Towards a new Minakami Town: The Minakami Migration Plan that turns problems into strengths
Award Winners
Tone-Numata School Association Tone Commercial High School
Aoi Katahira, Ryota Tomizawa, Hayato Hoshino, Shoki Wakakuwa, Yumika Takahashi, Nanami Hoshino, Yuka Yanagi
Rediscovering my hometown
In order to alleviate the lack of successors for traditional crafts, inns, and guesthouses in Minakami Town, we will promote the town's charms through social media and events and encourage people to move there. By targeting people in their 30s, we aim to increase the population through child-rearing and revitalize the region through business.
Ways to revitalize the local area
The company will propose three types of relocation plans to those who wish to experience relocation, and will mediate between them and workplaces and residences according to the plans. By deepening their understanding of Minakami Town through the relocation experience for a certain period of time, the company hopes to increase the number of permanent residents.
- Plan [1] Hotel/Inn
The migrants are paid a salary that covers living expenses and are tasked with living and working at the inn, where they learn about the inn's merits and hot springs. - Plan [2] Farmer
Whether they are full-time or part-time farmers, they will be provided with housing and farmland to learn agricultural know-how. In addition, as a new business model, they will make the most of the UNESCO Ecopark brand and use abandoned farmland as a rental farm (for weekend and holiday farming) and as an educational farm for elementary and junior high school students. - Plan [3] Entrepreneurs
We provide vacant houses and stores, and encourage people to start their own businesses using subsidies. We also handle restaurant management, the passing on of artisan skills, and teleworking in IT-related businesses. If the number of immigrants and residents increases and vacant houses and stores are put to use, we can expect new communities to be born and crime prevention effects. This plan is a town revitalization plan that will lead to the revitalization of Minakami Town while allowing people to enjoy life as immigrants in the great outdoors. We, high school students who grew up in this area, would like the voices of those hoping to move here to be conveyed, and we would like them to think about raising children and the future.
Comments and points regarding the award
I think it's a highly polished plan. It's worthy of praise for how well the plan is used and how well it is conveyed in an appealing way, and I was very impressed by how meticulously it was put together. I think it's good that the target audience is narrowed down to people in their 30s, making it clear that this is a move for the child-rearing generation. It's also great that they introduced jobs that people may be concerned about when moving to the area, such as inns and farming, and even interviewed people who have already moved there.
Regarding agriculture, the fact that they are considering utilizing abandoned farmland, which is a nationwide problem, shows that they are also taking a social interest in the matter. Furthermore, rather than just proposing relocation, I think it was good that they looked into the fact that Minakami Town has a support system in place, such as a subsidy for promoting the utilization of vacant houses.
2018 Excellence Award 2018 Jury Recommendation Award
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