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Japan Travel Blog

Kanagawa - Kogoshima - Hokkaido (est. 5500km)

15~31 August 2018, Summer

by Tong, CEO WASABI Creation

5. Revitalising Rural Japan @ Minami Ashigara ~ by Sosei Partners, Day 3

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This is the final day for our program at Minami Ashigara, and we focused on summarising the findings and experiences we had in the past few days, and started making a presentation for our proposal. Our proposal will include our ideas on what can be done to support the people and the projects in the area, where ageing population and depopulation are serious challenges for the people here.

 

As our teams consist of members from different nationalities, age groups, professions, and background, it was interesting to see things from new perspectives, yet it was also a big challenge to put all these ideas together in one presentation. Luckily, after figuring out for some time the previous night and in the morning, we could finally split the work and contribute our effort in various aspects. At the end of the day, we could put things together for the final presentation.

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The final presentation was held in an old community center with a big hall at the 2nd floor. It is attended by many people such as the tourism officials, city official, including the Mayor for Minami Ashigara himself. As you can see many of them are very senior, aging population is REAL. Hope they would be able to get some ideas from the young people, despite the huge generation gap between us.

 

I presented my ideas on how we can promote Countryside Experiences to foreign city dwellers, who hardly have the opportunity to enjoy rural live. And I believe rural live in Japan is unique and enriching, as what I had experienced myself when I had homestay at Shizuoka, Hamamatsu City when I was 15. My ideas are not targeting the general tourists, but people who wish to escape the buzzling city, slow down their pace, and experience live in the countryside of Minami Ashigara with the local people, the local way with all its unique characteristics and offerings.

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My stay in Minami Ashigara came to an end right after my presentation, as I needed to rush to catch a plane from Haneda to Kagoshima. Before I go, I would like to share a little of my 合宿 (community stay) where I spent these few days with other members eating and sleeping together in a facility for professional cyclists. It was a strange feeling since I have not had such experience since becoming an working adult. It was interested to experience the Japanese style of community stay, having Japanese style breakfast every morning, taking bath at a big shared bath, and sleeping in a dorm room.

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Next destination: Kagoshima…...

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Japan Travel Blog 2018: click below to see other stories

To be continued......

 

 

 

Contact 

For collaboration please contact Tong at hi@wasabicreation.com

Contact Us:

 

Email: hi@wasabicreation.com

Tel/ Whatsapp: +65 865 67631 (Singapore)

Line: hamamatsu1999

WeChat: UncleTongcf

WASABI Creation Pte. Ltd.

190 Clemenceau Avenue

#06-03 Singapore 239924

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