Theme-Community Based Adaptation Strategies Toward Sustainable Rural Development: Case from a Local Tofu Company in Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

There are several past researches conducted on “theme-community” wherein the initiatives and/or relationship among stakeholders focus on a certain product or concept regardless of traditional political boundaries. This paper focuses on tofu or its raw material, soybean. Tofu is one of the main soybean processed products and an integral part of a traditional meal in Japan. Although the amount of its domestic production and consumption have only changed slightly, the number of tofu companies have been drastically decreased from 50,000 in 1960 to 8,000 in 2014. This can be attributed to the inability of small-scale tofu companies to compete with prevalent mass production of large-scale processing companies, and to respond to the demand of supermarkets for much lower retail price. In order to provide possible ways to gain resiliency for local small-scale companies, this study aims to determine the adaptation strategies of a local tofu company in Saitama Prefecture, Japan using the case study approach. Company visits and key informant interviews revealed that the local tofu company conducted (1) product development in accordance with season, farming community and consumer demand, (2) introduction of TEIKEI for soybean farmers, and (3) implementation of innovative selling activities. Moreover, these initiatives further paved way for sustainable rural development. For further study, there is a need to determine the development of its partnership with and its respective impact to the local soybean farmers.