The business ventures of women and the related regional evolution in hilly and mountainous areas was investigated. In this paper, I discuss the actual conditions and background that enables business venture activities with a focus on the difference between hilly and mountainous areas and other areas. The number of women starting their own businesses has consistently risen nationwide. This trend has been particularly prevalent in the Tohoku and Kyushu regions of Japan. Shizuoka, the focus of this paper, has roughly an average number of organizations compared to other areas across the country. It is a prefecture dominated by women living in rural areas that form groups and engage in activities. In that sense, we can use Shizuoka as a case study to clarify the characteristics of business venture activities based on women's groups. Shizuoka prefecture features not only hilly and mountainous areas and urban areas but also non-mountainous areas, and business venture activities are widely distributed among these different locales. These different areas are compared in order to conduct the analysis in this paper. According to a questionnaire, entrepreneurial activities in recent years have centered on the leadership of elderly women. Women have looked for opportunities to use their individual skills in order to engage in group activities based on their existing regional community organizations and networks. These brisk activities have two main aspects: one, women feel concerned over community dysfunction as society ages, and two. they want to secure an extra source of income to supplement their pensions after retiring from agricultural work. Local governments and public sector organizations (e.g., agricultural cooperatives) have provided subsidies and activity spaces for women's groups, which have also received counseling on how to launch ventures and support for continuing them. In this way, interdependent relationships have formed between women's groups and existing regional organizations. While deepening relationships, sharing facilities and participating in events in the community have consolidated the activities of women's groups. Because most women's groups consist of a small number of people, they have no supply of young talent. These groups are thus aging, as is the rest of society. The long-term challenge then is how to sustain activities. Among community residents, there are not enough young people to take over leadership positions when the time comes. In addition, the formation of groups is often based on individual social connections. These two factors combine to make it difficult for new members to join groups.
