Diversity as the Key to Regional Revitalization in Japan
- Yuichiro Noguchi
- Oct 13
- 5 min read
According to AI, "Regional revitalization" refers to efforts to stimulate economic, social, and cultural activities in local areas, enhance their attractiveness, and aim for sustainable development. Specific initiatives include the sale of local specialities, tourism promotion, events, the utilization of regional resources, and the introduction of digital technologies.
These efforts are vital measures to address Japan's challenges of population decline and overconcentration in Tokyo, while creating jobs and liveable environments in regional areas and increasing what is known as the "related population", people who are connected to and support a region even if they don't live there.
Examples of Specific Initiatives
Tourism Promotion: Utilizing local history, culture, and nature to host events and provide experiential content that attracts tourists.
Utilization of Regional Resources: Branding and expanding the sales channels of local specialities and traditional crafts, and creating new businesses.
Strengthening Local Communities: Organizing events and workshops to deepen exchanges among residents and increase participation in local activities, along with improving information sharing.
Use of Digital Technologies: Offering VR/AR-based experiential services, digitizing administrative procedures, and using data to enhance public services—all to solve regional issues and improve convenience.
Creating "Related Populations": Rather than focusing only on permanent migration, increasing the number of people who stay connected to and support the region in various ways, thus expanding networks and promoting information exchange and local spending.
Collaboration Among Public, Private, and Academic Sectors: Encouraging cooperation among governments, companies, NPOs, universities, and residents, who bring their knowledge and expertise together for joint projects.
These are the general ideas about regional revitalization as described by AI.
When I once visited New York City, I stayed for about a week. One day at a restaurant, the staff casually struck up a conversation with me, just as they did with other locals. I didn't speak much English, but I felt surprisingly comfortable in that atmosphere.
Even though I was a Japanese visitor from a different culture and language, there was no prejudice, I was treated as though I were just another resident of the city. That moment made me think, "I could actually live here."
I realized then why so many people are drawn to New York, even a short stay can make you feel welcome. It's one of the most exciting cities in the world, constantly birthing new cultures. People from all over the globe gather there, creating a "melting pot" of races and cultures that coexist and enrich one another, making the city even more vibrant and diverse.
Tokyo, too, attracts people from all over Japan. Though not to the same extent as New York, I believe Tokyo is the most diverse city in Japan. But when I returned to my hometown, I noticed that the more rural the area, the more closed it felt — with few outsiders. People who move in from other prefectures often say it's hard to integrate into the local community. Even within rural areas, there are urban centers and countryside regions, and young people tend to leave for the cities, saying, "There's nothing to do here," or "There are no jobs." Conversely, very few people move from cities to the countryside.
In small villages where most residents are born and raised locally, the village head often wields absolute authority. Those who don't conform can't stay. The same dynamic applies to local companies and organizations, if you can't agree with the president's mindset, it becomes uncomfortable, even unbearable, to stay long-term. Families can reflect similar patterns.
In larger, more diverse environments, people with different ideas and backgrounds naturally come together, and uniformity becomes impossible, tolerance becomes essential.
People born in Tokyo tend to be surprisingly open-minded toward those from other regions. They understand that differences in culture and perspective are natural. In contrast, in smaller, less populated areas, it's easier to maintain uniformity — and easier to exclude those who don't conform. The phrase "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" is heard more often in the countryside.
Although the issue of Tokyo’s centralization has been discussed for decades, the underlying structure, a diverse metropolis and exclusive rural areas, remains unchanged. As long as that continues, the gap will only widen. Diverse societies will grow stronger, while exclusionary ones will inevitably decline.
In the past, even small towns and villages had local stores and tight-knit communities, but these have been replaced by large corporations. Now, every region looks the same, shopping malls, convenience stores, and chain drug stores dominate the landscape. Life has become more convenient, but local individuality has faded. In the days when information was scarce, people had to think for themselves, imagine, and innovate with what they had, and that creativity became a source of identity. Today, with instant access to global information, even remote areas can easily imitate others.
There are still some small, independently run shops in rural Japan, but many are just copies of successful Tokyo businesses and tend to disappear with changing trends. Few people would travel far just to visit such places, and even fewer would choose to live there. You rarely see Tokyo imitating the countryside, but the opposite happens often. This unrecognized one-way imitation is one of the reasons for regional decline.
Tokyo's large and diverse population means a wide range of tastes and lifestyles. People who don't fit in locally can find like-minded peers in Tokyo, and similarly, businesses that wouldn't survive in rural areas can thrive there. Many of these niche shops and services carry new values and ideas, which can later spark broader cultural movements.
Interestingly, both New York and Tokyo share a pattern: new cultures tend to emerge not in city centers but in slightly offbeat areas. In New York, the SoHo of the 1980s and Brooklyn of the 2000s were originally warehouse districts with affordable rent, ideal for creators and artists. In Tokyo, Daikanyama in the 1980s, Ura-Harajuku in the 1990s, and later Nakameguro followed similar paths — areas filled with small, independent shops rather than big chains, where new communities and cultures flourished.
In the 80s-90s in New York, the redevelopment of Times Square wiped out the red-light district. What remained were big chains like Starbucks and McDonald's, the unique diners and small cafés disappeared, replaced by tourist-oriented stores. Interestingly, Supreme, which opened its first store in 1994 on Lafayette Street, was located slightly off the main area, near the immigrant-heavy Lower East Side, at that time even marked "off-limits" on tourist maps. It was a place with only a few quirky local shops, but the transformation of both the brand and the neighbourhood that followed is now well known.
The essential point is this: a vibrant city or region needs spaces where people with unique ideas, cultures, and values can gather. And that requires a society that embraces diversity. Such places are stimulating and appealing to young people seeking individuality. Unique shops and new businesses become the soil from which new cultures grow, sparking cycles of creativity that revitalize towns and attract even more people.
To achieve this, it's not enough to focus on convenience or economic efficiency. Governments, companies, and communities alike need to recognize the importance of cultural capital. Even if each shop or person has only modest appeal individually, together they can form a vibrant, synergistic local identity.
For true regional revitalization, what's most important is to create an environment where people can take on new challenges freely and where differences are accepted. That's the foundation for a living, evolving local culture, and for a region's genuine rebirth.
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