Rural Revitalization and Reform of Rural Organizations in Contemporary Rural Japan

The purpose of this article is to overview the process of “Rural Revitalization” based on the self-governing organization of rural hamlets since rapid economic growth in Japan, to clarify the way of agricultural and regional development based on interaction between urban and rural communities, and to reform rural organizations since the 1990s.Based on case studies of advanced movements of rural revitalization, three problems were pointed out, as follows.1. Realization of rural revitalization over the range of rural hamlets and the establishment of a new system of regional management.2. Establishment of a principle of regional management based on “the logic of the field”, the opposite of the logic of economic rationalism or globalism.3. Establishment of a new system of regional management corresponding with the “maturation” of interaction between urban and rural communities and the complicated relationship between urban area and rural area.The key to the future rural society is the creation of such an environment where rural residents, especially rural women, can solve many problems obstructing their independence, and fully demonstrate their volition and capability.Two of the most important implications for policy-making from this study is the fact that agricultural development should be included by comprehensive regional development, and that the policy of structural reform, including the policy of farm management, should be promoted under the policy of regional development.