Today, I was planning my research journey set to begin at the end of this month, and I felt strongly that, in this drastically changing global era, it has become impossible to approach this journey with the same mindset as five years ago. I began my extensive research across Japan around 2020, coinciding with the onset of the pandemic, and at that time, while traveling to various places, one thought frequently crossed my mind: the type of research journeys I was conducting would likely become impossible to replicate ten years from then.
The reason is clear: most rural regions in Japan have been rapidly declining, driven by an unrelenting population outflow, extreme aging, and a nationwide infrastructure built during the high economic growth period from the 1970s onward that is now nearing the end of its lifespan. Recently, even in urban areas like Saitama and Tokyo, there have been incidents of road collapses. If urban infrastructure is already experiencing such deterioration, it’s self-evident that rural areas will fare even worse. Moreover, countless local governments, technically already insolvent, lack the necessary budgets to maintain or repair this aging infrastructure. Having directly observed and experienced these conditions, I concluded that by around 2030, the kind of research journeys I am currently undertaking would no longer be feasible. Therefore, I have continued traveling as much as possible until now, determined to visit numerous locations personally, hear the stories of the people who live there, and document their experiences. However, even this feels increasingly insufficient.
For instance, during my repeated visits to northern Tohoku, I encountered shocking changes last year. Shrines in the mountains, which I had freely accessed as recently as 2020, were no longer reachable because depopulation and aging had left no one to maintain them. Paths were completely obscured by overgrown weeds, rendering these places inaccessible. With such first-hand experiences, I have come to realize that Japan’s decline is progressing far faster than I had anticipated. This has compelled me to significantly accelerate my original plans, convinced that there may be no second chances to conduct thorough fieldwork in the future.