To promote Chinese-style modernization, we must promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.
In 2024, the No. 1 document of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on learning and using the experience of the "Thousand Village Demonstration and Ten Thousand Village Renovation" Project to Effectively and Effectively Promote the Comprehensive Revitalization of Rural Areas" once again strengthened the importance of rural revitalization.
Caption: Rural revitalization has been one of the most important topics in the country for many years (Huangling Village, Wuyuan)
Since 2004, the No. 1 document of the central government has focused on the "three rural" issues every year, which shows the importance of the state. In the government work report of the two sessions this year, it is also mentioned that "unremittingly grasp the work of 'three rural' and solidly promote the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside." 」
If we look closely, we can see that in the two important documents, the terms "urban-rural integration" and "adapting measures to local conditions" are invariably mentioned. Such a requirement also runs through the experience of learning and applying the "Ten Million Project", so as to guide the development of rural revitalization work in the future.
Caption: Chengdu Zhanqi Village, an outstanding representative of national rural revitalization, was rated as "China's Beautiful Leisure Village" by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2018
1. Urban-rural integration, the focus of the era of rural revitalization
At the beginning of the century, the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization in the mainland, while the rapid hollowing out of rural areas, especially the rapid increase in urban and rural income levels, led to the theme of "increasing farmers' income" throughout the period from 2004 to 2009.
Therefore, the No. 1 Document of the Central Committee in the next few years focused on rural infrastructure, agricultural modernization and the construction of a new socialist countryside, and solved the "three rural" problems through industry feeding agriculture, cities feeding rural areas, and income feeding farmers.
Caption: After years of construction, the infrastructure construction of many villages in the developed eastern areas has been at the forefront (Anjiyu Village, Zhejiang)
In recent years, the new term "rural revitalization" has triggered a new round of attention to the "three rural" issues.
Behind the decline of the countryside is inevitably the prosperity of the city. As long as the cities are developing, it will inevitably come at the cost of the decline of the rural population.
Caption: Since the reform and opening up, the mainland's large cities have developed rapidly, absorbing a large number of people from rural areas
However, if the countryside wants to revitalize, it is impossible to count on the decline of the city, because the decline of the city in the era of industrialization not only cannot bring prosperity to the countryside, but can only bring disaster. This was the case with the "Showa Agricultural Panic*" in Japan in the 1930s. The urban-rural interaction formed by the city feeding the countryside and the industry feeding agriculture is the way out for rural revitalization.
"*Showa Agricultural Panic: The Great Depression led to the decline of Japan's urban and rural areas in the 1930s, and the urban crisis spread further to the countryside, causing a more serious social crisis. 」
Caption: The Great Depression in the United States spread to the world in the 1930s, causing economic collapse in many countries (Source: Network Open Platform)
Urban-rural integration emphasizes the importance of urban-rural interaction and urban-rural co-ordination, rather than relying only on the countryside itself.
In order to achieve rural revitalization in the new era, we must fully rely on the countryside itself, to be precise, fully excavate and give full play to the traditional culture and resources of the countryside itself, and leverage the interaction between urban and rural areas.
Rural revitalization is not only an important guarantee for the realization of domestic and international dual circulation, but also provides a new domestic demand market and growth space for China's economic transformation and upgrading, and is the key to achieving common prosperity in the new era.
Caption: More and more urban residents are attracted by the culture, style and life of the countryside, driving the popularity of rural tourism
2. Adapt measures to local conditions and find rural revitalization that suits us
With the progress of urbanization and industrialization, the decline and hollowing out of the countryside is a necessary stage for all industrialized countries.
The reason why this is necessary is that in the era of industrialization, the productivity of agriculture was far lower than that of industry, resulting in an increase in urban and rural incomes, and there was inevitably a law of population and capital leaving the countryside and flowing to the cities. Therefore, the industrialization of agriculture has become a very popular idea.
As early as the 20s and 30s of the last century, the United States and the United Kingdom and other countries have begun the practice of rural revitalization, and since the 1970s, major countries in the world have entered an active period of "rural revitalization". For example, the movement to return to nature in France, the renewal of villages in Germany, and the new village movement in South Korea.
Caption: The English countryside has undergone a long process of improvement and has become a very attractive land (Cozwold)
It has long been common to learn from the "American-style large-scale farm" model to improve agricultural productivity. The essence of this is the industrialization of agriculture – the efficient processing of large-scale plain arable land in the form of large machinery, thereby increasing the productivity of agriculture to a level similar to industrialization.
This model has indeed brought extremely high agricultural productivity to the United States and supported its global "food hegemony" and "food finance" chassis.
Caption: The mechanized farms of the central plains of the United States are the guarantee of its productivity and the chassis that underpins its global food supremacy
The premise of the "American-style large-scale farm" model is that there are fewer people and more land, the terrain is flat, and the land is highly intensive. In fact, the northeast and Xinjiang of the mainland have already achieved "large-scale production" agricultural production to varying degrees.
Caption: The northeast region of the mainland has achieved agricultural production of "large-scale and large-scale production" to varying degrees
However, the main part of the rural areas on the mainland is the "small farmers" with many people and little land, complex terrain, and even complex and changeable climate and culture, and a high degree of fragmentation.
Caption: In the case of the North China Plain, small plots of highly fragmented farmland are the mainstream. The same situation is similar in major agricultural regions such as the Central Plains and Sichuan and Chongqing
As an ancient civilization with thousands of years of agricultural history, the foundation of mainland culture and society is built on the foundation of profound agricultural civilization. This indigenous culture is based on the "complete agricultural belt" that spans from the tropics to the cold temperate zone, from the rainforest to the oasis, and also on the "complete topographic belt" from the delta to the roof of the world, from the great plains to the karst.
The natural environment of "ten miles of different days" has generated the cultural representation of "ten miles of different sounds", but it is unified in the core of traditional culture based on the Spring Festival and the 24 solar terms.
This is the fundamental reason why the mainland, which is also an agrarian civilization, distinguishes it from countries such as Vietnam, India, Japan, Egypt and other countries with "local agricultural belts and topographic belts". Therefore, the mainland is really a rich mine of local rural culture.
Caption: China's vast latitude span, combined with complex topography and the influence of the monsoon, combine multiple climatic zones
Nowadays, more and more people are beginning to realize that we are different from the "large-scale farm" model of the United States, Australia, Canada and other countries because of the colonial history of a small number of people holding a large amount of high-quality land.
It is even more difficult to emulate the European model of "converting resource wealth into agricultural wealth" by relying on natural gas and oil resources to complete the accumulation of agricultural raw capital, as in the Netherlands or Norway.
On the contrary, based on the local traditional culture, it may be more suitable for the mainland to explore the development model of "endogenous local agriculture*" that is more suitable for the local climate and culture.
"*Endogenous: or endogenous. Endogenous development refers to an economic development model that takes local resources, technology, industry and culture as the basis to protect the ecological environment, protect the diversity and independence of culture, and maximize regional economic benefits. 」
Greenhouse agriculture in the Netherlands is based on the discovery of the large natural gas field in Groningen in the 1960s, and the greenhouse technology and wealth accumulation are maintained and completed through gas burning
From this point of view, the indigenous countries of Eurasia, which have traditional agricultural traditions, are more suitable to be used as reference objects for the mainland.
For Japan, which has a similar traditional culture, has the characteristics of more people and less land, fragmented farmland, and took the lead in completing industrialization and urbanization, it is worthy of our in-depth observation and reference.
3. The process of rural revitalization in Japan
Rural revitalization in Japan actually began during the Meiji Restoration. During the Meiji period, Japanese society began to industrialize as a result of the beginning of the process of full-scale industrialization, and the traditional rural society was transforming into an industrialized society.
Caption: During the Meiji era, Japan's industrialization developed rapidly, and cities began to prosper (Source: Network Open Platform)
At that time, Japan was rapidly moving from a traditional agricultural society to an industrialized society, and a large number of young and strong laborers moved from the countryside to the cities to become industrial workers, rapidly resulting in the hollowing out of the countryside.
In order to organize the left-behind people to maintain the safety of the people left behind in the rural society and to maintain normal agricultural productivity, the primary rural cooperative organizations in the form of local cooperatives were born, which is the prototype of today's agricultural cooperatives in Japan.
Caption: Farmland around Osaka after being bombed by the U.S. Army in 1945 (Source: Network Open Platform)
After the end of World War II, Japan began more than half a century of all-round exploration of rural revitalization.
1. 1945-1950s: Agrarian reform, the first round of infrastructure development
After the defeat of the war, Japan, under the strong impetus of the U.S. military, forcibly distributed the land in the hands of landlords to yeoman farmers, which basically completed the land reform in the true sense. The unprecedentedly increased enthusiasm of peasant households after the redistribution of land played a major role in ensuring Japan's grain production after the war.
During this period, the Ministry of Farmland was responsible for part of the work of agricultural land reform, which was also the predecessor of the Agricultural Promotion Bureau.
Since the countryside was also severely damaged during the war, from the 1950s onwards the state began to promote the New Rural Movement, which aimed to repair the rural infrastructure. At the same time, we also began to consider plans for the promotion of agriculture and rural areas in various regions.
Caption: Rural Japan in the 1950s, where the revitalization of agriculture and rural areas began to be discussed (Source: Network Open Platform)
At the same time, the "Agricultural Land Law" was enacted, which started the process of agricultural land circulation and promoted the large-scale fragmentation of land, but the future effect was not successful.
2. 1960s: Liberalize the transfer of agricultural land and improve infrastructure in an all-round way
During this period, at the peak of industrialization, there was a serious shortage of labor and recession in the countryside, and the urgency of rural revitalization has begun to appear.
This stage is also a period when Japan intensively promulgates laws and policies related to rural revitalization. In order to revitalize the countryside, the government launched the second large-scale rural infrastructure construction, the Beautiful Countryside Movement (町を美しくする運動).
Caption: During this period, a large-scale rural infrastructure campaign was carried out in Japan's agricultural land sub-regions
The obvious achievements during this period were the great improvement of the appearance of the countryside and the improvement of living facilities, which paved the way for the flow of people and capital from the city into the countryside in the future. At the same time, progress has been made in the expansion of agricultural land, but rural Japan is still dominated by fragmented smallholder farmers.
Caption: In the 1960s, Japan's industrialization and urbanization reached its climax, and the continued prosperity of large cities that absorbed rural populations was a dizzying array of large-scale events
3. 1970s-1980s: Strengthen rural infrastructure and rural beautification
The village-building movement that swept the country in the 1970s was still essentially aimed at alleviating the decline of rural decay and productivity brought about by urbanization and industrialization. Under the village-building movement, the infrastructure of the countryside has been further strengthened with the scale of urban and rural equivalence, and the completeness and appearance of the infrastructure in many villages are no less than the level of cities.
At the same time, more importantly, in the exploration of rural revitalization in various places, the concept of one village, one product has come to the fore, and various places have followed suit to cultivate local fist products.
Caption: Japan's One Village, One Product Movement is an important stage of rural revitalization, and many villages have explored their own unique advantages during this period
In 1972, the Bureau of Agricultural Land was abolished and the Bureau of Structural Improvement was established to strengthen the structural reform of agricultural land and promote the structure of agricultural production and the scale of agricultural land.
In addition, a series of laws, such as the Agricultural Land Law, have been adjusted to expand the authority for the transfer of agricultural land and allow the separation of the right to operate and the ownership of agricultural land.
4. 1980s-1990s: Develop rural tourism and promote citizens to go to the countryside
The 1980s were at the height of Japan's economy, and the huge middle class created a huge demand for rural leisure.
At this time, the state timely launched a series of policies to strengthen the construction of rural tourism, such as the Law on the Development of Comprehensive Leisure Areas and the Law on the Development of Rural Areas, to guide urban citizens to go to the countryside and feed the rural economy with the fruits of industrialization and urbanization.
During this period, concepts such as eco-tourism, experiential farms, and leisure tourism sprung up, reflecting the inner needs of the middle class in the late industrialization period. So far, after more than 40 years of rural revitalization in Japan, the initial process of rural revitalization has finally come to an end.
Caption: Rural leisure tourism has become an important leisure project
5. 2000 to present: Advancing sustainability and digitalization
After the new millennium, Japan's population continues to age, the problem of insufficient rural population has intensified, and the development of rural areas and tourism have caused certain damage to the environment.
At the same time, through the national unified agricultural data platform, it provides farmers with data and information services to improve the level of digital agriculture. In addition, the continuous upgrading and intellectualization of agricultural machinery is also pushing up the level of smart agriculture.
Caption: Kukumu Farm in Aichi Prefecture is a JAS certified agricultural park
In 2001, the Structural Improvement Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries merged with the Regional Promotion Bureau of the Land Agency to form the Rural Promotion Bureau, which is responsible for matters related to rural revitalization. In 2009, the local revitalization cooperation team system was launched to help the development of rural revitalization.
Through more than half a century of exploration and practice of rural revitalization, Japan's agriculture has achieved high-end upgrading, the rural area has taken on a new look, and the income level and living standards of farmers have risen significantly.
ACCORDING TO DATA RELEASED BY THE PRESIDENT MAGAZINE IN 2013, THE AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOME OF JAPANESE FARMERS REACHED ABOUT 490,000 YUAN, WHICH IS NO LESS THAN THE URBAN LEVEL. At the same time, the self-sufficiency rate of rice, which is a staple food, has reached 98 percent, and the goal of food security has been basically achieved in a country with very limited arable land.
Caption: Facility agriculture with a high prevalence rate in rural Japan ensures agricultural production
It can be seen that rural revitalization is a long-term process, and the main reason for the long start of the process comes from the huge amount of projects to improve rural infrastructure and landscape transformation, which lasted for more than 40 years before it reached the level where it can welcome a large number of citizens to the countryside to feed the countryside.
In addition to the overall experience of the gradual advancement of the above five stages, the key to Japan's rural revitalization is actually to consolidate the specific four major areas.
4. Important experience in rural revitalization in Japan
As the main driving factors, the Japan Agricultural Cooperative, rural infrastructure, people going to the countryside, and one village, one product can be called the "Four King Kongs" that support Japan's rural revitalization.
Caption: Japan's agricultural cooperatives, rural infrastructure, citizens going to the countryside, and one village, one product can be called the four King Kongs that support the revitalization of Japan's countryside
1. 1947-present: The Japanese Agricultural Cooperative is one of the leading players
When it comes to rural revitalization in Japan, one core organization cannot be avoided in any case, the Japan Agricultural Cooperative.
Nonghyup is the leader of rural revitalization in Japan.
The Japan Agricultural Cooperative (JA) was established in 1947. It is a mutual aid economic organization with the main functions of farmer cooperation, association, operation and management. It is this that plays a leading role in the modernization of Japanese agriculture.
Caption: Agricultural cooperatives are ubiquitous in rural Japan, playing a leading role in Japan's agricultural modernization (Source: Network Open Platform)
The mass base of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives began with the mutual aid of farmers during the Meiji Restoration and the economic crisis after World War I. And its real formation and development was after World War II.
Due to the severe damage to Japan's rural areas after World War II, it was difficult for scattered farmers to increase their productivity, and the government established agricultural cooperatives through legislation to provide a large amount of preferential policy and financial support, and land reform was also advancing rapidly.
At its peak, about 99% of the country's farmers joined the agricultural cooperatives and became members of the association. In addition, non-farmers with cooperative relationships are gradually opening up applications to join.
Initially organized by the village, county, and central governments, the cooperatives were reduced to the county and central levels in the 1980s, due to the drastic reduction of rural households and their own redundancy.
Caption: The three-tier organizational structure of the Japan Agricultural Cooperative
The Japan Agricultural Cooperatives are fully involved in all aspects of Japan's rural economy, including agricultural production, marketing, finance, cultural industries and derivative services, and can be said to be almost all-encompassing, and are the absolute leading organizations in the field of rural society and agriculture in Japan, and are the main promoters of agricultural modernization.
The main functions of this half-government-half-civilian peasant cooperative organization are as follows:
1. Agricultural extension
Agricultural extension, also known as agricultural technology extension (referred to as agricultural promotion), usually refers to the dissemination of agricultural production technology and knowledge in a narrow sense.
Agricultural extension can help farmers, especially smallholder farmers with limited access to technical guidance, gain the necessary technical knowledge to improve agricultural productivity and ensure agricultural security through access to more advanced technologies.
Caption: Scientific production in rural Japan mainly depends on the promotion and popularization of agricultural technical knowledge
Although there is also an agricultural extension function at the national level, the agricultural cooperatives are said to be the second largest agricultural promotion system in Japan, given that the members of the agricultural cooperatives cover almost all farmers.
The Japan Agricultural Cooperative's agricultural promotion project is called agricultural guidance, which is aimed at improving the productivity of farmers by providing guidance on agricultural production techniques, agricultural management, and land use.
Nonghyup has 15,700 agricultural instructors nationwide, who go deep into the fields to promote and provide guidance to farmers, and in 2019, a total of 1.8 million "home guidance" sessions were generated. It plays an important role in promoting the modernization of agriculture in Japan.
Caption: Japanese agriculture is highly dependent on agricultural guidance
The agricultural cooperatives not only impart technology and advanced knowledge to farmers through agricultural guidance, but also teach operation methods through the introduction of advanced agricultural machinery to improve the level of agricultural automation and intelligence.
2. Agricultural finance
The Japan Agricultural Cooperative provides its members with a full range of services in the financial sector, including credit, insurance, financing, etc., and is arguably the most important source of funds for smallholder farmers when they are short of funds.
Even this kind of financial service includes the sale and purchase of agricultural products, as well as farmers' life insurance, weddings and funerals, etc., which is nicknamed "one-stop service from cradle to coffin".
Under the financial monopoly of the agricultural cooperatives, the production and livelihood of the peasant households are highly tied to the financial system of the agricultural cooperatives.
In my case, I rented a house from a farmer in the suburbs of Tokyo who was building a house on his farmland, and not only did the other party's account be a farmer's cooperative bank account, but I also asked the payer to have a farmer's cooperative account in order to complete the transaction. It can be seen that the agricultural cooperatives are fully integrated into and affect the financial and life of farmers.
Caption: A large number of rural households have completely tied their financial channels to the financial system of agricultural cooperatives
Although the agricultural cooperatives monopolized a large amount of idle funds of farmers through finance and trading. But the benefits to farmers are also visible, with deposit rates often slightly higher than those of private banks, and loans granted are often very favorable.
In this way, smallholder farmers can obtain financing at very low interest rates, which greatly contributes to the development of agricultural production.
3. Agricultural service industry
Farm Contract: In the early 90s, 70% of the farmers were entrusted with rice seedling raising alone, as in the early 90s, the percentage of rice seedling raising work entrusted to the agricultural cooperatives was as high as 70%. The participation of agricultural cooperatives in the entrusted business is objectively conducive to the improvement of the efficiency of intensive agricultural production.
Rural circulation: Another major function of the agricultural cooperatives is to carry out unified sales of members' agricultural products and the unified purchase of agricultural machinery and tools required. This kind of unification behavior is the most basic advantage of the existence of agricultural cooperatives, and the unified rural market has increased the bargaining power of peasant households.
Caption: The large proportion of farmland entrustment business in Japan is conducive to the improvement of the work efficiency of fragmented farmland
In order to further increase the added value of agriculture, the agricultural cooperatives continue to carry forward the spirit of "one-stop" - they have established their own processing plants, packaging plants, logistics centers, cold storages, and even direct terminals, and established a system of wholesale markets, supermarkets, and direct sales stores.
As a result, since the entire chain is run by the agricultural cooperatives, the farmers are more willing to be entrusted to the agricultural cooperatives and thus rely more on the financial system of the agricultural cooperatives.
Caption: Unified direct sales stores for agricultural materials in rural areas
In addition, because the agricultural cooperatives have uniform requirements for the quality of the agricultural products they sell, this in turn promotes the improvement and standardization of the production quality of farmers.
Brand Agriculture: In order to increase the added value of agriculture, Japan Agricultural Cooperative is good at establishing and operating agricultural brands. The high-quality Japanese ingredients that we often hear about, such as Matsusaka beef, Ise beef, and domestic rice, are all related to the brand promotion of Nonghyup.
Nonghyup has enhanced the quality and value of agricultural products through high standards of quality certification, as well as the promotion and publicity of brand symbols. In conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' "Local Goods" certification system, we have established a brand of local specialties and implanted the concept of "the best domestic products" in the hearts of the people.
Caption: The main tea product in the Uji region
Behind the positive impetus of JA Agricultural Cooperative, there is also a backlash.
The Japan Agricultural Cooperatives have played a tremendous role in promoting the modernization of agriculture and the increase of farmers' incomes in Japan. However, after more than half a century of development and expansion after the war, its shortcomings were also revealed.
Due to the lack of government control, it has become a "farming and forestry faction" with great influence in Japanese politics, and it is difficult to carry out government reform because it has the votes and influence of farmers all over Japan.
More importantly, this monopoly power directly became an important factor in pushing up the price of food in Japan.
We often hear about the sky-high prices of watermelons and cherries in Japan, not because the taste is so delicious, but because the bargaining system of the agricultural cooperatives makes a lot of scissors between farmers and the market.
Caption: Japanese agricultural products are generally very expensive
As a large amount of agricultural cooperatives' financial funds are used for real estate, entertainment, and stock market profiteering, the phenomenon of abandonment of farmland in the Japanese countryside is becoming more and more serious.
On the whole, it is an agricultural cooperative organization that has achieved great success in the early stage, but lacks higher-level supervision and checks and balances in the later stage, and has gone further and further on the road of profit-seeking, causing huge concerns to the Japanese countryside and agriculture.
2. 1950s-1990s: Extreme rural infrastructure - a major basic project to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas
The Japanese version of "New Rural Construction".
In 1955, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries proposed the idea of "New Rural Development", which was an important policy for the revitalization of rural areas. It is the central government that uses strong financial policy tools to provide low-interest loans, subsidies, and even direct investment for rural public infrastructure construction, focusing on basic areas such as roads and electricity.
During this period, which lasted for about five years, Japan's rural areas gradually emerged from the decay and backwardness of the post-World War II period, and barely kept up with the pace of the whole country. However, this level of trimming can only be described as "simple makeup", especially far from the city.
Caption: In 2021, the road maintenance rate of different levels of roads in Japan (according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan), the road maintenance rate in rural areas is not lower than that in urban areas
What stimulates the "refinement" of Japan's rural infrastructure construction is still the torrent of the times - industrialization.
The 1950s and 60s in Japan was the era of the fastest industrial development, and a large number of laborers left the countryside to work in big cities, resulting in a shortage of labor and low incomes of farmers.
In order to improve the gap between urban and rural areas, the new round of "new rural construction" can be described as "refined". In terms of infrastructure, we will comprehensively improve the network of water and drainage pipelines, promote highways connecting rural and mountainous areas, establish special institutions to build disaster prevention and water conservancy facilities, and even promote, renovate and renovate rural dwellings.
Caption: The renovated village houses are very beautiful
In addition, in terms of the environment, it has also vigorously promoted the concept of resource recycling and improved the rural ecological environment. In the 1960s, the "beautiful village" movement swept across the country, and with the rapid economic growth and industrialization of the time, the countryside became a new and attractive land.
This is similar to what was done in major European countries around the same time, such as Germany, where decades of rural environmental improvement have reached the extreme of "nothing can be done", and the only room for improvement is in East Germany.
The beautiful style makes the countryside very attractive.
The German countryside has reached the extreme state of "no repair", in addition to convenient transportation, there are also facilities that are no less than those of the city, but the environment is more beautiful and pleasant
It is not only the improvement and beautification of infrastructure, but also a systematic transformation of the three-dimensional experience of the countryside.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries interprets the "beauty of farming, mountain, and fishing villages" as the beauty of the "five senses". In other words, it should not only be visually beautiful, but also a "general mobilization" that includes the five senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
Not only that, from 1992 to 2002, the Beautiful Rural Landscape Commendation Award was also selected consecutively to encourage the achievements of the landscape of agricultural and fishing villages built through the efforts of local residents, in order to better promote and protect the rural landscape environment.
Therefore, there is an interesting phenomenon in Japan, the more mountainous the countryside, the better the infrastructure, the more beautiful the appearance, and even some of them exceed the level of ordinary cities.
Caption: The improvement of Japan's mountainous villages is reflected in the high maintenance rate of roads and the aesthetics of the landscape (Shirakawa-go)
For example, the Hida Takayama area is located deep in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture.
Originally a remote and dilapidated valley village cluster, it not only rebuilt its agricultural base during the post-war agricultural land reform, but also took advantage of the Beautiful Countryside Movement in the 1960s to improve the construction of modern infrastructure such as living pipelines and sanitation facilities, and at the same time protect the buildings and streets of ancient villages, and beautify streams.
Anyone who has been there has been admired by the fat koi fish swimming in the stream, the charm of the ancient buildings of Shirabi Dozo Street, the skill of Hida craftsmen, the World Heritage Shirakawa-go gassho-zuku, and the local cuisine, making it a tourist destination with an average of 4 million tourists a year, and a foreign tourist population of up to five times the annual population.
Caption: Furukawa Town in the Hida Takayama area was renovated in the 60s to become a charming village with a beautiful environment and well-preserved traditions
In addition, the railway system that has penetrated into various places is a booster for rural revitalization. With a total length of about 47,000 kilometers and 202 service providers, Japan has a vast and interwoven railway network.
Due to the early start of industrialization, Japan's railway system is not only densely populated in large cities, but also deep into the mountains and countryside, connecting every corner of the country.
With the development of urbanization after the war, the railway system has mostly changed to a commuting nature, and has become the most convenient means of transportation for tourists to go deep into specific scenic spots such as villages and small towns.
Japan's extensive rail network connects not only major cities but also most small towns and villages. Railways have become the best tool for "people to go to the countryside".
In addition, the popularization and construction of rural broadband and network has also laid the foundation for the use of advanced agricultural machinery and agricultural information data, and this soft infrastructure has also played an important role in the development of smart agriculture.
Japan's nationwide rural infrastructure construction and beautification have achieved true urban-rural equivalence in terms of rural living conditions, services, transportation, and appearance, which has laid the prerequisites for urban residents to feed the rural economy in the future.
Caption: The beautiful road system in rural Japan is a reflection of the high level of infrastructure upgrade
3. From the 1960s to the present: citizens go to the countryside - a way to realize urban-rural interaction and revitalize
After the infrastructure and landscape have achieved the equivalence of urban and rural areas, the biggest change is that urban residents have become more deeply accepting of the countryside, which has brought about a wave of "citizens going to the countryside" that continues to this day.
Citizens go to the countryside to bring an effective way for the countryside to get rid of a single agricultural income, maximize the value of ecological resources and infrastructure investment, and realize the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, so as to improve the income level of rural residents. This is the only way for urbanization and industrialization to effectively feed back to the countryside.
Caption: Rural tours for urban dwellers in Japan have become the most common form of tourism (Oshino Hakkai)
Since the 1960s, through the introduction of a series of systems related to rural land transfer, the management rights of professional farmers and large-scale operators have been gradually liberalized.
On the one hand, this has brought about the specialization and scale of agricultural production, and on the other hand, more importantly, a large amount of urban capital has been introduced to feed the countryside, and at the same time, a large number of small farmers can have spare energy to carry out sideline business after leasing land management rights, and the possibility of this kind of farmer part-time business has gradually provided a human basis for further urban-rural linkage.
Caption: Part-time farming, especially leisure services for urban dwellers, generates significant income for many Japanese farmers
The Japanese government has long recognized the importance of strengthening the linkage between urban and rural areas for rural revitalization.
A typical example is the "Urban, Agricultural, and Fishing Village Symbiosis and Exchange Project Team" established in 2002, led by the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (deputy to the second-in-command of the Japanese government) and the Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (deputy in charge of agriculture and rural areas).
This project mainly focuses on the creation of various urban and rural exchange opportunities such as eco-tourism, agriculture, forestry and fishery experience, and the development of activities, as well as the development of related site space.
Caption: A fishing village in Eagen, which focuses on fishing experience
In fact, it is said that it is an "exchange" between the city and the countryside, and the "translation" is to lead people from the city to the countryside.
Tourism is the best way.
At this time, tourism agriculture came into being, which not only satisfied the yearning of urban residents for nature in the late stage of industrialization, but also allowed farmers who had spare energy and part-time jobs to devote themselves to the related work of "providing services to rural citizens".
For example, Furano in Hokkaido and rice field paintings in Aomori Prefecture are typical examples.
Caption: Hokkaido's Furano attracts tourists with its agricultural landscape
In addition, in order to attract more public consumption, the project also clearly proposes the development of "stay-in leisure activities".
The so-called stagnation means "to stay, to stay". The best example of the "stay" function is the hot spring facilities and citizen farms scattered throughout the Japanese countryside. Among them, the citizen farm is a business mode in which farmers lease a small amount of their own land to citizens for amateur cultivation and collect some land use fees.
Citizens can not only experience farming, but also take their children to learn agricultural knowledge and cultivate their body and mind. Plant some of your favorite flowers and fruits, and come to the land from time to time. This kind of comfortable life back to nature is deeply loved by the citizens, and some citizens have even built small houses in the farm, and behind the houses is a small piece of rented land, which is rented to a city family all year round.
Caption: The Citizen Farm is very popular with the majority of urban residents, and it also attracts many elderly people to spend time and cultivate their self-cultivation (source: Network Open Platform)
In 2018, there were 434 private farms in 24,086 plots in Tokyo, and even in Nerima Ward, near central Tokyo, there are many citizen farms where citizens can grow fruits and vegetables on holidays.
In order to make it easier to connect the countryside with the citizens, the road station* came into being.
"*Roadside Station: (Japanese: 道の駅) is a resting place located along major traffic routes throughout Japan that can be used by passing passengers 24 hours a day. 」
Nihondo Station is the third type of highway recreation facility that is different from the service area and parking area. It is usually installed along general national highways and major highways, and has comprehensive functions
There are more than 1,000 stations in Japan, 7% of which are located in mountainous and hilly areas, and are often in full harmony with the natural environment, making them a popular choice for travelers to take a break from the road. More importantly, since the early 1990s, the station has become an important window for direct sales of agricultural products and cultural promotion in rural areas, narrowing the distance between citizens and the countryside.
Caption: A local consumer retail store inside Fujikawa Road Station
4. 1970s to present: One Village, One Product - Solving the problem of "what to interact with" between urban and rural areas
One Village, One Product is a concept of rural revitalization in Japan that has been widely spread for many years. It is also a problem that must be faced and solved after the tide of citizens going to the countryside begins, and it is a specific means and tool for rural revitalization. In the past decade or so, it has become more and more well-known in the mainland, and many places hope to learn from its ideas and practices.
In fact, unlike the usual meaning of "every village has a superior agricultural product", its original meaning may be broader and more open.
Caption: One Village, One Product has opened the way for a large number of rural areas in Japan to seek innovative development
Back in the 1970s, Japan began to explore ways to revitalize the countryside at the national level, commonly known as the "village building movement". It is intended to boost the rural economy through the upgrading of local rural transformation and the tapping of economic potential. Everywhere is struggling to explore its path.
The game-breaker appeared in 1979.
Morihiko Hiramatsu, who was the governor of Oita Prefecture at the time, first proposed the concept of one village, one product, and in the early 80s, the prefecture's two star brands, Oyama-cho (a specialty of plum and chestnut farming) and Yufuin Onsen, caused a nationwide sensation.
Yufuin City, where Yufuin is located, continues to attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists due to its high-quality hot spring resources and leisure experience
Please keep in mind the two examples of Daisencho and Yufuin Onsen, because they represent the logic that rural revitalization must be developed first and focused on breakthrough cases. At the same time, it also means that the application of the concept of one village, one product is not limited to special agricultural products from the beginning.
Since then, people from all over Japan have come to Oita Prefecture to investigate the relevant experience, and since then, the "One Village, One Product Movement" has been fully rolled out in Japan, and has gradually developed into a situation of "fist agricultural products everywhere".
Caption: Shizuoka is famous for its tea, and many villages are famous for its specialty tea (Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture)
However, is this what is really meant by one village, one product?
Morihiko Hiramatsu, the "father of one village, one product", later elaborated on the "whole picture" of one village and one product he conceived in his book "Exploration of Technology-Intensive Cities":
The first goal is to attract people: "The first goal of the One Village, One Product Movement is to integrate the breadth of the region with the locality. Even if a brand-name product becomes a specialty, this alone cannot become a single product for one village, but it is important for it to become a countermeasure for the revitalization and change of population sparseness in each locality, and to promote people to settle down. 」
In other words, one village, one product means, "'The development of special products is for the settlement of young people, so as to revitalize the place. Therefore, although it is called one village and one product, it can actually be one village, two products, or three products, and the final result may also be two villages and one product or three villages and one product, and the content is not limited to agricultural products, but can also be tourism or folk songs......
In the water town of Aolai in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, the song "Tide to the Water Town" sung by Kaori Mizumori, the queen of local songs, and the local "water flower wedding" culture
The second goal is to improve technology: "One village, one product must be able to stand in the world, and it cannot rely on simple specialties. In order to become a product with a global reputation, it is necessary to hone technology, otherwise it will not be able to catch up with the increasingly international economic trend. 」
The third goal is to nurture human resources: "Cultivating people with an enterprising spirit who can take on the challenge of the world's new technologies is also the ultimate goal of the One Village, One Product Movement. 」
The above can be summarized as the three major goals of attracting people, strengthening skills, and educating people, and the reason why it takes so much to quote the original text is because it has an important guiding role in the real practice direction of one village and one product.
Caption: Kusatsu Onsen's "kneading ceremony" makes it unique among many hot spring villages
After more than 40 years of development, under the guidance of these three goals, in addition to the well-known special agricultural products such as Shizuoka tea and Koshihikari rice, various types of new patterns of rural revitalization have increasingly emerged.
But to tell the truth, not all villages will necessarily develop.
In order for rural revitalization to achieve real results, it is necessary to seek key breakthroughs and key inputs, so that a group of villages can take the lead in revitalization, so as to drive other villages.
Do you remember the aforementioned Daiyama Town and Yufuin Temple? They are typical examples of their own characteristics that were first developed. The former is the way of processing special agricultural products, and the latter is the way of in-depth utilization of characteristic resources. But in either case, in fact, the essence is to achieve a deeper urban-rural linkage through endogenous development.
Caption: The commercial facilities in Yufuin Onsen sell goods made from locally sourced materials
Isn't there a chance for those villages that have been invested relatively little and have not made breakthroughs in key areas? Of course not, it's man-made. There are two key pathways:
The first way is to industrialize six times and sell things to the city.
The most common is the processing of agricultural products. The logic is to cultivate local advantageous agricultural products, on the one hand, to brand and high-end, and on the other hand, through industrial deep processing, six times industrialization, to create more added value.
For example, Malu Village, which has built pomelo into a well-known brand, has created many popular products by virtue of the all-round deep processing of pomelo: original juice, cosmetics, seed oil medical application research, pomelo cuisine, pomelo bath, etc., which are deeply loved by urban residents.
The annual sales revenue of nearly 200 million yuan is a huge amount of money for a small village with a population of only more than 800.
Caption: Malu Village, which has nothing, has built pomelo into a fist product and achieved an industrial counterattack (source: Network Open Platform)
So what if there are no local advantageous agricultural products?
It doesn't matter, if you are good at spotting market opportunities, you can even make a huge industry out of leaves, and Kamikatsu Town is a typical example.
The agricultural instructors in Kamikatsu Town were keenly aware of the market where many restaurants in the city decorate with maple leaves, and almost all of the 1,700 people in the village have been engaged in cultivating, collecting, sorting, and processing maple leaves, and exporting them to many overseas countries, earning more than 200 million yen a year.
Caption: Kamikatsu Town, which has "nothing" except leaves (Source: Network Open Platform)
The second way is to create a special environment to bring people from the city in.
How do you attract people from the city to the countryside? Can you only rely on hot springs and picking? No, land art, for example, is the way that is becoming more and more popular in Japan right now.
While rice field paintings, rape fields, and lavender gardens were also popping up all over China, the form of decorating the countryside with art was still in its infancy.
Caption: There are also a lot of agricultural landscape art on the mainland
In a remote rural area with a lack of expertise, through the curatorial activities of large-scale art festivals, many artworks are arranged in any location in the countryside according to local conditions, expressing the local traditional humanities in the form of art.
Because it requires a professional team and experienced curators, coupled with full integration and communication with the local countryside, to present a classic land art festival.
Caption: Setouchi International Art Festival
In this regard, Japan's Echigo-Tsumari Land Art Festival, the Setouchi International Art Festival, and the newly launched Northern Alps International Art Festival have become a series of rural land art festivals that have attracted worldwide attention under the management of veteran curator Kitagawa Furan.
These three remote villages, located on the plains, islands and mountains, have all regained the charm of local traditional culture and attracted a lot of popularity.
Echigo-Tsumari Land Art Festival is held every three years in Niigata Prefecture. The originally remote and desolate inland countryside has received more attention because of this event
Relying on the advantages of the local natural environment to create a unique local living environment experience, it is also a kind of one village, one product, which can also bring in people from the city.
For example, Misei Town, which is popular for its high-quality starry sky resources and viewing conditions.
Relying on the good starry sky view of Kibi Highland, the local place name of Mihoshi Town was "borrowed" to build stargazing facilities such as an observatory, and the country's first "Light Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations" was issued.
Caption: The starry sky visibility in Meixing Town is very good, which is a good foundation for its development of stargazing tourism (source: online open platform)
Relying on the traditional life style with local characteristics, it is also a kind of one village, one product. For example, Ine Fishing Village, which has attracted a lot of fans for its fishing village life and traditional houses with its "funaya" characteristics.
Just over 80 kilometers from Kyoto but more than a two-hour drive away, this remote fishing village retains the atmosphere of traditional fishing village life and traditional buildings thanks to its poor transportation. Fishing boats are parked under the house, fishermen come ashore, and fresh fish dishes are served...... These have become the elements that urban people are eager to see.
Caption: The funaya in Ine Fishing Village is the only houseboat settlement in Japan and is known as the most beautiful fishing village in Japan
What if there are no good resources available above? There is no environment, and creating an environment is also a way of thinking.
Combined with the current development trend of the Internet, wouldn't it be more interesting to rely on the remote work environment to attract urban people?
In fact, this phenomenon has been widespread in Japan, and even in Japan's code farming circles, there are special websites to discuss the "relocation of residence" suitable for remote work, which can be regarded as a phased trend under the Internet wave.
Villages or small towns with good network conditions, livable environment, and convenient transportation to big cities have the opportunity to benefit.
Although the example of the so-called "green Silicon Valley" Kamiyama Town is far less magical than that written in the book "Miracle of Kamiyama", it has registered more than 100 immigrants, and more than 10 of them live in the office.
Caption: Kamiyama caters to a trend of population movement in today's technological wave, and even if it is temporary, it is a good opportunity for local villages to regenerate
Finally, let's look at an example of rural entrepreneurship, Xisucang Village.
In fact, the Japanese government has been promoting rural entrepreneurship for many years, and has established a nationwide support platform, such as the Inacome platform, through the organization and deployment of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the members of the platform can receive relevant technical support and financial preferential treatment.
However, for a large number of villages themselves, they can still only passively wait, rely on, and wait for the arrival of young entrepreneurs who do not know when they will "fall from the sky". So there is an example of a self-financing way like Nishisokura Village.
Caption: The INACOME platform provides comprehensive support for entrepreneurship in agriculture, forestry and fishing villages
Nishisokura Village is a village of just 1,500 people located deep in the mountains of Okayama Prefecture.
This "place with only forests", at a time when the forestry industry on which it depends for its survival is declining, it is still based on the most advantageous local forest resources, playing the "rural entrepreneurship environment card", and has launched a local entrepreneurship plan with wood processing as the core - the Centennial Forest Concept, vigorously attracting entrepreneurs in any form.
Caption: Xisucang Village (Source: Network Open Platform)
Starting with disposable chopsticks for five years in the first five years, the rural entrepreneurs of Nishisokura Village have developed a path of DIY home decoration manufacturing, and because of their novel shape and function, they have been greatly loved by urban young people through the Internet, and have successfully entered the Tokyo market.
In addition to forestry itself, Xisucang Village has also carried out entrepreneurial recruitment related to forest ecosystems, including aquaculture, energy, hunting, slaughtering, etc., with the intention of creating a brain-opening, diverse, yet sustainable and self-contained entrepreneurial environment.
The entrepreneurial ensemble, named after "Forest School", has attracted entrepreneurs from major cities across the country to gather on the site of the renovated old abandoned elementary school, forming a rich entrepreneurial ecology.
Caption: Timber start-up in the "Forest School" (source: Network Open Platform)
To date, the village's greatest achievement is not the dozen or so startups and the more than 100 new jobs they have created. Rather, these entrepreneurial projects have formed a complete closed-loop sustainable recycling industrial chain around the core of forests.
For example, in the eel farming start-up, a circular ecological industrial chain of timber harvesting, heating, aquaculture, water treatment, irrigation, planting, fish feed production, and tree fertilization has been formed, forming the brand of "Forest Eel", and truly achieving "local consumption*".
*Local consumption: The semantics of "local production, local consumption" mainly for agricultural and aquatic products.
Caption: Eel breeding base (source: network open platform)
In the context of today's "dual carbon" era, a sustainable rural revitalization model like Xisucang Village may be more relevant than using the Internet wave to attract temporary migrants.
The eel of the forest in Nishisokura Village can recycle the local ecological industrial chain. Each link makes use of local industries, and the output becomes raw materials for other industries, so as to achieve sustainable and circularity
5. Summary
Rural revitalization is a topic involving a wide range of contents, but no matter what subdivision is studied, the law that cannot be escaped is the interaction and endogeneity of urban and rural areas.
The mainland is already in an era where urban-rural interaction is in full swing.
In the middle and late stages of industrialization, the huge and continuous infrastructure investment of the "infrastructure madman" in the past few decades is the largest capital. Only by continuing to improve the infrastructure construction and transformation of rural areas, and revitalizing the economic benefits of such infrastructure, and doing a good job in endogenous development, can we play the card of urban-rural interaction.
At the same time, we should also objectively see that although Japan has made great achievements in rural revitalization, it still cannot change the overall situation in which the number of agricultural workers has fallen below 2 million, the number of talents is still lacking, and the area of abandoned farmland continues to expand.
To sum up, while doing a good job in the comprehensive improvement of infrastructure, rural revitalization needs to focus on breakthroughs and key investments, and gradually drive the overall improvement with the first revitalized villages, which is the key to reducing "blood transfusion" and extending life and enhancing "hematopoietic" ability.