
Japan is full of both young people keen to visit new locations but lacking the funds to do so, and provincial towns seeking a fresh influx of younger workers. Nagaoka Rina created a service that tackles both issues by offering young people paid placements with local farms and businesses, also providing free accommodation and enough downtime to explore in exchange for a few hours manual work per day. And as well as labor, the towns gain new ambassadors to showcase their appeal more widely.
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"RISING"
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"Working visits revitalize regional destinations" Matching service innovator - Nagaoka Rina
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Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, sits on the Sea of Japan coast.
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This town of 52,000 grew out of prosperous fisheries,
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and tea is also grown in the surrounding mountains.
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The main access point is Hamada Station.
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Arriving alone on a trip from the urban Kansai region
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is college student Takeda Naoya.
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And he's greeted by local tea farmer Sasaki Reiji.
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But what brings Takeda to Hamada?
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I have a friend who grew up here and I heard it's a fantastic place,
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so I wanted to come and experience it for myself.
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But despite wanting to come to Hamada,
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the costs involved had always proven prohibitive.
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This trip was made possible by the chance to earn some money
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by working on Sasaki's tea plantation.
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Takeda will be here for seven days.
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And instead of shelling out for a hotel,
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he'll be staying at Sasaki's home.
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You can see the fields from here.
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Another major attraction of this system is that accommodation is free.
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It's all made possible by an online service
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that connects young people willing to work to help pay their way
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with local people in need of outside personnel.
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The site lists numerous working trips all over Japan,
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with details on job type,
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duration, remuneration, and local attractions.
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The workplaces range from farms to traditional inns and more.
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And while described as "work,"
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most of the mainly week-long positions are actually closer to support
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for existing staff or family members.
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And as well as the chance to work alongside locals,
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there's also plenty of free time to experience the surrounding area.
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For travelers, the scheme offers accommodation and a modest wage.
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And for participating destinations, it's a chance to address labor shortages
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while welcoming aspiring travelers to their area.
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The service was the brainchild of Nagaoka Rina,
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currently in the spotlight as one of Japan's hottest young entrepreneurs.
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Japan's regions have all sorts of less-well-known but wonderful attractions,
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and our aim is to bring more people to these areas to learn about those.
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We hope that our system can help to forge connections
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between local people and outside visitors.
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Back in Hamada, Takeda Naoya is settling in.
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With work set to start tomorrow,
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Sasaki asks him about his preferred workload.
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Is there a certain amount you want to earn while you're here?
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- Not really.
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Money isn't really my main priority.
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So it's more about what you can do and experience while you're here?
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That's right -
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although I wouldn't want to find myself with too much free time.
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And besides work,
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Sasaki, too, is just as keen that his young visitor
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gets to experience what Hamada has to offer.
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In order to raise the profile of Hamada,
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we want visitors to convey what we have here from various perspectives
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to as many people as possible.
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So, as well as temporary labor,
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we hope that added reach can drive future developments here.
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The next morning.
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With his first day of work ahead,
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Takeda gets kitted out and heads to the fields.
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The outfit is completed with this orange apron
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and a visor.
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What'll he be doing?
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Strimming weeds.
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Don't point the strimmer at anyone.
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And when you turn to look at something,
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just turn your head.
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If you twist your whole body, the blades will come along too!
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After some in-depth guidance,
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the next step is to practice on a patch of flat land.
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And once he's got the hang of that,
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today's task will be clearing these ditches beside the fields.
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If left to grow, this dense brush
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could provide shelter for beasts such as wild boar.
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It's painstaking work.
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That afternoon, to preserve soil through the winter,
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he scatters rice chaff on the fields.
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Carrying the heavy sack gives another physical workout.
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It's quite strenuous work.
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They do have a lot of tough tasks to do here.
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Once work is done for the day,
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Sasaki takes Takeda to meet some more locals.
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Takeda, at your service.
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They're members of a group
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dedicated to preserving a traditional performing art called Iwami Kagura,
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and Takeda's here for a special introduction.
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Iwami Kagura has been practiced locally for hundreds of years.
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This scene depicts a giant serpent coiling itself around.
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And Takeda gets the privileged opportunity to try it for himself.
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The outfit is capped off with a "papier-mache" dragon's head.
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And then the hero comes along with a sword.
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Wow, this is something else.
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And imagine four of you together in a space much smaller than this!
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Smaller than this room?
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That sounds tough.
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You get the hang of it.
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This is something few tourists get to try.
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That evening,
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Mrs. Sasaki provides a home-cooked dinner
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using locally sourced ingredients.
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It's all part of the authentic Hamada experience.
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This John Dory was caught in the Sea of Japan.
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The deep-fried fish is great.
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Everybody likes the fried John Dory.
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That's a favorite local dish.
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Sharing meals with the local people
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is another experience usually off-bounds to tourists.
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And in actual fact,
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this is Takeda's third working trip via Nagaoka's service.
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What is the primary appeal?
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What makes you fall in love with an area
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isn't the weather or the facilities.
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Ultimately, it's the people.
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That chance to talk with local people is what's great about these working trips.
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As a tourist, you don't get the chance for such deep conversations.
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Based in Tokyo,
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Nagaoka's firm comprises a small team of around ten.
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The whole firm runs on commission paid by registered destinations
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for each placement confirmed.
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Nagaoka's team focuses on identifying new destinations
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and creating profiles to convey their appeal.
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Our users are leaving home to visit unfamiliar destinations,
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so they want to know about the people they'll be staying with.
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So, we use portraits and user testimonials to convey that via our website.
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Developing a network of people with lasting connections to partner communities
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is a key focus for Nagaoka's team.
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Sitting somewhere between one-off tourists and permanent residents,
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these are a diverse group
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with varying levels of connection to their favorite destinations.
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But where did Nagaoka draw the inspiration for this initiative?
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She herself was born in the town of Owase, Mie Prefecture, central Japan.
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It's a temperate region on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
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After graduating from high school,
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she left for university near Tokyo.
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And once there, she was disappointed to learn that
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most of her friends had never heard of her hometown.
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At first, I was quite resigned to the fact, like,
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"Well, it's only natural."
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But then I decided
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I wanted to raise awareness, because Owase has so much going for it.
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After graduation, she joined an event management firm in Tokyo.
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The position involved traveling nationwide to work on regional activities,
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and that triggered a profound realization.
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I visited lots of different locations
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and many of them reminded me of my own hometown.
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All these little-known places but with so much to offer.
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I realized that my own holidays
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were focused on such a narrow group of locations,
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and that there were so many interesting destinations all over Japan.
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And I thought I'd like to create something that would bring more people
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to these regions that get dismissed as "minor."
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She left her job and spent six months touring Japan's regions
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to learn more about the situation on the ground.
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Finally hitting upon the idea of combining trips with short-term support tasks,
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she drew up a proposal and visited almost 200 local authorities
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to present her ideas.
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It was a totally new concept.
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Plus I had no prior track record,
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and I hadn't even started a company yet.
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Some voiced concerns about the type of people that would show up.
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Others said it was a nice idea and they'd like to get onboard,
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but that it was all just a bit too pie in the sky.
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But Nagaoka didn't let up,
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and eventually, the launch of the first working trip in early 2018
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proved the spur for a gradual expansion across the country.
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That July, she finally set up her own company.
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And in 2020,
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they picked up two prizes at the Japan Tourism Awards.
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Their current roster of registered destinations
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includes around 500 businesses.
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Recently, the concept of whole towns signing up together has begun to emerge.
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And one of those is Owase, Mie Prefecture -
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Nagaoka's own beloved hometown.
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Founded on fisheries and forestry,
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the area boasts picturesque natural scenery.
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But depopulation and aging have seen the local community shrink by half
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since the 1960s to just 17,000.
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And of those who remain,
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some 44.9% are over the age of 65,
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well above the national average.
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The result is personnel shortages for primary industries.
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In an effort to address this,
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the local authorities teamed up with farming associations
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to join Nagaoka's service,
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before inviting applications
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to participate in the harvest of local specialty crop
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"amanatsu" oranges.
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Beyond the amanatsu harvest,
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we hope to provide a chance for young people to get involved
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with all aspects of local primary industry.
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There are many things unique to Owase that may not be familiar to city dwellers.
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We hope visitors can come here, find local things that are new and interesting to them,
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and spread the message about those as widely as possible.
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January 8, 2022, just after the New Year holiday.
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Three university students chosen from a raft of applications
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arrive in Owase to be greeted by local officials.
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I want to try all sorts of things.
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Being able to visit somewhere new while earning a wage
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was a big part of the appeal for me.
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I wanted to visit domestic destinations I hadn't been to before,
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and then I found this program.
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It seemed like a great chance to visit somewhere new.
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The officials drive their three visitors
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to where they'll be staying during their placement.
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This orange farm assembly hall in the hills above the town
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is their free accommodation.
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With a shared kitchen, the trio will be here together for seven days.
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The location also commands breathtaking views of Owase Bay.
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Later that evening.
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And participants in the local project
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lay on a welcome party for their new arrivals.
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It's a sign of how much hope rests on this initiative.
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In all honesty, when we welcomed you off the train,
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I wondered what'd brought you here.
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But I'm so grateful you've come.
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And we're here to support you over the coming week.
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Thank you!
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The shared hope among these local organizers
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is that this project can forge new fans of Owase
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to go out and spread the word.
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The next morning, things soon get underway
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as work begins on the amanatsu harvest.
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Good morning. At your service.
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The town has placed the trio with Yoshizawa Kisaburo,
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a local farmer with 60 years of experience.
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I'd like to thank you all for coming so far to help us out.
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They head straight into the orange grove,
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with row upon row of trees covering the steep hillside.
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The local pickers are already at work, all of them seniors.
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There just aren't enough young locals to pick up the torch for the orange industry.
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Our three young city dwellers also get stuck in.
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The height of these amanatsu trees means
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pickers have to climb to reach the upper fruits.
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And while the actual process of clipping the oranges free is simple enough,
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it's physically taxing work.
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Next, they need to carry
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densely packed crates of fruit up the slopes.
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It's tougher than I thought, but still a lot of fun.
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You don't get the chance to do this in the city, so it's all very new.
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I'm pretty puffed out.
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I'd never climbed a tree before.
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And what are farm owner Yoshizawa's own hopes for this initiative?
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We locals are all getting older.
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So it's a big help to have young people here to help with the harvest.
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Even just having young people around gives us a boost.
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And, hopefully, we might even find someone who wants to go into orange farming full-time.
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For the next six days, these young visitors will combine farm labor
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with free time spent getting to know Owase.
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And in some locations,
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the pandemic has seen ties forged by working trips
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taken to even greater lengths.
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Hiruzen Kogen is a local tourist destination in Okayama, western Japan.
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Facilities include this collection of ten alpine cottages.
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Staff member Sugo Nonoka
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is in her fourth year at a university in Tokyo.
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She moved to Hiruzen in 2020 after coming here on a working trip.
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But why did she choose Hiruzen in the first place?
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I'd never been west of Osaka before.
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I spotted this destination, and I applied.
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Over the course of her two-week working trip,
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Sugo fell in love with this location she'd previously never heard of.
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And with her university implementing remote learning due to the pandemic,
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she realized she could move here without interrupting her studies.
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I love the scenery and the nature,
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along with the clear mountain air, and even the cold.
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But the deciding factor was the owner here and the other staff.
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With ten cottages to tend to, staff shortages are a major concern.
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What was the reaction of owner Schembari Arisa
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when Sugo told her she planned to relocate full-time?
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I was happy, but it was quite sudden.
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So I was surprised.
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To be honest, I couldn't really believe it.
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I wondered if she realized quite how heavy the snow gets here.
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The snow was tough at first,
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but not so tough that it made me feel like I wanted to go back home.
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Sugo's quarters are in the staff complex beside the cottages.
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As well as cleaning the guest rooms,
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she spends time creating promotional videos to post online.
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It's a task that leverages a long-standing hobby.
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Besides the cottages themselves,
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the videos showcase other local businesses and attractions.
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And these activities have helped Sugo develop a new network of local friends.
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It's great to have young people here.
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It really is a breath of fresh air.
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But after a year living locally and with graduation approaching,
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Sugo decides to move back to her parents.
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We join her as she visits local friends to say her goodbyes.
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Hi, I've got something to tell you.
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I'm actually leaving next week.
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Oh really? How long have you been here now?
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Exactly one year.
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A year! Well, you've really helped liven things up.
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But this isn't going to be the end of her ties with Hiruzen.
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I didn't feel that sad as I was saying my goodbyes,
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and I think that's because I'm sure that I'm going to see everyone again.
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In the future, if I find myself working freelance,
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I know that I've got a lot of connections with local businesses.
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And we have talked about the idea of working together again in the future,
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so I think it would be wonderful if we were able to do that.
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And Nagaoka's working trips
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are also attracting guests from outside Japan.
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Francois Blom-Peters is a philosophy research student from Luxembourg.
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Having studied Japanese in his home country,
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he secured a place at a public university in Osaka
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and arrived in 2020.
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In the spring of 2021, he took part in a working trip,
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where he spent four days planting grape vines at a winery.
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I wanted to travel in Japan,
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particularly to the countryside, because I really like nature.
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And the working trips offered a chance to meet people and work alongside them,
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which was very appealing.
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Blom-Peters' working trip placement was in
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Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan,
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here at this winery overlooking the sea.
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Founded in 2019,
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the business specializes in sparkling wines
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and even has its own on-site restaurant.
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We join Blom-Peters on a visit from Osaka.
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Once his course is over, he has actually signed up to work here full-time.
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He's here to fill out paperwork
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in support of his switch from a student visa to a working one.
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Locally born owner Ota Yuya joined the working trip scheme
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to promote his winery and the local town to young people nationwide.
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And while he was pleased to welcome a participant from overseas,
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it took him by surprise when Blom-Peters declared his wish
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to join his staff full-time.
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It was certainly quite unexpected.
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But in order to promote our winery,
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I had been hoping to investigate
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how we are perceived by an overseas audience.
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So I am very keen to work together.
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I love the scenery here.
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And it seemed a great place to live, so I thought I'd like to do that.
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I'm very grateful that he's taken such an interest in our area.
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And from here, I'd like to leverage that enthusiasm in all sorts of fields,
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so I'm really looking forward to working together.
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The view that Blom-Peters fell in love with
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was the Seto Inland Sea stretching out in front of the winery.
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And the stirring impact is magnified by the many islands
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jutting out from the horizon.
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Meanwhile, neighboring Takehara boasts streetscapes
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preserved from the Edo period,
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echoes of a time when merchants prospered from local salt production.
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A long-standing history buff,
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Blom-Peters was enchanted when he visited Takehara during his working trip.
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And Nagaoka Rina's platform
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continues to connect young people eager to visit new areas,
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with destinations keen to attract young people.
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What are her hopes for the future of her enterprise?
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I want to ensure that these lesser-known
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but highly appealing locations across Japan
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become widely acknowledged travel destinations.
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With Japan's population steadily decreasing,
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we need to imagine a future in which we each play multiple roles,
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with ties to multiple destinations beyond our current or family homes,
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bringing more affection, and more money to provincial areas.
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That's the future I want to create.