2024 Volume 36 Issue 3 Pages 26-35
This study focuses on the disengagement of lifestyle migrants who relocated to Okinawa Prefecture and subsequently returned to their original homeplaces. The reasons for this disengagement were investigated in two stages, namely, a primary interview and a secondary questionnaire. Furthermore, the data from the questionnaire were used to analyze the relationship between regional commitment and the willingness to continue relations with Okinawa after leaving it. The results revealed that the motives for leaving were similar to factors previously noted in U-turn studies (e.g., studies on graduates of metropolitan universities returning to their non-metropolitan homeplaces); however, the formation of regional commitments shapes departing lifestyle migrants’ intention to continue relationships with that place after their departure from Okinawa.
