2017 年 47 巻 1 号 p. 17-34
The aim of this paper is to consider depopulation from the viewpoint of managing the environment. The rapid increase in the aged population, decrease in the national population, and concentration of the population in Tokyo are now major problems in Japan. In particular, depopulation in the countryside has become more and more serious. Traditionally, discussions and policies about depopulation in Japan were one-dimensional ideas only discussed by cities or government. That is, depopulation problems were discussed by only focusing on the size of the population, and insisting that depopulation must be overcome. However, when considering management of a region, multi-faceted discussions that consider the many purposes for the region are desirable. Therefore, the idea of the ‘coexistence of various objectives’ based on regional theory is required.
This paper focuses on Kumogahata in Kyoto, and regards depopulation as an environmental problem. By approaching the issue from the viewpoint of environmental management, depopulation is regarded as one aspect of the diversity of the region.
In the management of the environment, it is necessary to focus on the social background of environmental issues. Therefore, the social background was understood by considering the activities and purposes of various organisations in Kumogahata. As a result, organisations were found to have a variety of purposes in the depopulated areas, and external volunteer organisations also play an important role.
Consequently, this paper proposes to add a new step of ‘forming a staying exchange population’ to the existing plan. Above all, it is important to respect the original purpose of the volunteer organisation and recognise the value of the exchange population itself.
JEL Classification: L38, R11, R23
