Building a supportive environment for entrepreneurship is currently a widely discussed issue for rural development, and has eliminated the issue of poverty in numerous rural areas. However, conditions in some regions are worse ; they do not have the pertinent location or regional characteristic products that aid poverty alleviation. How to build an environment that supports entrepreneurship and attracts external talents to these regions has become an international issue. According to research from various areas, it is difficult to leverage social capital, while the government is almost the only source of support. However, research on this subject is still insufficient because the existing literature has rarely investigated villagersʼ autonomous organizations and external entrepreneurs. Therefore, this study takes Chinaʼs rural poverty-stricken village as an example, studying the entrepreneurial process of establishing a rural professional cooperative. As a result, it establishes a cooperative relationship between external entrepreneurs and local villagers, utilizing the existing policies and resources. On the one hand, external talent mediates entrepreneurial plans based on local conditions ; on the other hand, the local villagers and autonomous organizations gather resources to enlarge the business. Besides, the leader of the local villagers can receive governmental funds as crucial financial support.

In this study, we clarified the situation of the wild boar population and damage on Futagami Island, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, 10 years after the wild boars migrated to the island. First, the REST model was used to estimate the population density, which was estimated to be 69.3 wild boars/km²（median value） as of December 2020. The area of possible habitat was estimated to be 1.97 km²（86％ of the entire island）, and the number of animals inhabiting the island during the same period was estimated to be 117.8 animals, which is equivalent to 1.4 times the human population. Under such habitat conditions, wild boars easily invaded peopleʼs houses and farmland, damaging warehouses and causing wild boars to give birth near farmland and agricultural facilities. Capturing wild boars is essential for the safety and security of peopleʼs lives, but we also found that the average annual number of wild boars captured on Futagami Island is only 12-34％ of the estimated population. While it is necessary to increase the number of animals captured, it is extremely difficult to recruit new trappers on Futagami Island, which is currently suffering from depopulation and an aging population. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the number of animals captured by expanding public support from outside the island.

This study analyzed the mutual insurance data, investigated the theft of agricultural vehicles in Tochigi Prefecture, and revealed the actual state of the targeted vehicles, including the type of vehicles and the time of occurrence, and discussed the characteristics of the vehicles. The analysis revealed that 90％ of the stolen vehicles were wheeled passenger tractors with a wide range of usage years, not just new ones. The number of stolen passenger tractors was higher than other vehicle types, indicating that passenger tractors were selectively stolen. The thefts of the five targeted agricultural vehicles tended to occur more frequently between March and May and between October and December. Most of the offenses were committed between the afternoon and the morning of the next day. Many of the damaged vehicles were stored in shed etc. and there were also confirmed cases where vehicles were stolen from shed on the premises. There were also confirmed cases where vehicles were stolen despite the fact that security measures had been taken at the vehicle and storage location. On the other hand, there were also cases where the vehicle was left unlocked or in the field. In order to reduce the risk of agricultural vehicle theft, it appears that the first priority should be to increase farmersʼ awareness of crime prevention and tourgently install commercially available anti-theft devices. The study also highlighted the need for agricultural vehicle manufacturers and industry associations to take anti-theft measures in reference to the previous incidents.

This study sought to clarify local residentsʼ evaluation and expectations regarding university-regional cooperation, based on a questionnaire survey targeting residents in regions rebuilding after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The questionnaire survey was mailed to 1,500 residents of Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture and nearly one-third responded. Covariance structure analysis was performed to clarify local residentsʼ evaluation and expectations regarding university-regional cooperation between the town of Kawamata and Kindai University. Although the number of respondents who had been involved in past university-regional cooperation was small, there was a certain degree of recognition regarding past university-regional cooperation matters. In addition, the number of respondents who positively evaluated the university-regional cooperation and those who anticipated future university-regional cooperation was large. The analysis results revealed a tendency for recognition to increase with experience. Similarly, the higher the recognition, the higher the evaluation, and the higher the evaluation, the higher the expectations. In the future, it will be necessary to further verify the effectiveness of cooperative measures for university-regional cooperation in areas rebuilding after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The Houtoku-Shiho by Kinjiro Ninomiya is widely known as a rural revitalization measure in the late modern period. However, while there have been many studies on the economic, social, and ideological aspects, only fragmentary references have been made to the physical aspects, i.e., the results of agricultural engineering. To compensate for this, this paper discusses the characteristics of the Houtoku-Shiho in the development of agricultural production infrastructure, such as farmland and agricultural facilities, with the Sakuramachi-Shiho as the main reference. The Houtoku-Shiho is characterized by its comprehensive and systematic measures, not only for production infrastructure but also for distribution facilities, which led to regional development by fostering and multiplying economically stable and self-supporting small-farm management. This was supported by Kinjiroʼs objective, rational, and practical attitude, as well as his experience as a local expert. In addition to obtaining the land information necessary for construction, he conducted detailed surveys aimed at eliminating conflicts between farm households over land and social relations and cultivating farm householdsʼ awareness of the need for reconstruction efforts. The technical features of the agricultural production infrastructure development were to improve land productivity by improving drainage and soil fertility, to shorten labor hours by straightening roads, farmland plots, and waterways, and to construct a functional road network. These did not revolutionize farming methods themselves, but they were accompanied by the development of many new technologies in response to the field. In his practice in the field, Kinjiro was preparing the material conditions for local agricultural development that would lead to the modern era.

The number of Local Vitalization Cooperators is expected to increase to 10,000 by FY2026. However, mismatches often occur between the expectations of local governments or residents and the cooperatorsʼ desires. In addition, even if the local government or residents wish the cooperators to settle in the area after the end of their term, they often leave the area. In order to prevent the occurrence of these problems, local governments need to improve the activity environment. This study used multivariate analysis to elucidate the determinants of the matching status and settlement intention of the cooperators in Yamagata Prefecture. It made proposals for reducing mismatches and increasing the likelihood of settlement. As a result, the following three measures were effective in reducing mismatches. (1) Close communications between the host organization or municipality and the cooperators regarding the purpose and content of their activities during and after the recruitment stage. (2) Encouraging the cooperators to improve their skills according to their situation. (3) Close relationships between the cooperators and residents outside of work. Moreover, the following four measures were effective in improving the settlement intention. (1) Enhance the life and activities of the cooperators during their term so that they can develop a concrete and realistic image of their life and work after their term. (2) Avoid treating the cooperators as a mere local labor force. (3) Encourage cooperation with other cooperators. (4) the measures to reduce mismatches. Furthermore, securing a living foundation and communicating with residents are issues for the actual settlement of the cooperators.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the differences in various aspects of how to involve with their residential areas between rural and urban residents through the questionnaire survey conducted to people living in Jinseki-Kogen Town and Hiroshima City. Such comparative analyses provide fundamental and important information in progressing rural immigration. The main results are as follows. First, Jinseki-Kogen respondents more frequently participate in several kinds of residential activities. Second, they feel the participations as their duties than Hiroshima respondents, but not considering the duties as matters of course. Third, Jinseki-Kogen respondents have several kinds of friendly relationships with more neighbors. They also emphasize relation among families and are motivated to educate their children within a whole residential commitment. Especially they think the neighborhood associations as their irreplaceable social group. These high-level consciousness and active involvement with their residential area might become a hurdle for rural immigration, but not necessary so for those preferring such social ties.

In this report, we studied the management and use of after-school childcare （ASC） in hilly and mountainous areas （HMA）. The case areas of this research were depopulated towns and villages in Gunma Prefecture, particularly Nanmoku Village and Kanna Town, where depopulation is increasing rapidly. The results were as follows : 1）ASC was necessary not only in urban areas but also in HMA because many children return from school to an empty home in HMA. In particular, in areas that had fewer parks due to their steep hillsides and the long distance between the houses where children lived ; places providing ASC are highly valued as children can to go outdoors, interact, and play together. However, the towns and villages where childcare is not free and the ASC only allows registration for children whose parents are not at home when school hours end ; therefore, not all children enjoy the functions of ASC in HMA. In those areas, children use other institutions, including systems, such as after-school child classes. 2）In some towns and villages, regardless of their status with respect to depopulation, there was no fee for ASC to support families raise children. On the other hand, moderate to high fees in Gunma Prefecture would be needed for the use of ASC in towns and villages that were designated as depopulated areas. 3）In Nanmoku Village and Kanna Town, almost every child was registered with ASC. The reasons for this were the free provision of ASC for all children as there were fewer elementary school children than the capacity for ASC, and there are few parks in these areas, particularly in Nanmoku Village.

The purpose of this study was to examine how to coexist with black bears in Ishikawa Prefecture, where a record number of black bears appeared in the autumn of 2020, and to understand the current risk perception and coping behavior of prefectural residents, which could serve as a basis for the formation of a coexisting society. In line with the studyʼs objectives, we conducted a questionnaire survey using LINE, which has a high penetration rate, to conduct efficient sampling in rural areas where it is not easy to collect data according to regional characteristics and resident attributes. The survey was conducted in February 2021, with a sample size of 1,742 valid responses from the entire prefecture. Analysis of the obtained data showed that citizensʼ risk perception of bear encounters was increased by the occurrence of bears in their living areas and their experiences of encountering bears. Residents who had bear encounters in their living areas relied on various information sources, had higher knowledge, and took actual encounter avoidance actions when they had experienced encounters. Information communication is needed to stimulate more encounter avoidance behavior, for example, by communicating standards of real encounters.