Success Stories of Social and Regional Collaboration: 15 Years of Collaborative Projects with Yamanashi Prefecture and Fujiyoshida City

2023/06/16

Image: Fujiyoshida City-Keio University Interactive Report Meeting (2023)

On March 6, 2023, the "Interactive Report Meeting on Fujiyoshida City-Keio University Collaboration" was held at the Fujisan Museum (Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture).

The three parties—Keio University, Yamanashi Prefecture, and Fujiyoshida City—concluded a comprehensive collaboration agreement with the aim of "leading the future from this region based on the forest culture of the northern foothills of Mt. Fuji, creating new value through innovation, and developing human resources who contribute to regional development and international society in response to this, by fully demonstrating their respective strengths and cooperating with each other." The signing of the agreement took place at the Mita Campus on December 4, 2007.

Fiscal year 2022 marked the 15th anniversary of the signing of the collaboration agreement. At the interactive report meeting, the accumulation of achievements to date was shared and confirmed, and opinions were exchanged regarding the development of collaboration in the post-COVID era. From Fujiyoshida City, participants included Mayor Shigeru Horiuchi, Koichiro Horiuchi (Chairman of the Fujiyoshida Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Yasushi Wako (President of the Fujisan Mita-kai and former Deputy Mayor), Satoshi Akamatsu (Representative of OULO LLC), and Kazuma Saito (Representative Director of NPO Kaerusya)—both of whom participated in study tours through the collaboration project while students and moved to Fujiyoshida City after graduation to work on regional promotion projects—as well as officials from the Fujiyoshida City Hall. From Keio University, participants included President Kohei Itoh (video message), Professor Masatoshi Tamamura of the Faculty of Policy Management, Project Associate Professor Takashi Matsuhashi of the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Project Associate Professor Naoto Nakajima of the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Professor Masayuki Kohiyama of the Faculty of Science and Technology (online), graduate and undergraduate students currently practicing fieldwork, Mr. Masaki Kamoshita (former staff member and Keio University Honorary Affiliate) who has served as a coordinator for the collaboration projects, staff from the Office of Community and Regional Affairs, and the author.

Following the opening remarks, reports on joint research and practical activities were presented, including "15 Years of Keio University Collaboration and the Current State of Fujiyoshida City," "Practice and Collaboration in Community Development by Living in Fujiyoshida," "Joint Survey and Practice on Attractive Town Design," and "Research on Promoting Advance Measures for Volcanic Disasters." This was followed by a talk session titled "Fujiyoshida City-Keio University Collaboration: Future Possibilities," where opinions were exchanged on themes such as a declining population society, regional independence, and citizen safety and security.

Looking back at the records of the 15-year collaboration project with Fujiyoshida City, at the beginning of the agreement, activities included educational lectures and seminars, university campus tours for high school-university collaboration, guest lectures by Faculty of Science and Technology faculty members, and the dispatch of Fujiyoshida City officials to Keio University's industry-academia-government collaboration institutions. In parallel with these, a project working group of experts was established in 2008 to understand the current situation and challenges of Fujiyoshida City and to envision an ideal model; this group met 11 times.

One of the characteristics of the collaboration project with Fujiyoshida City is that, in addition to Professor Tamamura, Project Associate Professor Matsuhashi, and Project Associate Professor Nakajima, who participated in the interactive report meeting, Professor Tomohiro Ichinose of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies has conducted numerous study tours on themes such as revitalizing urban areas, forming landscapes in historical districts, and initiatives to utilize the natural environment around Mt. Fuji.

A study tour is a student-participation project implemented at the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), where Keio students visit target regions with faculty members to conduct fieldwork, such as surveys and social experiments for regional problem-solving, and report the results. In years with high participation, more than 300 Keio students in total visit Fujiyoshida City annually.

Study tours in Fujiyoshida City began in 2011 with "Research on Tourism Policies Utilizing Mt. Fuji and Fuji Worship" and "Survey on Creating New Relationships between Cities and Fujiyoshida City Based on a 'Modern Version of Fuji-ko' Model." For example, although there are many tourists in the northern foothills of Mt. Fuji, survey results showed that this did not lead to tourism in the Kamiyoshida district, which was a base for Fuji worship as an "Oshi-machi" (pilgrim lodging town). As a solution, based on the concept of rediscovering culture focused on the Oshi-machi and community-led Oshi-machi tourism, proposals were made to open Oshi houses to the public and establish rest areas with views of Mt. Fuji. These were realized in cooperation with the government, shopping districts, and regional communities such as the Oshi group. In 2013, "OPEN! Oshimachi" was held in conjunction with the Mt. Fuji mountain-opening festival.

The achievement of the collaboration between Keio University and Fujiyoshida City that is most familiar to many people is likely the official Keio University merchandise, "Keio Water." This originated from a basic survey commissioned to the late Professor Emeritus Naotatsu Shikazono (former professor of the Faculty of Science and Technology) for three years starting in fiscal 2009 to promote groundwater conservation and appropriate use. The survey showed that the groundwater springing up in Fujiyoshida City is rain and snow that permeated at an altitude of about 2,000m on Mt. Fuji, passed through the geological layers of the mountain, and was purified over 25 to 40 years. It was also shown to be high-quality water with overwhelmingly lower levels of general bacteria and turbidity, which indicate pollution levels, compared to other regions.

Generally, commissioned projects end successfully with the submission of reports centered on such scientific data or presentations at academic conferences. However, the water-related project was handed over to Professor Tamamura as "Research on Creating New Relationships between Fujiyoshida City and Cities Utilizing Water," which began in 2010. As a result, Keio students from the Tamamura Lab at SFC took the lead in planning the commercialization of "Keio Water" as a way to foster bonds and culture among people through water, an attractive regional resource. Commercialization was realized in August 2013 with the cooperation of a mineral water manufacturing company in Fujiyoshida City.

A portion of the sales of "Keio Water" is allocated to a scholarship fund for Keio students. Additionally, a portion of the manufacturing company's sales is used for regional revitalization through a community fund (formerly the Fujiyoshida Minna-no-Chokinbako Foundation, now the Fujiyoshida Settlement Promotion Center) that supports environmental conservation of Mt. Fuji and regional revitalization. This serves as a model for circular social and regional collaboration. Furthermore, from the perspective of the SDGs, "Keio Water" has been using recycled PET bottles since November 2022 with the cooperation of the manufacturing company.

Another feature of the collaboration with Fujiyoshida City is that Keio students who participated in study tours have moved to Fujiyoshida City as members of the Local Revitalization Co-op during or after their studies, and have further established LLCs to continue their involvement in collaboration projects. Mr. Akamatsu, who participated in the interactive report meeting, first became involved with Fujiyoshida City through a study tour in his second year of university. The aforementioned "Fujiyoshida Minna-no-Chokinbako Foundation" was established by Fujiyoshida City in 2013 as a "town development company" that saves donations from citizens and corporations to invest in and support regional projects based on proposals from university surveys and research. In that year, Fujiyoshida City introduced the Local Revitalization Co-op, and two graduates, including Mr. Akamatsu, were hired to start projects related to regional branding and the utilization of vacant houses.

One of the large-scale projects undertaken by the Minna-no-Chokinbako Foundation and the Local Revitalization Co-op is the "Shinsekai-dori Revival Project," aimed at urban revitalization. Shinsekai-dori is an alley in the Shimoyoshida Nishiura district. During the peak of Fujiyoshida City's textile industry, there were more than 20 restaurants, but at the time, most had closed and were in a ruin-like state. To restore the vitality of Shinsekai-dori and develop it into the revitalization of the entire Nishiura district, a project team for a town development business involving the residents themselves was launched, and a business plan was formulated. Shinsekai-dori was reborn as "Shinsekai Kanpai-dori," a Showa-era style streetscape that retains the original atmosphere of the building interiors and exteriors, and restaurants, izakayas, and bars began operating. Today, it has become an iconic location in the Nishiura district, used as a filming location for movies.

Activities focusing on textiles, a historical local industry of Fujiyoshida City, are also flourishing. The "Hataorimachi Festival," which Mr. Akamatsu helped launch, has become an event with over 20,000 visitors.

Mr. Saito, who participated in the interactive report meeting, was hired by the Local Revitalization Co-op in 2014 after completing the Graduate School of Media and Governance. After working on "Machi-Pro," a local funding project that turns citizens' ideas into businesses, he established the NPO Kaerusya with the aim of promoting regional development where middle and high school students in Fujiyoshida City engage with their hometown and the next generation plays an active role. Under the themes of "Change Yourself" and "Change the Region," the NPO collaborates with local elementary, junior high, and high schools to implement classes and extracurricular activities where students learn about and contribute to the region.

The outflow of the younger generation in rural areas is a serious issue. By actively addressing regional challenges, the goal is to nurture young people who, even if they once find employment outside the prefecture, will consider returning to their hometown for re-employment in the future. Fujiyoshida City ranks 9th nationwide in the amount of hometown tax (furusato nozei) donations received, and one reason cited is the high number of repeat donors. The gift cards attached to Fujiyoshida City's return gifts are created by high school students who interview the businesses producing the gifts. By conveying the thoughts of the products and producers, the students themselves realize the charm of their hometown and deepen their attachment to it.

In recent years, advance measures for natural disasters have become an important issue for governments. As a collaboration project regarding the safety and security of Fujiyoshida citizens assuming an eruption of Mt. Fuji, "Research to Promote Advance Measures for Volcanic Disasters by Fujiyoshida Citizens" was conducted by Professor Kohiyama. An augmented reality Mt. Fuji volcanic hazard map was developed to supplement conventional paper-based or still-image hazard maps.

Furthermore, with the aim of nurturing people who play leadership roles in voluntary disaster prevention organizations, a desktop training tool via a web application called "Aim for a Perfect Score! Mt. Fuji Disaster Prevention Leader 8" was developed. This tool allows users to decide on actions to take regarding information on a Fuji eruption and potential challenges, and then evaluates the decided responses. The tool aims to develop eight abilities that a volcanic disaster prevention leader should possess. Workshops involving Fujiyoshida citizens and students from Yamanashi Prefectural Yoshida High School have been held to verify the effectiveness of the tool and make improvements, such as revising evaluation criteria. This initiative is being carried out with the cooperation of the Yamanashi Prefectural Fuji San-ke Research Institute.

The 15-year collaboration between Keio University and Fujiyoshida City includes many other achievements beyond those mentioned above. While it is unfortunate that they cannot all be listed here, I believe I have conveyed how Keio University has contributed to town development projects such as local industry promotion, urban revitalization, and human resource development in Fujiyoshida City. Although Fujiyoshida City faces challenges such as a declining population like other regional cities, it possesses great potential for the future, including tourism resources like Mt. Fuji. Through future collaboration projects, we hope to continue contributing to Fujiyoshida City's growth into a vibrant region that is attractive from the outside and cherished from within.

The success stories of collaboration to date are the result of recommendations based on university surveys and research being reflected in policies. The fact that these could be realized is largely due to the efforts of Mayor Shigeru Horiuchi, city officials, Chamber of Commerce Chairman Koichiro Horiuchi, local businesses and companies, and residents, including those who have moved to the city. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude once again. In addition to the financial support obtained through research commissions from Fujiyoshida City, another factor for success is thought to be the good access to Fujiyoshida City—about an hour and a half by car from SFC—which allowed many Keio students to participate in SFC study tours. I would like to thank the faculty and staff of Keio University, including Professor Masatoshi Tamamura, who has coordinated the overall student-participation projects in Fujiyoshida City, as well as Mr. Yasushi Wako of the Fujisan Mita-kai and Mr. Masaki Kamoshita, who has served as a coordinator, for their dedication to the collaboration between Keio University and Fujiyoshida City since the signing of the agreement.