Out-Migrants’ Motives for Becoming Board Members in their Home Villages: A Case Study on Torii, Keihoku, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City

Abstract

This study focuses on the motives of out-migrants for becoming board members in their home villages, specifically in the case of Torii, Keihoku, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City. Based on interviews with three out-migrants, it was revealed that they had four types of motives: 1) their own positions or characteristics, 2) the conditions of their parents or parents’ houses, 3) their feelings for their home villages, and 4) the relationships with residents in their home village. Therefore, for out-migrants to become board members in their home villages, it is important that residents create an opportunity for local children, who may be out-migrants in the future, to learn how adults maintain their villages, inform out-migrants of current situations in their home villages, and maintain out-migrants’ relationships with their former schoolmates of the same age.