 100 billion yen in FY2015, and in FY2016, grants to develop local development centers amounted to total of 180 billion yen [US$1200 million]. In FY2017, grants for cooperation between municipalities and private sectors, regional coordination, and pioneering cross-cutting cases totaled 200 billion yen [US$1333 million]. And direct financial support to local municipalities amounted to 1 trillion yen [US$6.67 billion] [20] in FY2017.

4.2 Kesennuma in Tohoku area

Let us look at the trend of migrants by area in Japan. Table 1 shows the increase in the number of migrants from urban areas to depopulated areas. The number of areas with increase from 2000 to 2010 was 108, or 7.1% of the total areas, and the increase from 2010 to 2015 was 397, or 26.1%. This indicates that the number of depopulated areas with migrants from urban areas has risen quite remarkably in the 5 years to 2015 throughout Japan.

Areas from north	(A) 2000 → 2010	(B) 2010 → 2015	Change of points from (A) to (B)
Hokkaido	8.5%	29.5%	21.0
Tohoku	5.6%	26.9%	21.3
Kanto	4.4%	23.5%	19.1
Tokai	3.9%	14.5%	10.6
Hokuriku	10.3%	25.6%	15.3
Kinki	2.8%	18.7%	15.9
Chugoku	7.8%	32.2%	24.4
Shikoku	7.5%	38.3%	30.8
Kyushu	8.0%	19.2%	11.2
Okinawa	34.8%	47.8%	13.0

Table 1.

Increase of migrants from urban areas to depopulated areas.

Source: MIC, Questionnaire survey on migrants to depopulated areas.

It is noteworthy that the Tohoku (Northeast) region, which includes Fukushima, Miyagi, Yamagata, Akita, Iwate, and Aomori Prefectures, ranks third for the change of points, after Shikoku and Chugoku regions of West Japan with warmer climate. Considering that Tohoku only had 5.6% increase in the 10 years to 2010, the rise to 26.9% in the 5 years to 2015 is considerably large.

Kesennuma City, one of the depopulating cities in Tohoku, is in the northeastern tip of Miyagi Prefecture. The coastal area facing the Pacific Ocean forms the Karakuwa Peninsula and a varied rias coast, and Kesennuma Bay is a good natural port. As of December 2021, the population is just over 60,000, and the aging rate is 39.2% [21], compared to 28.9% nationwide. The Great East Japan Earthquake caused extensive damage to the area, with a death count of 1357 persons, 15,815 houses damaged, and 9500 households affected, mostly by the tsunami.

After the disaster, many supporters and volunteers arrived from all over Japan, and the number of young people moving to the area had been increasing as reconstruction assistance continued to be provided from the government (Figure 5). However, the population of Kesennuma City has been decreasing in total, and the average number of persons in a single household is also on the decline (Figure 6).

Figure 5.

Annual number of transferees into Kesennuma City. Data: Kesennnuma City statistics.

Figure 6.

Population of Kesennuma City. Data: Kesennuma City statistics.

4.3 Research objectives and methods

In this research study, we investigate whether migration to rural areas is met with government policy goals, by looking into the case in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture. Methods taken to assess the initiatives are, first, interviews; second, a web questionnaire; and third, a large-scale questionnaire survey.

Individual interviews were conducted in March 2018, with 10 young migrants who had moved to Kesennuma after the destruction of tsunami in March 2011 (Table 2). The interviewees were introduced by Maru Office, which was established in Kesennuma in 2014 to take part in community revival activities. The main purpose of the interviews was to verify the lifestyles of the migrants by asking them questions on the following five major topics: (1) purpose and motivation for moving to Kesennuma, (2) work, (3) income, (4) living hours, and (5) life plans. This research aimed to explore the reasons for their move, which might be described as migration, to realize their individual lifestyle choice. We also investigate the reasons for choosing this place to migrate.

Male/Female; Age	Former Residence; U/I/J-turn	Years since Migration	Current Job/Former Job	Reason of Migrating
(1) Female; 34	Chiba (Tokyo Met); I-turn	3	Employee/Textile artisan	Married migrating partner
(2) Male; 28	Fukui; J-turn	3	NPO staff/Employee	To support migrating peers
(3) Male; 25	USA; I-turn	1	Tourism staff/English teacher	To contribute to Kesennuma people
(4) Female; 29	Gifu (Nagoya Met); I-turn	2	NPO staff/Employee in Tokyo	To live in local area with active peers
(5) Male; 28	Hyogo (Osaka Met) I-turn	6	NPO starter/Student	To contribute to the reviving area
(6) Male; 36	Nagasaki; J-turn	6	Woodcraft creator/Woodcraft creator	To keep supporting revival of this area
(7) Female; 26	Tokyo (Tokyo Met); I-turn	3	NPO staff/Student	To keep supporting revival of this area
(8) Female; 37	Kesennuma; U-turn	5	Ad designer/Design employee	To work with active migrants
(9) Female; 26	Hyogo (Osaka Met) I-turn	3	Employee/Student	To keep supporting revival of this area
(10) Female; 25	Toyama; J-turn	3	City office clerk/Student	To find a comfortable place for myself

Table 2.

Interviewees of Kesennuma migrants.

Note: Four interviewees, (5), (6), (7) and (9) were volunteers after the tsunami hazard.

All the ten interviewees responded that they decided to migrate to Kesennuma because they each had some connection to the people living there or to their peers who had moved in before them. Four of them came to Kesennuma as volunteers to support the revival of the area after the tsunami destruction. The rest also felt some sympathy to their peer migrants and the local people and decided to migrate.

As for their working hours, most of them were working long hours, with the average overtime of 49.2 hours per month, based on 8 hours daily, for 5 days per week in Japan. However, they responded that they do not worry too much about the overtime and were happy to be able to work for the community. Some said it’s difficult to say if they were working for themselves or for the community, in other words, hard to divide personal life and work engagement.

Those who had former jobs were mostly facing lower or much lower income in Kesennuma. But their expenses were relatively low, as many of them were sharing large old houses, and the average housing expense was 12.9% of their average monthly income. And because the local people often provided rice, vegetables, and fish, their financial living seemed to be quite stable.

The four migrants in the first stage post-tsunami had the experience of helping the area recover from mud and destruction. Through their volunteer work, they got to know the local people well and were impressed by the residents’ strong wish to revive the community and the area. In the period after the hazard, they stayed in the region to clear the area and eventually set up a community circle to learn about the region and start working in various areas of the community.

In November 2018, we conducted the second phase of research, a web questionnaire to the migrants who moved into Kesennuma after the tsunami hazard, through the coordination of Maru Office and MINATO. Questions consisted of three parts: (1) attitude toward work, income, and time management; (2) use of the Internet; and (3) interaction with the local people. Through the Google Form questionnaire, 108 responses were received, with a response rate of 87%.

It is noteworthy that to the question asking whether they are satisfied with life here, over 80% of the respondents answered “very satisfied” or “fairly satisfied” as shown in Figure 7. From a multiple regression analysis, where the objective variable is “overall satisfaction,” the explanatory variables of “connection with local people,” “contents of work,” “living environment,” and “one’s use of time” indicated some strong determination, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 7.

Satisfaction after migrating to Kesennuma from web questionnaire. Note: Left – Total satisfaction, right – Social relationship with local people.

Figure 8.

Results of the multiple regression analysis. Note: Other explanatory variables were ‘income’, ‘connection with friends’, and ‘holidays’.

4.4 Kesennuma city resettlement questionnaire survey

As the third phase of our research, we will look at the results of the Kesennuma City Resettlement Questionnaire Survey conducted in March 2019 with those who moved in after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

To randomly selected 2500 women and men, aged 20 or older, registered in Kesennuma City after March 2011, questionnaire forms were mailed in March 2019 and collected by return envelopes in April 2019. There were 557 responses, making the response rate 22.28% [22]. Three main areas were asked, which were under the following questions:

4.4.1 About yourself

(1) Current level of happiness, (2) gender, (3) age group, (4) marriage status, (5) persons living with you, (6) place of birth, (7) place of residence at the time of the disaster, (8) whether you were affected by the disaster, 9) change in thinking due to the disaster, (10) if you know Kesennuma Migration and Settling Support Center, MINATO, (11) information support, (12) date of moving in, (13) reason for moving in, (14) plan for residency, (15) current job, (16) job before moving in, (17) monthly income, (18) bonus, (19) working hours, (20) days off work, (21) residence.

4.4.2 Lifestyle

1. lifestyle: how you live, holidays, what you do in your past time, shopping

2. work: satisfaction/advice for people starting their own business

3. connection with the community: community activities, interaction with local people

4.4.3 Comprehensive questions

1. Satisfaction level

2. Areas of concern: (i) work, (ii) housing, (iii) infrastructure, (iv) transportation, (v) local community/town planning, (vi) disaster prevention, (vii) crime prevention, (viii) shopping/restaurants, (ix) marriage, (x) childbirth and childrearing, (xi) education, (xii) culture/art/sports, (xiii) medical care, (xiv) care service, (xv) other

3. Free description: regarding concerns (i) to (xv) above

4. What is required to make the town easier to get married, have children, and raise children?

4.4.4 Reasons for moving in

Regarding the attributes of the respondents, 25.3% were in their 20s, and 27.8% were in their 30s; 53.1% of the total respondents were young adults in their 20s to 30s, and half of them were married. Since the respondents in this survey were those who moved to the area after the earthquake, we first determined the correlation coefficient for each response based on the reason for moving to the area.

The question here was “What was your reason for moving here?” using a five-case method, which is 5: applicable, 4: slightly applicable, 3: neither applicable, 2: not applicable, 1: not applicable at all, for ① I was transferred to ⑪ Other, as shown in Figure 9. The results showed that the highest correlation coefficients were ④ Can get involved in community and ⑤ Rich in nature, followed by ⑦ Like this area and ⑧ Have friends here. Then ④ Can get involved in community and ⑦ Like this area; ③ Can have leisure time and ⑦ Like this area; ⑤ Rich nature and ⑦ Like this area; ③ Can have leisure time and ④ Can get involved in community; in that order. These correlations indicate that the newcomers are fond of the area with rich nature, value having leisure time and friends, and like getting involved in the community.

Figure 9.

Reasons for moving to Kesennuma.

In the following analysis, those who answered “very applicable” and “slightly applicable” to ① I was transferred, are considered as “transferees,” while the rest, “neither applicable,” “not applicable” and “not applicable at all” are considered “non-transferees.” The analysis will proceed by defining the transferees as those moving in for business transfers and the others as non-transferees. The number of respondents in the transferees’ group was 199, while the number of respondents in the non-transferees’ group was 326, when the total number of data was 525 and 32 invalid data were deleted.

4.4.5 Satisfaction

Next, we look at the satisfaction level of the transferees. For QIII 1) Please rate your current level of satisfaction on a five-case method, by circling the appropriate number for the following 11 items: (a) nature of work, (b) amount of income, (c) improvement of skills, (d) how you use your time now, (e) family ties, (f) realization of your dreams, (g) connection with friends and peers, (h) interaction with local people, (j) housing, (k) life in general, and (m) moving to Kesennuma.

From the responses to this question, we conducted a multiple regression analysis with the objective variable as m) moving to Kesennuma, and the explanatory variables as the nine items from (a) to (j), to explore the factors affecting the level of satisfaction of those who moved to Kesennuma. The analysis here covered 182 transferees and 278 non-transferees, excluding respondents who did not fill in their responses.

For the transferees, the factors affecting satisfaction were in the order of (j) housing, (g) connection with friends and peers, (a) nature of work, (h) interaction with local people, and (b) amount of income (Table 3). For the non-transferees, the factors affecting satisfaction were in the order of (j) housing, (a) nature of work, (f) realization of your dreams, (g) connection with friends and peers, (e) family ties, (b) amount of income, and (c) improvement of skills (Table 4).

	Multiple Correlation Coefficient			Coefficient of Determination
Step	R	Adj R	R2	Adj R2	Durbin-Watson Rario	AIC	Factor
Step0	0.0000	—	0.0000	—	1.8952	—	j)
Step1	0.5335	0.5297	0.2846	0.2806	1.8752	−27.2882	g)
Step2	0.6100	0.6042	0.3720	0.3650	1.9183	−49.0154	a)
Step3	0.6379	0.6301	0.4070	0.3970	1.9325	−57.4326	h)
Step4	0.6511	0.6410	0.4240	0.4109	1.9271	−60.7202	b)
Step5	0.6553	0.6428	0.4294	0.4132	1.9738	−60.4627	N.A.

Table 3.

Analysis of factors affecting satisfaction of transferees.

	Multiple Correlation Coefficient			Coefficient of Determination
Step	R	Adj R	R2	Adj R2	Durbin-Watson Rario	AIC	Factor
Step0	0.0000	—	0.0000	—	2.0485	—	j)
Step1	0.4981	0.4954	0.2481	0.2454	1.7561	−33.0014	a)
Step2	0.6102	0.6064	0.3723	0.3678	1.8430	−81.2108	f)
Step3	0.6375	0.6324	0.4064	0.3999	1.8919	−94.7165	g)
Step4	0.6451	0.6384	0.4161	0.4075	1.8885	−97.3001	e)
Step5	0.6504	0.6422	0.4230	0.4124	1.8895	−98.5959	b)
Step6	0.6537	0.6440	0.4274	0.4147	1.8961	−98.7126	c)
Step7	0.6564	0.6451	0.4309	0.4161	1.8851	−98.4217	N.A.

Table 4.

Analysis of factors affecting satisfaction of non-transferees.

The factors in common between the transferees and non-transferees were (j) housing, (g) connection with friends and peers, (a) nature of work, and (b) amount of income. The only factor prevalent for the transferees was (h) interaction with local people, while for the non-transferees, (f) realization of your dreams, (e) family ties, and (c) improvement of skills were the characteristic factors.

4.4.6 Lifestyle

Next, we asked about lifestyle. QII is divided into 19 questions on work and 53 questions on lifestyle. For the 53 questions on lifestyle, we tested the difference in means between the transferees and non-transferees. The null hypothesis here is that the means of the two groups are equal. Table 5 lists the test results in the order of increasing p-value. The null hypothesis is rejected for the 26 items listed here, as the differences are statistically significant.

Live in an apartment or condominium complex	Q04	P < 0.001	**	T > NT
Live in Kesennuma as my hometown	Q10	P < 0.001	**	T < NT
Go to Sendai and big cities	Q16	P < 0.001	**	T > NT
Local people interfere too much	Q71	P < 0.001	**	T < N
Wish to buy daily products in stores nearby	Q31	P < 0.001	**	T > NT
Live a self-sufficient life and reduce shopping	Q38	P < 0.001	**	T < NT
Care the elderly	Q22	0.0015	**	T < NT
Study and brush up my skills	Q21	0.0020	**	T > NT
Live in a nuclear family	Q01	0.0032	**	T > NT
When local people are happy	Q44	0.0037	**	T > NT
Play some sports	Q30	0.0042	**	T > NT
Participate in parenting circles and children’s groups	Q61	0.0049	**	T > NT
Spend time in a nearby cafe	Q12	0.0053	**	T > NT
When my boss praises me	Q40	0.0058	**	T > NT
When satisfied with my results	Q46	0.0069	**	T > NT
Close local is within 15 minutes by car from my place	Q70	0.0082	**	T < NT
Do not care what the other people say or do	Q50	0.0084	**	T < NT
Share things, services, and places with others	Q06	0.0108	*	T > NT
Live with parents or relatives	Q02	0.0116	*	T < NT
Live with seasonal events in life	Q07	0.0152	*	T > NT
Live alone	Q09	0.0172	*	T > NT
Live with friends and peers in a share house	Q03	0.0243	*	T > NT
Spend time alone in a daze	Q28	0.0320	*	T > NT
Communicate with friends and peers through the Internet	Q26	0.0343	*	T > NT
Spend time with friends and peers	Q25	0.0355	*	T > NT
Wish to buy furniture and electric devises in Sendai	Q35	0.0420	*	T > NT

Table 5.

Lifestyles of transferees and non-transferees.

Note: T stands for Transferees, and NT stands for Non-transferees.

The transferees differed from the non-transferees on items such as “live in a housing complex or condominium,” “go to downtown Sendai and other cities (on holidays),” and “want to buy daily necessities in the neighborhood.” Meanwhile, the non-transferees showed a clear difference from the transferees in items such as “live in Kesennuma as my hometown,” “local people interfere too much,” and “live a self-sufficient life and reduce shopping.”

What is notable here is that “live in Kesennuma as my hometown” was a lifestyle strongly expressed by the non-transferees. In this context, we may be able to say that “local people interfere too much” is expressed as their relationship with the local people is quite strong in contrast to the transferees. As shown in Figure 10, the non-transferees who moved to Kesennuma because they like the area’s rich nature and want to be involved in the community are likely to settle down by making it their hometown.

Figure 10.

Plan to live in Kesennuma. Data: Kesennuma City Resettlement Questionnaire Survey 2019.

In fact, when asked “How long do you expect to live in Kesennuma?” 60.0% of the non-transferees answered “for a long time,” and 19.4% of the transferees answered the same (Figure 10). A goodness-of-fit test was conducted here. The null hypothesis is that the distribution of the transferees is equal to that of the non-transferees. A two-tailed test using the chi-square value resulted in a P value of P < 0.001, thus rejecting the null hypothesis. It was statistically accepted at the 0.001% level of significance that the distribution of the transferees is not equal to that of the non-transferees.

5. Results of the research study

To summarize the results of the research study, first, factors influencing post-relocation satisfaction for newcomers are the rich nature of the area and their involvement in the community. Factors of “like this area” and “can get involved” indicate that they not only like the rich nature but also want to be involved with the local people through their daily lives and community activities. In other words, personal connection in the community is the key for migration.

It is conceivable that the newcomers have some knowledge of the region and the people living there and are attracted to the area. This is true not only for the migrants but also for those who are posted to work in the area. Consequently, involvement in the community is inevitable, and the newcomers are mostly positive about getting involved.

Second, for the non-transferees or migrants, the factors that influenced the level of satisfaction were housing, nature of work, realization of dreams, connections with friends and peers, family ties, amount of income, and improvement of skills. In reflecting the study of Kutsuwada, when we look at the migrants as those of fulfillment-pursuit type, challenging for new self-employment and new public service, their nature of work and realization of dreams can be placed as economic activity factors and connection with friends and peers as an ontological factor. The fulfillment-pursuers choose the destination for migration where they are likely to realize their worthwhile goals.

Three, from the lifestyle test, a majority of the migrants are most likely to settle down in Kesennuma. Although they are sometimes at a loss by the closeness of the local community, they desire a self-sufficient way of life while maintaining connections with their families and local people. 46.5% of the respondents in the questionnaire survey are originally from Kesennuma City, which means that nearly half of the respondents are U-turners, who returned to their hometown. The other half, however, are not from Kesennuma, including the transferees.

The non-transferees, who are not originally from Kesennuma, have face-to-face relationships with the local people within a 15-minute distance, and they have adopted the local way of life by getting rooted in the community. In the interviews, many said they got fresh vegetables and rice from the locals and enjoyed participating in community activities. They seem to be leading a self-sufficient life and have personal connections with the local people. Therefore, the condition for non-U-turners to choose a place to settle down is to have a face-to-face relationship in the community.

6. Implications and verifications

The process of promoting migration to rural areas needs to be diverse, and therefore, the Comprehensive Strategy for the Creation of Towns, People and Work is segmented and widespread. On the four basic goals of the policy package, there is a survey on the effectiveness of the strategies, responded by 1785 municipalities [23]. Table 6 shows the positive self-assessment on policy goals, excluding the negative assessments, as of September 2018. Overall, the local municipalities seem to have accepted the policy package to enhance actions.

Basic goals	Action	Self-assessment by municipalities
1	Create jobs	Agriculture/fishery 71.7% Tourism 73.0% Other industries 66.6%
2	Create flow of people	Migration/Settlement 66.4% Education/Culture/Sports 73.5%
3	Fulfill hopes of younger generation	Marriage/Childbirth 47.1%; Childrearing 81.2%
4	Create region to match the times	Community building 64.2% Transport Network 69.2% Local community 71.9%

Table 6.

Positive self-assessment by municipalities on basic policy goals.

Data: Survey results on the comprehensive strategy for local municipalities 2019.

The primary objective of the government initiatives is to create jobs in rural areas so that the younger generation can move to depopulated areas and fulfill their lifestyles. We consider that in the case of Kesennuma, the movement of the younger generation was ironically pushed by the earthquake and tsunami that ruined the area. As there was a definite need to rebuild the community and industries, the government supported the Tohoku area for recovery, in addition to the task of depopulation.

Although the policy target of jobs, female labor participation rate, marriage rate, and net transferees to rural areas are yet to be met, the measures are locally led to revive the rural areas. The second term of the policy initiatives are in place from 2020 [24], with basic goals of, one, creating productive areas where people can work safely; two, liaising with rural areas and creating a flow of people; three, fulfilling the wishes for marriage, childbirth, and child rearing; and four, creating communities where people can gather and live in peace. As far as the principle of realizing people’s desire is emphasized, the initiatives will move on.

The municipality of Kesennuma City has taken in the migrants as supporters of the disaster recovery plan. The Recovery-from-the-Earthquake Planning Department of Kesennuma City Office has several cases tied up with non-profit organizations and small businesses established by the migrants, which work together to reactivate the region. The City Office not only is engaged in supporting the newcomers to settle down but also involves them in local education, community transportation, fostering industries such as fishery and tourism, and starting new ventures. In this way, the local government and businesses are cooperating with the migrants to revive the region. This is a representative case of regional coordination, which is positioned as the fourth objective of the policy package.

One of the most successful initiatives led by the central government is the Local Vitalization Cooperative [LVC] led by the MIC. This is a program in which challengers move to depopulated areas and work to support regional development for 3 years in various fields, such as promoting regional brands and local products; engaging in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; and supporting residents. They receive an annual subsidy up to 4.8 million yen [US$32,000], which consists of 2.8 million yen as compensation and 2 million yen as business fees. After the 3 years of subsidy, they are encouraged to start their own business in the area.

This program started in 2009 with 89 challengers in 31 municipalities and has grown to hold 6447 challengers in 1118 municipalities in 2022, as shown in Figure 11 [25]. And 75.3% of the challengers are posted in depopulated municipalities [26]. Approximately 70% of the challengers are in their 20s and 30s, and 40% are women. As of March 2022, roughly 65% of the challengers are settling in the same area after 3 years of their term to start their own business [27]. As a measure to enhance mobility of the younger generation to depopulated areas, the LVC program is making a steady progress.

Figure 11.

Local vitalization cooperatives. Data: MIC regional development cooperatives 2022.

In Kesennuma City, there has been 13 challengers under the LVC [27]. On the other hand, through MINATO, which works as a center for migration consultation for Kesennuma City, a total of 198 migrants have arrived in the 7 years to FY2022 [28] and three as LVC challengers. Therefore, we can say that there are various routes for migration.

When we assess the goals of the Comprehensive Strategy for the Creation of Towns, People and Work, the most prominent success would be the fourth objective in establishing small bases to promote regional coordination. In the case of Kesennuma, it is MINATO where potential migrants come for consultation services, like the large-scale center of Furusato Kaiki Center in Tokyo. MINATO specializes in matching people to work and housing in Kesennuma area, whereas Furusato Kaiki Center has consultants for each of the 44 prefectures and one city and covers all of Japan. MINATO received 267 consultations in FY2022, and 47 have moved in, including 39 of I-turns and 8 U-turns [28]. Furthermore, MINATO, which is established by the Kesennuma City and managed by a non-profit organization, Maru Office, has the strength in local migrant supporters to help the migrants to settle down in the community, which is a considerable assistance for the newcomers.

7. Conclusion

In this chapter, we studied Japan’s urban to rural migration, which is one of the major socioeconomic tasks to slow down depopulation in the local regions. Local municipalities across Japan, facing aging and depopulation, have begun competing to attract migrants using various measures and subsidies, including the LVC. This research study investigated the case in Kesennuma, where the number of young migrants showed a particular increase after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 (Figure 12). After such vast hazard and destruction in the region, the migrants are playing indispensable roles in the revival of the community. The key to the settlement of migrants is the connection with the local people and peers, in addition to their work engagement.

Figure 12.

Map of Japan indicating increase of migrants in depopulated areas. Source: MIC, Research report on ‘Return to the countryside’ March 2018.

As MIC Research Report on ‘Return to the Countryside’ of March 2018 [11] summarizes, personal connection in the community often works as the final key for the migrants to choose the destination. Local coordinators have face-to-face relationship with the newcomers and open the door to the community, as in the case of Kesennuma.

The government has established comprehensive programs for rural migration to revitalize the local areas in Japan. These programs, together with local initiatives at the municipal and the community levels, have supported the migrants, in leading their new lifestyles. However, there needs to be a stronger encouragement for the majority to change their lifestyles to slow down the local depopulation of Japan.

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to dedicate this chapter to Dr. Kayo Okabe, who contributed largely to the research study, in mainly analyzing the statistics, but sadly passed away in February 2023. We thank all the interviewees and all those who took their time to respond to the questionnaires. Mr. Mitsuhiro Sato of Kesennuma City Office worked with us to make the questionnaire survey valuable data. Suntory Foundation generously supported the research from 2018 to 2019 through the grant “Considering the succession and development of local cultural activities”. Last, but not least, warm thanks go to Dr. Chikako Nakayama and Maru Office for always being helpful and supportive as a team.