Planning for the Ageing Countryside in Japan: The Potential Impact of Multi-habitation

Abstract

This paper explores how the aspirations of the retiring Japanese ‘baby boomer’ generation are being harnessed by depopulated rural areas as drivers for revival. Drawing upon case studies and key actor interviews undertaken in Hokkaido prefecture, the paper makes three points. Firstly that, as in the UK, the baby boomer generation in Japan is creating opportunities for the regeneration of rural areas. Secondly that proactive local authorities can act as facilitators in meeting both the aspirations of incomers and the growing needs of existing communities. Finally that, by blending the dreams of the rural idyll with the harsher realities of rural life, new, inclusive rural values can be framed that provide a positive strategy for the future survival, and indeed growth, of rural areas.

Introduction

While the populations of both developed and developing countries are ageing, the ratio of older to not old in Japan has led to its position as the first ‘super-ageing society’ (Ohara, 2004). Japan's population reached its peak of 127.8 million in 2005 but it is now in decline. Japan faces increasing numbers of retired people and within that considerable growth of the very old (over 80 years of age) together with declining birth rates. Other economically advanced countries in similar positions have encouraged large-scale immigration of economically active people to counter these trends; however, the political and cultural ethos of Japan is such that this policy is unlikely to be adopted (Sorensen, 2006). As Flüchter (2006, p. 83) points out, this is because of its ‘self-image as an ethnically and socially homogenous country’ and ‘the psychological barriers to foreign infiltration’, which have led to highly restrictive immigration laws.

If Japan is a super-ageing society it is also super-urbanized with 78.8% of the population concentrated in urban areas,1 according to Population Census 2005 (Statistics Bureau, undated). These trends have proliferated in parallel with Japan's post-war economic success, which continues to draw younger people away from rural areas—leading to depopulation and an increase in the average age of the population in these areas of origin. However, with the notable exception of the Tokyo metropolitan region, many cities have been experiencing zero population growth or even population decline since the mid-1990s. This has resulted in further spatial imbalance: highly populated major cities in metropolitan regions; sparse and depopulated rural areas and an increase in those urban areas with shrinking populations in non-metropolitan regions. For people in the latter areas the suburban good life with affordable housing and spacious shopping centres (achieved at the expense of traditional housing and shops in the inner-city areas) is now being eroded through inefficient land use and problems of providing transport to a dispersed shrinking population (Onishi, 2007). Those in rural areas suffer further damage since the services on which their ageing populations depend are often located in those small cities and towns, and for those of working age these were important areas of employment that are now in decline.

In recent Japanese academic debates on urban growth and decline, concepts have been introduced from European policy discourse—human capital, creativity, networks and competitiveness in a globalizing world (see Kaido, 2001; Koizumi and Nishiura, 2003; Itōet al., 2004; Matsunaga, 2005)—which have led to considerations of compact cities (Jenks et al., 1996), ‘new urbanism’ (Katz, 1994), and ‘smart growth’ (Robert, 2007). However, unlike in Germany, for example, where a ‘shrinking city’ policy is hailed by politicians, planners and the media as a source of opportunity (Bontje, 2004; Oswalt, 2005), in Japan, in spite of the evidence of dwindling urban areas, the concept has remained largely within academic circles. On the other hand, rural areas have used their status of ‘kaso-chiiki’ (depopulated regions) to lever in government aid. Several cities in non-metropolitan regions2 have tried to adopt ‘compact city’-style policies to control further urban expansion and to concentrate functions in the centre (Kaido, 2001; Onishi, 2007). These shifts in policy have been difficult to implement as business people and the working-age population move from these small urban areas to the brighter opportunities offered by the metropolitan areas, leaving ageing local residents.

A new ingredient in this mix is the ‘dankai’3 generation—the post-war baby-boomers born in 1947–1949 who on reaching 60 years of age will retire from work in 2007–2009. The dankai generation is a mass cohort of the population (5% of total population in 2005) of which one-half (3.5 million) lives in the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. As in Britain, the Japanese media has sensationalized the baby boomer retirement and, in the face of the 2007–2009 exodus from paid employment, has coined the term ‘the 2007 nen mondai’ (the year 2007 problem). While often cast as a looming crisis for health, welfare and the public purse, a more considered response might be to expect challenge and new thinking because, as in Britain:

[they] have been at the forefront of radical social, economic and political change: within the family, within the education system, within the labour market, and beyond. The way that members of this age group, the most influential generation in recent social history, choose to adapt to their changing circumstances will have a similarly dramatic impact in their later life. (Huber & Skidmore, 2003, p. 11)

In Britain, this generation, born in post-war austerity and grown into affluence, is more vocal and mobile than their predecessors. Unlike previous generations they see retirement as the beginning of a new life phase rather than the end, and increasingly they are looking to signal this change of pace by a change of place (Shaw, 2001). If this is the British situation, is it mirrored or likely to be mirrored in Japan where there is no tradition of post-retirement moves?

Already there are signs of change. Some Japanese retirees are buying new apartments in city centres, fuelling the present building boom in high-rise apartment blocks. Others are looking to buy a second home in a rural location, although this is somewhat frustrated by the system of landownership, community, family and social patterns that make many absent owners unwilling to sell or let houses in rural villages. How can society capitalize on the emergent choices of the dankai? This is a relatively wealthy and socially active group who, after retirement and relocation, may be willing to become involved in existing community activities and perhaps be the drivers of new community and neighbourhood initiatives. The key questions for Japan are where are these retirees going, what are the impacts on the host areas and how might spatial planning respond? The dankai generation, now stepping into the population group of older people, could provide a perspective of what a hyper ageing society with a good quality of life for older people might be like.

‘Multi-habitation’ as a New Lifestyle for the Dankai Generation?

The dankai generation created the established post-war lifestyle of the nuclear family living in a dream home in the suburbs (Japan Centre for Economic Research, 2006). Their access to higher education and permanent employment assured their economic and material wealth. As a stereotypical life course, the dankai generation left their home towns/villages for employment in the large cities in the late 1960s. Most of them married and started a family in the early 1970s. Their children, often known as ‘dankai junior’, were born in 1972–1974. The dankai generation bought their first homes in the early 1980s, when housing demand in metropolitan areas was such that the only available housing options were either houses for sale in the outer ring of suburbs, or flats for rent in the city centres. At the beginning of this century, loan repayments on their homes are almost finished. Their children have grown up and left home, or have at least moved out of costly education, although, while seemingly independent in their own dwelling, they may be in insecure employment and are less likely to have married and had children of their own (Miura, 2007). Their very old parents are probably still living in their home towns or villages and may soon need personal care.

Research among the dankai has revealed that, on reaching retirement age, they are starting to ask themselves about their vision for the next two decades of ‘bonus years’ (AXA, 2007). Would I like to relocate; and if so, where? Who do I want to live with and what sort of people do I want around me? What would I like to do after retirement? Will my pension be enough to maintain my quality of life? Who would care for me if I needed support? There are no answers yet, although it is clear that there are more choices available than to previous generations. It may be up to the dankai generation to deconstruct the images of older people (frail, a burden, needing care) and their roles in society (economically inactive, benefit recipients), in order to create the new lifestyles they would like to enjoy.

According to the Toshi Chiiki Report (City Regions Report) 2006 (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 2006), 40% of the dankai generation is willing to change living places when they retire. This is partly because of the physical condition of the housing in which they live. Since most Japanese housing is of wood construction, there is a general expectation that property needs to be replaced after 30 years. So houses purchased in the 1980s need to be rebuilt around 2010. As far as location is concerned, small towns in the rural regions as well as less densely populated rural settlements (coastal and mountainous areas) are the preferred areas for the dankai generation. Some prefer to return to their birthplaces where their old parents still live. Some prefer to permanently relocate to small towns outside the metropolitan areas. Others prefer not to have to choose between the city and the country, but want both in what is called the ‘kōryū-kyojū’ (multi-habitation) lifestyle. This is an emerging idea, facilitated by highly developed transport networks and a surplus of housing and the consequent decline in land and house prices in rural areas. When choosing location and property types, the dankai prioritize the availability of care services, good transport, good views/quality of landscape and, finally, personal safety. These preferences can be seen in the increasing demand for secure apartments (with CCTV cameras and caretakers), to which the market has responded by building luxurious condominiums with care services located in urban and rural town centres and close to railway stations. The market expects the rapid growth of a ‘senior’ market, particularly in housing and tourism (Japan Centre for Economic Research, 2006), in the wake of the concept of ‘multi-habitation’. This situation is viewed by many local municipalities in depopulated rural areas as an opportunity to reverse decline and revitalize local economies and communities. Governments (both central and local) are offering increasing support to its promotion, and how this is done will be discussed further in a later section.

British academics writing abut the trend of rural in-migration both before and after retirement talk of the notion of ‘rural idyll’ and a lifestyle that offers strong ties with the land and nature (Cloke and Goodwin, 1992). In Japan, the images of rural areas still conjure up ideas of home for many of the dankai generation. ‘Their’ country town or village is still the home of their older parents, siblings (usually the eldest brother, who inherited the family home and upkeep of family tombs), other relatives and old friends from primary school. Their childhood experiences of warmth and liveliness in the family home and neighbourhood are still powerful enough to evoke both nostalgia for the rural place and a sense of belonging.

There are perceived gender gaps in these preferences with men preferring to move to the countryside while their wives prefer urban areas (Yomiuri Advertising Inc., 2006; Miura, 2007). In Japan the work culture is that men work long hours and then socialize in bars and restaurants with their male colleagues after the working day. Failure to comply with this lifestyle may be interpreted as a lack of commitment to the organization or a lack of ambition to climb higher. On retirement it seems that men in particular, who have limited or no social networks in their community, may now seek a role in a new community that will bring them new fulfilment. It is assumed that for many men in the dankai generation, retirement migration to rural areas might be a platform on which to build some sense of self that is independent of their past economic role. This search for fulfilment has led to an increase in the numbers of people seeking voluntary work (Yamazaki, 2005; Japan Centre for Economic Research, 2006). Conversely, women of this generation are less likely to have worked outside the home and, as a consequence, have built neighbourhood social and support networks in the city that are disrupted by post-retirement migration. The idea of multi-habitation therefore represents a compromise solution in these cases, and challenges municipalities to rethink the attractiveness of rural areas for older women.

Living in multiple properties, people are likely to maintain their owner-occupied homes in which they have lived during their working life, as their first home, and rent the second home in the destination areas. The realities of the choice may depend on family relationships: how to balance the need to care for their old parents in the rural area while supporting their adult children in the city, perhaps sometimes looking after the children of full-time working daughters. These needs within families may represent both negative and positive factors affecting mobility, acting as triggers to change dwelling places. Finance is another concern. In the Toshi Chiiki Report (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 2006), 80% of the dankai generation hope to continue to work after retirement both to maintain their financial standing and also as part of their personal development or ‘ikigai’ (literally, a search for the meaning of life).

In April 2007, central government launched a major study on ‘Kurashi no fukusenka’ (multiple life courses) under the ‘Sai charenji shien saku’ (re-challenge strategy), one of the special task forces of the Prime Minister. It is now evident that a belief in the modernist life project that sees people moving through education to work and then onto retirement with an early stage rural to urban migration have dominated the last half-century and have been the foundation of post-war public policies. Changing demographics demand a paradigm shift to a concept of multiple life courses that has both temporal and spatial implications. With a highly mobile society in mind, the idea of ‘multi-habitation’ grows from an expectation of an increasing number of retirees with time and money who will choose to live both urban and rural lifestyles at different times. This multi-habitation could be holiday home ownership with its associated superficial engagement in the rural community. However, what is envisaged is that property ownership will lead to community engagement that will contribute to the local economy particularly in rural areas through consuming goods, and thus stimulating the production of goods and the operation of labour markets, as well as enriching social networks.

Promoting ‘Multi-habitation’ as a Socio-economic Development Strategy

As a means of capturing the advantages of these new lifestyle preferences, a number of programmes promoting ‘multi-habitation’ have been initiated by several central government departments with various motivations. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is concerned in general with the declining Japanese population, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has a long history of promoting in-migrants' permanent residency in depopulated rural areas and recruiting new farmers. Some in-migrants (active baby boomers) are expected to supplement farming communities as weekend or hobby farmers. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport regards the baby boomers' appetite for a multi-habitation lifestyle as another business opportunity to develop new markets in property and transport (flights, express trains, etc.) and new types of tourism. These factors have been combined to produce a nationwide programme to promote multi-habitation. The concept of ‘multi-habitation’ as put forward by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has three components: ‘long-term holiday’, ‘themed tourism’ and the ‘promotion of permanent residency’.

The idea of long-term holidays has a long history in rural areas, which have been promoting rural landscapes for holiday-makers. Using subsidies from Central Government, many rural local municipalities have built publicly owned hotels and cottages with ‘onsen’ (hot springs), which have often been combined with welfare and educational facilities for the local communities. To encourage holiday-makers to stay longer, various local activities—ranging from traditional cookery schools to guided hiking—have been added often by the quasi-local municipalities who technically own and manage the facilities. This type of holiday has become popular and fuses into the second component: ‘themed tourism’. The promotion of themed tourism needs more institutionalized intervention in deciding how to brand and market an area, continuity and consistency in selected activities, local community participation, and so on. It has another strand in recruiting migrants into first-time farming. These new farmers are frequently city people looking to start new businesses in rural areas. This scheme offers various activities from farm stays for visitors to training for would-be farmers.

The ‘promotion of permanent residency’ has been a long-held aim for many depopulated rural areas, which for various reasons has failed. Housing markets in rural areas are not well established, since rural dwellers have been reluctant to sell their houses on the open market or trade with each other without middlemen. This has been a major constraint on the promotion of permanent residents who have no pre-existing connection to the particular area. Under the banner of ‘multi-habitation’, several local municipalities have launched ‘akiya’ (vacant house) banks—Internet web sites that provide regularly updated information on houses available for sale or rent. For in-migrants, it is easier for the local municipalities to play the role of no-cost middlemen in providing useful information related to rural living, including housing, jobs, education, elder care, and so on. For existing residents who may have a typical rural distrust of ‘city folk’, it is felt to be beneficial for local municipalities to deal with urban dwellers wishing to move to rural areas and in dealing with them, to take account the needs of the indigenous communities.

The Internet web site ‘Kōryū Kyojū no Susume: Zenkoku Inaka Gurashi Gaido’ (‘Promotion of Multi-habitation: Rural Living Guide’) was launched by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and is maintained by the Kaso Chiiki Mondai Chōsakai (Research Committee for Depopulated Areas). This is the first national network initiative to provide various kinds of information promoting ‘multi-habitation’. Navigating through the site options labelled ‘a short break’ right through to ‘permanent residency’, users can find useful, up-to-date information provided by the prefectures and local municipalities about the activities available and who to contact. The main drivers for the promotion of ‘multi-habitation’ in the regions are prefectural governments. Some prefectures have set up organizations to run the programmes, including marketing, monitoring and providing web sites. Hokkaido, as befits the most depopulated area, is one of the most active regions. It is here that the authors chose to conduct their field work, which was both exploratory and qualitative in approaching an emergent contemporary phenomenon. During two periods of field work, the authors conducted interviews with key policy actors at the prefectural and local municipality level together with visits to new housing and elder care facilities.

Hokkaido's Promotion of Immigration: Private Sector-driven Approach

Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan's four main islands (Figure 1). The population of 5.6 million according to the 2005 Census is concentrated in urban areas, with the capital city of Sapporo housing 33.4% of the total population. Only one-fifth of the total population lives in scattered rural areas, which make up four-fifths of the island's land area. Excessive out-migration has been seen in all local municipalities except Sapporo, but has been especially severe in less populated rural areas (see Figure 2). The population structure by age group in 2005 showed Hokkaido is ageing: 21.4% aged 65 years or older compared with just over 18% in 2000. Less populated local municipalities are the most ageing areas, with more than one-quarter of the population now aged over 65 years in these areas.

Figure 1. Hokkaido map.

Figure 2. Hokkaido population change 2000–2005 and percentage of population 65+ years old by local municipality population size. Source: Census 2005.

Targeting the dankai generation particularly living in Tokyo metropolitan area, Hokkaido launched programmes promoting permanent residency in 2004. The rationale for this was to increase immigration and create a new market for housing, transport, shopping and tourism. It also aimed to regenerate local facilities such as healthcare and community activities, which are highly prioritized by retiring in-migrants, and through this to improve general living conditions for the existing ageing communities (Ohyama, 2007).

An initial web-based questionnaire survey was carried out in 2004 targeting 10,000 baby-boomers living in the Tokyo metropolitan area (Hokkaido Prefectural Government, 2005). The results showed that 80% of the respondents had an interest in living in Hokkaido either temporarily or permanently and 70% of them wanted to live in villages/towns and not in the city. The survey report estimated that the economic multiplier effect would bring Hokkaido up to ¥570 billion (£2.85 billion), if 1, 000 retiree couples per year moved there during 2007–2009 and spent the rest of lives in Hokkaido. However, the same in-migrants would cost ¥120 billion in extra social-security provision. As the initial questionnaire survey shows, potential in-migrants seek information that meets everyday life needs that is very different from the information required by tourists. This includes local facilities (food shops, doctors, adult education facilities, etc.) and community activities in the neighbourhoods to which they move. The involvement of local municipalities and local communities is so important to this that the establishment of better partnerships between the prefectural and local government, and the public and private sectors, is critical.

The Hokkaido prefectural government budgeted ¥49.6 million (£248, 000) for a 2-year programme, which was carried out intensively during 2005–2006 at national, prefectural and local levels. Emphasizing public–private partnership, the programme had three main components: marketing, a one-stop information bureau, and local municipalities' involvement. Two organizations were set up to drive this initiative: the first one is a business consortium4 with 11 partners including major transport (train, ferry and aviation) corporations, travel agencies, and media corporations; the second is a local municipality consortium,5 through which member local municipalities benefit from the support of the Hokkaido prefectural government to promote the ‘permanent residency’ programme. To date, this has engaged 64 Hokkaido local municipalities (October 2006). The first component, the marketing strategy, provides surveys, advertising and long-stay holiday packages and is led by the business consortium. They have launched a campaign using the mass media (magazines, newspapers and television, as well as mailing lists), seminars and forums to showcase what Hokkaido has to offer.6 Each of the partner corporations has also launched its own web site to promote its services and products. The second component, the information bureau (‘Hokkaido Concierge’7), started in the summer of 2006 and provides the pivotal role of a one-stop information centre for those who want to visit or live in Hokkaido, and mediates between in-migrants and local municipalities. The web site is linked to 94 local municipalities that have their own sites for the promotion of permanent residency. The third component is to encourage local municipalities engaged in the programme to offer substantial support and useful information to in-migrants. A Task Force was established to produce a strategy, and seminars were held to encourage more local municipalities to join the Hokkaido-wide initiative (Hokkaido In-migration Promotion Strategic Committee, 2006).

A ‘testing period’ or taster programme has now been initiated by a consortium of sponsoring companies and local municipalities. In practice, travel agencies offer ‘long-stay’ holiday packages, which allow urban retirees to explore potential housing, local facilities (local shops, hospitals as well as tourist facilities) and community activities (local duties and events, etc.). The package includes accommodation, such as residential flats and detached houses, rather than hotels and guest houses, discount transportation fees (supported by a passenger ferry company), and a chance to meet local people such as council officers and local community representatives, which is organized by recipient local municipalities. After the first phase of Hokkaido's programmes (2004–2006), the Hokkaido Concierge service experienced an increasing number of requests from baby-boomers living across Japan. Nearly 100 local municipalities out of a possible 180 have expressed a willingness to join the Hokkaido prefectural government's initiative. During 2006, 417 people took part in the programmes (47% were from Tokyo metropolitan area) and stayed 8, 471 days in total (average 20 days per person) with support from 37 local municipalities registered in this scheme (Ohyama, 2007). In the first 6 months of 2007 an increasing number of ‘testers’ spent more than 10, 000 days in participating municipalities through this scheme. Spending public money for the development of the ‘multi-habitation business model’ in the first phase has proved effective, with the private sector creating new businesses such as ‘testing period’ package tours. However, the rationale for spending public money to benefit the private sector is contested. Indeed the Hokkaido government has expressed a concern that ‘ideally the “concierge business” should be undertaken by the private sector alone and this is already possible’ (senior officer, Hokkaido prefectural government). However, the current mind-set suggests that a ‘Hokkaido Concierge service’ led by the private sector would provide greater security and peace of mind for its end users if there is public-sector backing.

Impacts of Multi-habitation on Rural Areas

Most in-migrants are willing to work in various ways (in full-time or part-time employment, as entrepreneurs and in voluntary work) (Hokkaido Prefectural Government, 2005). This not only raises income levels for in-migrants, but also contributes to the local economy. What local municipalities could do better is match the skills of in-migrants to local skills shortages and local needs. In-migrants are also expected to be able to contribute to community development, community businesses, and various voluntary activities. In-migrants, and baby-boomers in particular, are concerned about healthcare in later life. Therefore local municipalities need to consider this factor seriously, particularly given existing concerns about how local health and care services should be delivered in rural areas. In urban areas, some private elder-care service companies are building condominiums for older people including integrated care services, where existing local residents can also use facilities such as daycare and clinics. According to Kōreisya Jūtaku Jōhō Centre (Information Centre for Older People's Housing),8 there were 255 housing schemes provided by not-for profit organizations and the private sector in Tokyo. Hokkaido had 32 housing schemes of this kind, 29 of which are located in urban areas such as Sapporo. Hokkaido prefectural government believes that these business models could apply to rural areas that currently have few care facilities, but where increasing numbers of in-migrants could stimulate an increased supply.

The biggest constraint on promoting ‘multi-habitation’ has been the lack of appropriate housing stock in the areas to which in-migrants want to move. Hokkaido prefectural government believes that this should be solved by the private sector—housing developers and estate agents—because there is no public money designated for this purpose. Some rural local municipalities are starting to promote new housing developments in depopulated rural villages, hoping that the expectation of incomers will be seen as creating worthwhile business opportunities for land and housing developers.

These new developments are partly encouraged by a Central Government initiative, ‘Yūryō Denen Jūtaku’ (Excellent Countryside Housing) launched in 1998. This development model aimed to promote immigration to depopulated rural areas, to make the best use of rural land, and to prevent disorderly development (avoiding a repetition of urban sprawl) in rural areas. Yuni town, one of the rural municipalities in Hokkaido with a population of 6, 477 (according to Population Census 2005; Statistics Bureau, undated), took up this challenge with an emphasis on greater community involvement through the introduction of a ‘construction cooperative mechanism’. Through this, potential buyers are engaged in the process of land allocation, area layout, public space management, alongside the local municipality and local people in existing rural communities. The resultant 28 new houses have attracted higher interest than expected and it was observed that, amongst new residents, a good neighbourly atmosphere has been built and communal activities (such as barbeques) are bringing people together. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the impact of this development model on the wider rural community and economy as well as relationships with existing residents is still weak and questionable. Since there is no obligation for incomers to use local businesses in the construction of their houses, and local municipalities tend to allow them to build whatever they like in terms of design and building materials, it might bring a less positive economic impact for local rural businesses and produce an alien landscape when compared with the existing rural environment. In the context of opening up a new ‘senior’ market, people need to be aware of rising aspirations and an increasing demand for choice. Those who promote the ‘multi-habitation’ initiatives in Hokkaido are alive to the increasingly vocal demands of baby boomers, and this is why it so far appears successful. However, there is a risk that this approach might end up simply as the development of gated communities for wealthy retirees, creating tensions between newcomers and the longer-term residents or leaving existing rural communities and their identities at best sidelined, and at worst, ignored.

The concept of ‘multi-habitation’ is also tied up with (rural) local identities: for example, the sense of ‘rural’ as relatively disadvantaged in relation to the ‘urban’. Wealthier in-migrants might impact on the status of rural Hokkaido. In-migrants from urban areas tend to seek a ‘rural idyll’ in the places to which they move, yet they are also seeking a high standard of local facilities that will sustain their accustomed high quality of life. These factors will change the economic activities and consumer patterns of rural areas. What Hokkaido actually aims to do in the longer term is to create a nationwide movement that will lead to new roles for rural areas and new rationales for supporting the rural economy. To achieve this, the Hokkaido business consortium has enlarged into a nationwide network, the Japan Organisation for Internal Migration,9 for which major corporations (such as JR East, Fujitsu, Toyota, etc.) and small and medium-sized enterprises across Japan are to be invited as sponsors to provide information to their employees who wish to enjoy the best of urban and rural life after retirement. It is seen as crucial for both employers and ex-employees to explore better ways in which retirees' abundant time (and money) could contribute to the national economy as consumers, as well as finding ways of letting their skills and knowledge contribute to revitalizing impoverished rural economies and communities.

The Hokkaido initiatives have encouraged the Central Government to set up a task force to promote ‘multi-habitation’, and a package of deregulation and tax credits is currently being debated (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, 2006). The ideas include many regulatory changes: in transport, to discount air tickets for multi-habitation travellers,10 and to allow individuals to operate small-scale public transport within designated rural areas and parcel delivery services; in tourism, to allow local municipalities, community groups, and non-governmental organizations to operate area-limited tourism agency activities including the development of hotels; in medical care, to relax the current regulations about the minimum number of doctors or nurses to allow the opening of small clinics in the rural areas; in agriculture, to lower the minimum size allowable for farms and to allow non-registered farmers to sell produce from their gardens; and in housing, to allow temporary residents to apply for public-sector housing. A new tax regime is also being considered whereby ‘jūmin zei’ (residential tax), which is currently paid on first homes only, is restructured and split between both first and second homes in proportion to the amount of time spent in each per year. This raises income for local municipalities where second homes are located. The re-distribution of ‘shōhi zei’ (consumer tax) between central and local government is a more radical idea. Eighty per cent of consumer tax currently goes to the central government while only 20% passes to local municipalities, but the balance could be altered to meet the increasingly significant roles of rural areas. Changing the tax regime will definitely benefit local municipalities, but it is a politically sensitive issue as the distribution of tax revenue reflects the power relationship between central and local government, and urban and rural municipalities.

Conclusion

‘Multi-habitation’ can be seen as an economic development strategy, both at local and national levels. The Hokkaido case study shows positive attitudes toward ageing society: older in-migrants are presented as beneficial for the local economy. This contrasts with the ageist perspectives still prevalent in the UK where increasing numbers of older people are usually viewed as a blighting influence on rural Britain (Butler et al., 2003).

In the context of overall rural ageing and depopulation, the Hokkaido partnerships have an optimistic view of newcomers arriving, however old they are and however long they plan to stay in the rural communities. There are, however, some clear dangers in seeking immediate economic effects only in retirement homes and the longer-term holiday market. A major study on rural retirement in the United States (Brown & Glasgow, 2008) demonstrates that retirement migration follows well-developed streams, and that once established these streams become self-sustaining. However, the rate of increase in the older population may soon reach a point where the costs for elder care exceed the benefits that older consumers bring to local economies. It is uncertain whether Japanese rural (seasonal) retirement will follow the same trajectory as is apparent in the USA, since ‘multi-habitation’ will not necessarily lead to permanent migration to rural areas. This uncertainty makes it more difficult to implement mitigating measures, particularly in terms of social care provision at the local level. While it is every Japanese person's right to receive medical and social care services, this is also wholly dependent on local capacity: the number of public facilities and the human capital available in rural areas. The demand–supply gap is apparently increasing but the ability to plan with any degree of certainty based on clear projections of users is becoming more difficult. The promotion of multi-habitation has created both supply gaps and greater uncertainty about future demands.

Nonetheless, as described above, ‘multi-habitation’ can be seen as a spring board for bringing about overall improvements (e.g. in service provision) for all people, not just the old, living in Hokkaido. To achieve this, approaches could be more inclusive so that active retirees with knowledge and skills can have the potential to raise the profile of older people in both their new and existing communities. The current ‘testing period’ schemes might help. During short stays in temporary accommodation, mutual learning opportunities can occur through various locally organized events and through communication between urban participants and local communities in the destination areas. It is not coercive in the sense of existing rural residents forcing incomers to follow established local rules and customs; rather, it is important for rural communities to seek ways of enhancing the capacity of their local areas to steer these larger-scale processes and actions to their benefit (Lowe et al., 1995). This is the notion of neo-endogenous development. Through this ‘blending’ function between the ‘rural idyll’ envisaged by urban retirees and the ‘rural realities’ experienced by existing residents, new productive and positive rural values can be framed. It is still too early to fully assess the impacts of multi-habitation on the quality of life of rural communities. One result might be a highly mobilized consumer society, which could achieve some degree of economic stability but at the expense of losing indigenous local identities and increasing environmental damage caused by higher use of unsustainable transport modes. It is important to realize that in-migration to rural areas could improve the quality of living environments for older in-migrants and long-term residents, but only if it is managed carefully and with the full and informed participation of all involved. If this strategy is pursued it could also help to reduce at least some of the socio-economic, political and knowledge gaps between urban and rural areas.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation for the research grant that enabled their study visit to take place. This research forms part of a wider comparative study exploring approaches to demographic ageing in rural and urban areas of the UK and Japan.

Notes

1. ‘Urban’ refers to administrative boundaries of ‘Shi’ (city).

2. For instance, Aomori shi, Aomori Prefecture with population 300,000; Fukui shi, Fukui Prefecture with population 255,000; Kanazawa shi, Ishikawa Prefecture with population 500,000; Toyama shi, Toyama Prefecture with population 420,000; and Takamatsu shi, Kagawa Prefecture with population 420,000.

3. ‘Dankai’ literally means ‘massive group’. The term was coined by novelist Taichi Sakaiya in his 1976 book Dankai no sedai (Dankai Generation), Bungeisyunju.

4. Sundemitai Hokkaido Suishin Kaigi (Promotion Committee for Hokkaido Living). Available at http://www.kurasube.com/krsb_top.php (accessed 17 December 2007).

5. Hokkaido Ijyu Sokushin Kyogikai (Hokkaido In-migration Promotion Committee). Available at http://www.dankai-iju.jp/iju_top.html (accessed 13 December 2007).

6. ‘Hokkaido In-migration Forum’ (8 October 2005, Tokyo, 528 participants); ‘Hokkaido Life Seminars’ (September 2006, Nagoya; October 2006, Tokyo); ‘Hokkaido Life Fairs’ (November 2006, Osaka, Tokyo); and open days at a department store in Tokyo (April–May 2006, 769 inquiries; September 2006).

7. Available online at http://www.hokkaido-concierge.com/ (accessed 13 December 2007).

8. Available online at http://www.kurashi-sumai.com/ (accessed 12 November 2007).

9. Available online at http://iju-join.jp/index.html (accessed 12 November 2007).

10. Some airlines have already introduced discount fares for those who have to fly back and forwards to provide care for frail parents. Kaigo waribiki (discount fare for carers) schemes have been launched by All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd (http://www.ana.co.jp/dom/fare/guide/kt/kt.html) and Japan Airline (http://www.jal.co.jp/dom/rates/rule/r_kaigo.html) (accessed 10 November 2007).