Abstract
Compared to the national average or urban areas, mountainous village regions are facing declining birthrates, aging populations, and population decrease, and they are experiencing problems such as being unable to maintain the conventional municipal service provision system due to staff shortages. In these mountainous areas, there are distinct characteristics, such as older residents’ preferences for living in the area depending on whether someone in the household can drive, and younger family members like children or grandchildren feeling burdened by transportation duties. Among these, households with young children are both involved in child-rearing and taking care of relatives while generally being part of the working generation. In addition, the child-rearing generation experiences the burden of having to complete procedures during the period shortly after pregnancy and childbirth, and there are many requests for accurate information related to child-rearing and demands for better municipal office services. Therefore, this study focuses on Tsumagoi Village in Gunma Prefecture, and aims to empirically clarify the impact that the introduction of an information system in the government office counter services has on the intention to live in mountain villages, and to consider measures to improve the intention to live in mountain villages by introducing an information system. The analysis revealed that the use-intention for an information system is formed among households with young children in mountainous regions when the system provides support for community building, assistance with relative transportation and care, and a reduction of the burdens associated with child-rearing procedures. Moreover, it was found that within the child-rearing households, those with children aged three years or younger, relatives living in the village, higher burdens from child-rearing, transportation, and assistance tend to show increased willingness to reside there due to expectations of reduced burdens.
