Female Rural In-migrant Experiences and the Sense of Place: Orihime in Showa Village, Fukushima Prefecture

Abstract

Generally, Japanese rural areas are facing a serious population decrease. Under the circumstances, women tend to be expected to play reproductive roles and increase the population. On the other hand, the trend of rural in-migration has recently been increasing in Japan. As a result, there are high expectations for female migrants of childbearing age to reproduce. This study investigated female migrants’ feelings of resistance to this gender role. It also explored their paradoxical feelings suggesting that they want to contribute to their local communities and remain there.

This study is based on fieldwork conducted in Showa village, Fukushima prefecture, northeast Japan. Every year, the local government recruits several trainees, called orihime (weaving princesses), from throughout Japan to learn firsthand how to cultivate the karamushi (Boehmeria nivea; ramie) plant and weave fabric from its extracted fibers. In order to investigate the orihime’s experiences, the author undertook interviews from 2010 to 2015.

Drawing from the life stories of four orihime, the results of the fieldwork can be sumarized as follows. First, the orihime find themselves in conflict with traditional expectations of marriage in local communities. Second, because of a decline in the traditional textile industry, many orihime find it difficult to make a living and settle in the village. However, relationships with the village could deepen their specific “ephemeral sense of place.” This sense of place could enhance the feeling of wanting to contribute to the local community as much as possible in a limited time. Third, over the course of their involvement in cultivating karamushi with locals, the orihime gradually realize that cultivating and extracting karamushi fibers are part of the collective memories passed down through generations in the village. They also discover the local farmers’ skilled techniques and recognize that the locals show respect for what has been passed down. These experiences strengthen the orihime’s desire to inherit local culture and stay in Showa village. These ways of life displayed by the orihime could exceed local people’s expectations of traditional gender roles, and what the orihime do during their stays leaves a lasting legacy in Showa village, even after they depart.