Anthony S. Rausch

The Heisei Dai Gappei: a case study for understanding the municipal mergers of the Heisei era

Abstract This article presents a preliminary examination of the municipal mergers of the Heisei era as the process unfolded in one rural prefecture in advance of the deadline of March 2006. The article opens by contextualizing the arguments for municipal mergers and the reality of mergers in other settings. A brief history of past periods of municipal mergers in Japan is provided and then the case for Aomori Prefecture, a rural and highly peripheral prefecture of northern Honshu, is examined. Using municipal PR materials, a sector analysis approach focusing on government, municipality and resident and coverage in the local media as the means to examine the process and issues of the mergers, the article concludes by questioning if mergers are necessary and, now that mergers are a reality, if the objectives which mergers are to achieve are locally meaningful to much of rural Japan.

A case study of lifelong learning in Japan: objectives, curriculum, accountability and visibility

Various conceptualizations of lifelong learning have been developed and various practices of lifelong learning have been identified. This paper introduces several recent conceptualizations of lifelong learning before considering the case for Japan, both in general and through examination of the state of lifelong learning in a rural prefecture and a case study of one lifelong learning programme in a rural city. While the case for the prefecture as a whole mirrors the literature on lifelong learning in Japan, the case study presents four specific characteristics that may direct future development of lifelong learning programmes as well as research: a clearly stated societal objective, a knowledge and skills curriculum, participant accountability, and social visibility and presence.

A framework for Japan's new municipal reality: assessing the Heisei gappei mergers

Abstract This article revisits the Heisei municipal mergers, first considering the background and justifications for the mergers and then introducing three thematic criteria for their assessment. These criteria, and the framework that emerges on the basis of these criteria, reflect post-merger research that has been undertaken and which focuses on three specific dimensions: the processes and patterns of the mergers; post-merger governing efficiency and governance; and the place-identity conflicts that follow municipal mergers and the implications regarding regional image branding that can arise as a result. These three areas provide the basis for assessing the Heisei mergers in terms of the processes under which they were undertaken and the demographic municipalities they yielded, as well as the implications they have in terms of resident satisfaction with both government function and local sense of place. While the outcomes of municipal mergers often take decades to emerge fully, these three research areas in combination provide for a comprehensive, systematic and comparative means for assessing the mergers from this point forward.

Cultural commodities in Japanese rural revitalization : Tsugaru Nuri Lacquerware and Tsugaru Shamisen

The fate of local places increasingly rests on their capability to capitalize on their highly specific local cultural resources. Cultural Commodities in Japanese Rural Revitalization: Tsugaru Nuri Lacquerware and Tsugaru Shamisen examines the dynamics of this reality for the Tsugaru District of the Aomori Prefecture, Japan, and its two dominant cultural commodities, a lacquerware and a musical performance. Organized on the basis of policy, production and consumption, the research points to historical trajectory and a combinative conceptual-operational space as the means of identifying cultural and economic potential for a cultural commodity. This analytical approach provides both for assessing the local consciousness and identifying informed policy and industry management for the commodity, making it possible to realize its potential in local revitaliszation.

Lifelong learning in rural Japan: relevance, focus and sustainability for the hobbyist, the resident, the careerist and the activist as lifelong learner

This paper examines lifelong learning in contemporary Japan, considering first various conceptual, policy and practical aspects before contextualizing the reality of the relevance, focus and sustainability of lifelong learning in a rural Japanese setting by detailing lifelong learning as directed by Aomori Prefecture, Hirosaki University and in a special program of Hirosaki City. On the basis of this contextualization, the paper concludes by proposing that the lifelong learning sector that is emerging in Japan can be organized on the basis of four overlapping orientations: one based on personal interest for the‘hobbyist’as lifelong learner, a second based on the lifestyle and contemporary issues concerns of the‘resident’as lifelong learner, a third through meeting the knowledge and skills needs of the‘careerist’as lifelong learner and the fourth through a specialized themes curriculum for the‘activist’as lifelong learner.

Post Heisei Mergers in Japan: Potential for a New Realignment in the Dōshū State System

From 2000 onward, Japan underwent a period of municipal mergers referred to as the Heisei Mergers. Even though the outcome of these mergers is still unclear, the central Japanese government is considering, if not moving toward, initiating a new set of mergers, this time consolidating the 47 prefectures into 12 dōshū, or states, in what is termed a dōshū-sei, or state system. This article examines the proposed characteristics of the dōshū-sei together with its justifications and implications. Evaluation of the dōshū-sei system follows, based both on post-Heisei Merger and pre-dōshū-sei sentiment, as well as an analytical consideration of the unintended consequences.

Japan's Heisei municipal mergers and the contradictions of neo-liberal administrative planning

This article addresses Japan’s Heisei period municipal mergers, which occurred from 2000 to 2010, considering the emerging outcomes and long-term implications. The mergers, which aimed to upscale on a national level to larger-sized municipalities while also rationalising administrative costs and streamlining services, reduced the number of municipalities in Japan from over 3000 to under 1800. Reports from prefectural and municipal bureaus and research institutions, together with coverage through the media, indicate that these aims have largely been met in the short term. However, these sources also indicate that resident reaction is less than favourable, particularly in terms of service rationalisation and loss of local identity. In terms of the long-term implications of the mergers as reflecting within Japan a transition from a developmental state policy orientation toward nation state liberalism, questions are emerging for rural areas regarding the long-term sustainability of the post-merger national municipal structures, as well as resident acceptance of the neo-liberal governing philosophy.