Working Visits Revitalize Regional Destinations: Matching Service Innovator - Nagaoka Rina

"RISING"

"Working visits revitalize regional destinations" Matching service innovator - Nagaoka Rina

Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, sits on the Sea of Japan coast.

This town of 52,000 grew out of prosperous fisheries,

and tea is also grown in the surrounding mountains.

The main access point is Hamada Station.

Arriving alone on a trip from the urban Kansai region

is college student Takeda Naoya.

And he's greeted by local tea farmer Sasaki Reiji.

But what brings Takeda to Hamada?

I have a friend who grew up here and I heard it's a fantastic place,

so I wanted to come and experience it for myself.

But despite wanting to come to Hamada,

the costs involved had always proven prohibitive.

This trip was made possible by the chance to earn some money

by working on Sasaki's tea plantation.

Takeda will be here for seven days.

And instead of shelling out for a hotel,

he'll be staying at Sasaki's home.

You can see the fields from here.

Another major attraction of this system is that accommodation is free.

It's all made possible by an online service

that connects young people willing to work to help pay their way

with local people in need of outside personnel.

The site lists numerous working trips all over Japan,

with details on job type,

duration, remuneration, and local attractions.

The workplaces range from farms to traditional inns and more.

And while described as "work,"

most of the mainly week-long positions are actually closer to support

for existing staff or family members.

And as well as the chance to work alongside locals,

there's also plenty of free time to experience the surrounding area.

For travelers, the scheme offers accommodation and a modest wage.

And for participating destinations, it's a chance to address labor shortages

while welcoming aspiring travelers to their area.

The service was the brainchild of Nagaoka Rina,

currently in the spotlight as one of Japan's hottest young entrepreneurs.

Japan's regions have all sorts of less-well-known but wonderful attractions,

and our aim is to bring more people to these areas to learn about those.

We hope that our system can help to forge connections

between local people and outside visitors.

Back in Hamada, Takeda Naoya is settling in.

With work set to start tomorrow,

Sasaki asks him about his preferred workload.

Is there a certain amount you want to earn while you're here?

- Not really.
- No?

Money isn't really my main priority.

So it's more about what you can do and experience while you're here?

That's right -

although I wouldn't want to find myself with too much free time.

And besides work,

Sasaki, too, is just as keen that his young visitor

gets to experience what Hamada has to offer.

In order to raise the profile of Hamada,

we want visitors to convey what we have here from various perspectives

to as many people as possible.

So, as well as temporary labor,

we hope that added reach can drive future developments here.

The next morning.

With his first day of work ahead,

Takeda gets kitted out and heads to the fields.

The outfit is completed with this orange apron

and a visor.

What'll he be doing?

Strimming weeds.

Don't point the strimmer at anyone.

And when you turn to look at something,

just turn your head.

If you twist your whole body, the blades will come along too!

After some in-depth guidance,

the next step is to practice on a patch of flat land.

And once he's got the hang of that,

today's task will be clearing these ditches beside the fields.

If left to grow, this dense brush

could provide shelter for beasts such as wild boar.

It's painstaking work.

That afternoon, to preserve soil through the winter,

he scatters rice chaff on the fields.

Carrying the heavy sack gives another physical workout.

It's quite strenuous work.

They do have a lot of tough tasks to do here.

Once work is done for the day,

Sasaki takes Takeda to meet some more locals.

Takeda, at your service.

They're members of a group

dedicated to preserving a traditional performing art called Iwami Kagura,

and Takeda's here for a special introduction.

Iwami Kagura has been practiced locally for hundreds of years.

This scene depicts a giant serpent coiling itself around.

And Takeda gets the privileged opportunity to try it for himself.

The outfit is capped off with a "papier-mache" dragon's head.

And then the hero comes along with a sword.

Wow, this is something else.

And imagine four of you together in a space much smaller than this!

Smaller than this room?

That sounds tough.

You get the hang of it.

This is something few tourists get to try.

That evening,

Mrs. Sasaki provides a home-cooked dinner

using locally sourced ingredients.

It's all part of the authentic Hamada experience.

This John Dory was caught in the Sea of Japan.

The deep-fried fish is great.

Everybody likes the fried John Dory.

That's a favorite local dish.

Sharing meals with the local people

is another experience usually off-bounds to tourists.

And in actual fact,

this is Takeda's third working trip via Nagaoka's service.

What is the primary appeal?

What makes you fall in love with an area

isn't the weather or the facilities.

Ultimately, it's the people.

That chance to talk with local people is what's great about these working trips.

As a tourist, you don't get the chance for such deep conversations.

Based in Tokyo,

Nagaoka's firm comprises a small team of around ten.

The whole firm runs on commission paid by registered destinations

for each placement confirmed.

Nagaoka's team focuses on identifying new destinations

and creating profiles to convey their appeal.

Our users are leaving home to visit unfamiliar destinations,

so they want to know about the people they'll be staying with.

So, we use portraits and user testimonials to convey that via our website.

Developing a network of people with lasting connections to partner communities

is a key focus for Nagaoka's team.

Sitting somewhere between one-off tourists and permanent residents,

these are a diverse group

with varying levels of connection to their favorite destinations.

But where did Nagaoka draw the inspiration for this initiative?

She herself was born in the town of Owase, Mie Prefecture, central Japan.

It's a temperate region on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

After graduating from high school,

she left for university near Tokyo.

And once there, she was disappointed to learn that

most of her friends had never heard of her hometown.

At first, I was quite resigned to the fact, like,

"Well, it's only natural."

But then I decided

I wanted to raise awareness, because Owase has so much going for it.

After graduation, she joined an event management firm in Tokyo.

The position involved traveling nationwide to work on regional activities,

and that triggered a profound realization.

I visited lots of different locations

and many of them reminded me of my own hometown.

All these little-known places but with so much to offer.

I realized that my own holidays

were focused on such a narrow group of locations,

and that there were so many interesting destinations all over Japan.

And I thought I'd like to create something that would bring more people

to these regions that get dismissed as "minor."

She left her job and spent six months touring Japan's regions

to learn more about the situation on the ground.

Finally hitting upon the idea of combining trips with short-term support tasks,

she drew up a proposal and visited almost 200 local authorities

to present her ideas.

It was a totally new concept.

Plus I had no prior track record,

and I hadn't even started a company yet.

Some voiced concerns about the type of people that would show up.

Others said it was a nice idea and they'd like to get onboard,

but that it was all just a bit too pie in the sky.

But Nagaoka didn't let up,

and eventually, the launch of the first working trip in early 2018

proved the spur for a gradual expansion across the country.

That July, she finally set up her own company.

And in 2020,

they picked up two prizes at the Japan Tourism Awards.

Their current roster of registered destinations

includes around 500 businesses.

Recently, the concept of whole towns signing up together has begun to emerge.

And one of those is Owase, Mie Prefecture -

Nagaoka's own beloved hometown.

Founded on fisheries and forestry,

the area boasts picturesque natural scenery.

But depopulation and aging have seen the local community shrink by half

since the 1960s to just 17,000.

And of those who remain,

some 44.9% are over the age of 65,

well above the national average.

The result is personnel shortages for primary industries.

In an effort to address this,

the local authorities teamed up with farming associations

to join Nagaoka's service,

before inviting applications

to participate in the harvest of local specialty crop

"amanatsu" oranges.

Beyond the amanatsu harvest,

we hope to provide a chance for young people to get involved

with all aspects of local primary industry.

There are many things unique to Owase that may not be familiar to city dwellers.

We hope visitors can come here, find local things that are new and interesting to them,

and spread the message about those as widely as possible.

January 8, 2022, just after the New Year holiday.

Three university students chosen from a raft of applications

arrive in Owase to be greeted by local officials.

I want to try all sorts of things.

Being able to visit somewhere new while earning a wage

was a big part of the appeal for me.

I wanted to visit domestic destinations I hadn't been to before,

and then I found this program.

It seemed like a great chance to visit somewhere new.

The officials drive their three visitors

to where they'll be staying during their placement.

This orange farm assembly hall in the hills above the town

is their free accommodation.

With a shared kitchen, the trio will be here together for seven days.

The location also commands breathtaking views of Owase Bay.

Later that evening.

And participants in the local project

lay on a welcome party for their new arrivals.

It's a sign of how much hope rests on this initiative.

In all honesty, when we welcomed you off the train,

I wondered what'd brought you here.

But I'm so grateful you've come.

And we're here to support you over the coming week.

Thank you!

The shared hope among these local organizers

is that this project can forge new fans of Owase

to go out and spread the word.

The next morning, things soon get underway

as work begins on the amanatsu harvest.

Good morning. At your service.

The town has placed the trio with Yoshizawa Kisaburo,

a local farmer with 60 years of experience.

I'd like to thank you all for coming so far to help us out.

They head straight into the orange grove,

with row upon row of trees covering the steep hillside.

The local pickers are already at work, all of them seniors.

There just aren't enough young locals to pick up the torch for the orange industry.

Our three young city dwellers also get stuck in.

The height of these amanatsu trees means

pickers have to climb to reach the upper fruits.

And while the actual process of clipping the oranges free is simple enough,

it's physically taxing work.

Next, they need to carry

densely packed crates of fruit up the slopes.

It's tougher than I thought, but still a lot of fun.

You don't get the chance to do this in the city, so it's all very new.

I'm pretty puffed out.

I'd never climbed a tree before.

And what are farm owner Yoshizawa's own hopes for this initiative?

We locals are all getting older.

So it's a big help to have young people here to help with the harvest.

Even just having young people around gives us a boost.

And, hopefully, we might even find someone who wants to go into orange farming full-time.

For the next six days, these young visitors will combine farm labor

with free time spent getting to know Owase.

And in some locations,

the pandemic has seen ties forged by working trips

taken to even greater lengths.

Hiruzen Kogen is a local tourist destination in Okayama, western Japan.

Facilities include this collection of ten alpine cottages.

Staff member Sugo Nonoka

is in her fourth year at a university in Tokyo.

She moved to Hiruzen in 2020 after coming here on a working trip.

But why did she choose Hiruzen in the first place?

I'd never been west of Osaka before.

I spotted this destination, and I applied.

Over the course of her two-week working trip,

Sugo fell in love with this location she'd previously never heard of.

And with her university implementing remote learning due to the pandemic,

she realized she could move here without interrupting her studies.

I love the scenery and the nature,

along with the clear mountain air, and even the cold.

But the deciding factor was the owner here and the other staff.

With ten cottages to tend to, staff shortages are a major concern.

What was the reaction of owner Schembari Arisa

when Sugo told her she planned to relocate full-time?

I was happy, but it was quite sudden.

So I was surprised.

To be honest, I couldn't really believe it.

I wondered if she realized quite how heavy the snow gets here.

The snow was tough at first,

but not so tough that it made me feel like I wanted to go back home.

Sugo's quarters are in the staff complex beside the cottages.

As well as cleaning the guest rooms,

she spends time creating promotional videos to post online.

It's a task that leverages a long-standing hobby.

Besides the cottages themselves,

the videos showcase other local businesses and attractions.

And these activities have helped Sugo develop a new network of local friends.

It's great to have young people here.

It really is a breath of fresh air.

But after a year living locally and with graduation approaching,

Sugo decides to move back to her parents.

We join her as she visits local friends to say her goodbyes.

Hi, I've got something to tell you.

I'm actually leaving next week.

Oh really? How long have you been here now?

Exactly one year.

A year! Well, you've really helped liven things up.

But this isn't going to be the end of her ties with Hiruzen.

I didn't feel that sad as I was saying my goodbyes,

and I think that's because I'm sure that I'm going to see everyone again.

In the future, if I find myself working freelance,

I know that I've got a lot of connections with local businesses.

And we have talked about the idea of working together again in the future,

so I think it would be wonderful if we were able to do that.

And Nagaoka's working trips

are also attracting guests from outside Japan.

Francois Blom-Peters is a philosophy research student from Luxembourg.

Having studied Japanese in his home country,

he secured a place at a public university in Osaka

and arrived in 2020.

In the spring of 2021, he took part in a working trip,

where he spent four days planting grape vines at a winery.

I wanted to travel in Japan,

particularly to the countryside, because I really like nature.

And the working trips offered a chance to meet people and work alongside them,

which was very appealing.

Blom-Peters' working trip placement was in

Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan,

here at this winery overlooking the sea.

Founded in 2019,

the business specializes in sparkling wines

and even has its own on-site restaurant.

We join Blom-Peters on a visit from Osaka.

Once his course is over, he has actually signed up to work here full-time.

He's here to fill out paperwork

in support of his switch from a student visa to a working one.

Locally born owner Ota Yuya joined the working trip scheme

to promote his winery and the local town to young people nationwide.

And while he was pleased to welcome a participant from overseas,

it took him by surprise when Blom-Peters declared his wish

to join his staff full-time.

It was certainly quite unexpected.

But in order to promote our winery,

I had been hoping to investigate

how we are perceived by an overseas audience.

So I am very keen to work together.

I love the scenery here.

And it seemed a great place to live, so I thought I'd like to do that.

I'm very grateful that he's taken such an interest in our area.

And from here, I'd like to leverage that enthusiasm in all sorts of fields,

so I'm really looking forward to working together.

The view that Blom-Peters fell in love with

was the Seto Inland Sea stretching out in front of the winery.

And the stirring impact is magnified by the many islands

jutting out from the horizon.

Meanwhile, neighboring Takehara boasts streetscapes

preserved from the Edo period,

echoes of a time when merchants prospered from local salt production.

A long-standing history buff,

Blom-Peters was enchanted when he visited Takehara during his working trip.

And Nagaoka Rina's platform

continues to connect young people eager to visit new areas,

with destinations keen to attract young people.

What are her hopes for the future of her enterprise?

I want to ensure that these lesser-known

but highly appealing locations across Japan

become widely acknowledged travel destinations.

With Japan's population steadily decreasing,

we need to imagine a future in which we each play multiple roles,

with ties to multiple destinations beyond our current or family homes,

bringing more affection, and more money to provincial areas.

That's the future I want to create.