2010年度の活動報告

Musashi University Faculty of Economics Department of Management　Noriyuki Takahashi

This fiscal year (2010), on-site hearings were held in six locations (Yomitan Village, Okinawa Prefecture; Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture; Shimo-Suwa Town, Nagano Prefecture; Shimanto City, Kochi Prefecture; Minamioguni Town, Kumamoto Prefecture; and Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture), three lectures/symposiums, two training sessions, and one research presentation.

As in the previous year, the on-site interviews were conducted with a view to publishing a compilation of the results of the survey and research conducted to date.

Companies and industries that utilize the management resources of a specific region and have that region as their market, as well as companies and industries that rely on the management resources of a specific region even if they target a market wider than that, must aim for development unique to that region. As most shopping districts and most tourist destinations have experienced, companies and regions that follow uniform national policies and guidelines have lost their uniqueness and have lost their vitality almost immediately.

However, creating unique regional businesses and industries is no easy task, and the fact that so many regions have tried and failed speaks volumes.

If local businesses and industries do not develop, the region will have to rely on public works and business attraction to maintain itself for the time being. However, the possibility of attracting businesses has become difficult since the late 1970s, and public works are also affected by budget deficits, and the environment is rapidly deteriorating.

Ultimately, the reality is that many regions have been forced into a situation where they have no choice but to walk a difficult path. Their escape route has been completely cut off.

In this study group, we define a community business as a business that solves local problems, and we take a broader definition than the general definition. However, regardless of the size of the business (the number of entrepreneurs who aim to become big from the start is small), it is certain that whether or not a community business can be developed as defined by this study group holds the key to whether a region can survive or improve its standard of living.

The idea of local development being undertaken independently has been talked about since the late 1960s, when rapid economic growth began to show signs of stalling. However, this proposal did not bear fruit in most regions, in part because the option of relying on public works remained open, and in part because entrepreneurs were not nurtured in the region. Starting a new business is not an easy task, and when it is done on a local level, the difficulties are far greater than those of a "company."

Either way, now that we can no longer rely on public works finances, there is only one option left, and the challenge is how to foster entrepreneurs locally. In a sense, however, there is nothing more difficult than this. If there are no roads, then just make one; if there is no arcade (in a shopping district), then just build an arcade. Building the necessary infrastructure is easy if you have the budget, and can be done in a short space of time, but the same cannot be said for human resources, and the businesses and new ventures that those human resources create.

Based on the above-mentioned awareness, this research group has continued its field research. To this end, we have decided to look more closely at not only the "things" and "people" that are currently attracting attention, but also at the networks that connect them (the weft thread), and the background in which they were born (the warp thread).

What has become clear from this is the fact that the currently active human resources have been "nurtured," and that currently successful businesses have been "supported" by various people. In other words, even if we cannot exactly imitate it, knowing how people have been nurtured and supported will be a very important perspective when aiming for unique regional development in the future.

If a certain business was successful because of "that person," that would be of no use to other regions. However, if "that person" is also a cultivated human resource, a little hope is born. Also, if it is understood that various supporters are needed to get a business running in a region on track, fewer regions will easily try to imitate businesses that have been successful in other regions, and they may not have to waste energy on it.

Three lectures were held in total: one by Chairman Azumadani of Umajimura Agricultural Cooperative, who has grown the yuzu industry in Umajimura, Kochi Prefecture, from nothing to an industry with annual sales of 3 billion yen (co-sponsored with Nerima Ward); one by William Bygrave, professor emeritus at Babson College and world authority on entrepreneurial education (co-sponsored with Zenshinren and others); and a lecture including a panel discussion with three managers of small community businesses in Nerima Ward (co-sponsored with Nerima Ward Urban Development Center). In addition to planning the lectures themselves, there is the problem of attracting attendees, and until now the latter has been a bottleneck, but since last year it has become possible to co-sponsor with institutions that have the ability to attract attendees, making it easier to hold the lectures and increasing the number of attendees.

As in the previous year, the seminar was held twice and targeted at people living in Nerima Ward, with Nagasawa Ei, representative director of the NPO Community Business Support Center, as the lecturer.

In addition to these, the research group held one presentation session, which mainly consisted of the research reports of each researcher.

This year, we would like to prioritize publication in determining candidate locations for on-site interview surveys. The four areas that have already been decided for publication are: (1) Itayanagi Town, Aomori Prefecture (building a system that allows farmers to make their business viable through high added value of apples), (2) Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture (grassroots incubation activities), (3) Bungotakada City, Fukuoka Prefecture (revitalization of shopping streets based on the Showa era concept), and (4) Yomitan Village, Okinawa Prefecture (revitalization of the area by utilizing local resources (traditional crafts and agricultural products)).

Other candidate locations for which a certain amount of information has been accumulated include: (1) Obihiro City, Hokkaido (revitalization of the city center by utilizing a food stall village); (2) Asamushi Onsen, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture (regional revitalization with a community restaurant as its core business); (3) Shimo-Suwa Town, Nagano Prefecture (revitalization of the shopping district by incorporating manufacturing); (4) Shimanto City, Kochi Prefecture (regional revitalization through nature conservation with Dragonfly Park at its core); (5) Uchiko Town, Ehime Prefecture (regional revitalization through independent sales of agricultural products from mountainous areas); and (6) Minamioguni Town, Kumamoto Prefecture (regional revitalization through activities based on a unified concept by 28 small hot spring inns. Kurokawa Onsen has already been featured in a considerable amount of media coverage, but we will focus on facts that have not been covered by the media). If we were to take up some of these as publication case studies, we would consider them as potential locations for interviews.

Furthermore, since this theme requires not only success stories but also stories that did not necessarily go well or that are at a crossroads, possible candidates include (1) Amami Oshima, Kagoshima Prefecture (response to the decline of Oshima Tsumugi, the vicious cycle of dependency on public works and environmental destruction) and (2) Yufuin, Oita Prefecture (response to the introduction of outside capital brought about by success). Although there is insufficient information on the current situation, it may also be necessary to understand the current situation in Tsumago-juku, Nagano Prefecture, and Daisen-cho, Oita Prefecture, which achieved early success in the 1970s.

Regarding community businesses within Tokyo, we will cooperate with Nerima Ward and other organizations to conduct hearings, etc.

Starting this year, we will implement a more intensive program for the courses in order to take a step forward in the direction of producing practitioners. Specifically, we are planning the following content, which will be carried out with the cooperation of Nerima Ward and the NPO Community Business Support Center.


(2011 Community Business Seminar)

*Plans are subject to change due to restrictions on summer use of university facilities.

As for lectures, all of the subsidies from Nerima Ward are planned to be allocated to courses this year, and there are also uncertainties such as the impact of the reconstruction of Building 1 and planned power outages due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. However, we are planning to hold a presentation of the results of this research group this year as well, and we are open to the public.