Criticism against the Argument of “Disappearing Regional Localities”

From the Perspective of Regional Economic Studies

Abstract

This paper probed into and criticized the following two frameworks. The first one is the Masuda Report-viz. the “Strategy to Stop Declining Birthrate and Vitalize Regional Localities”-that was released in May 2014 by Japan Policy Council’s Evaluation Subcommittee on the Question of Population Decrease. Based on the idea of “disappearing regional localities” as argued in the Masuda Report, the Second Abe Cabinet has been promoting “chino souse,” known in Japanese government documents in English as “Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy in Japan.”The second framework is a series of policies on chino sosei, in other words “regional localities vitalization,” especially those on growth strategy, local government system, and national land planning. In this regard, the paper examined the argument of “disappearing regional localities”whether they are valid or not from the perspective of regional economic studies. At the same time, it clarified the fundamental direction of local revitalization as against the policies of “regional localities vitalization.”