A booklet titled "Miru Shiru Shihoro Book," featuring shops in the shopping district of Shihoro Town in Tokachi, has been distributed to all households in the town. The booklet is packed with the charm of Shihoro's community-focused shopping district, introducing not only restaurants, barbershops, and beauty salons, but also unique dry cleaners, photo studios, bookstores, and hardware stores.

We spoke with Kazumori Nozawa from the General Incorporated Association .doto and Sota Sato, an intern who was involved in the production, to hear about how it all came together!

――How did the "Miru Shiru Shihoro Book" project come about?

Mr. Nozawa: It goes back quite a bit, but it originally started in 2020 with the idea of distributing shop cards for restaurants and other stores in Shihoro Town at the Michi-no-Eki (Roadside Station) "Pia 21 Shihoro."

Michi-no-Eki "Pia 21 Shihoro"

After many discussions, we at .doto and Pia 21 Shihoro recruited interns in 2020 (you can read about that here), and together with the interns who applied, we launched the "Shihoro Shopping Street Visualization Project." As part of that project, we interviewed shops in the shopping district and, based on that content, released the "Shihoro Yotteku? Map" (A map of places to drop by in Shihoro).

Shihoro Town has always had a variety of interesting shops, but with the changing times, we were hearing from some people that they had never used the shops in the town's shopping district. This booklet was created at the request of the Shihoro Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the goal of "getting local people to use their local shops."

By the way, the original shop cards were intended for visitors from outside the town to use at restaurants and other places. However, the "Miru Shiru Shihoro Book" features shops that are closely tied to daily life, like the local bookstore and hardware store. We made a conscious effort to target local residents rather than visitors.

――It's true that there are many shops near where you live that you always pass by but have never once entered.

Mr. Nozawa: It can be quite intimidating to go in, right? We thought that just knowing who runs the shop, what kind of things they sell, and what the atmosphere is like would make it easier for people to step inside. We created the booklet hoping to provide that opportunity.

――Now, I'd like to talk to Mr. Sato, who participated as an intern. When did you first visit Shihoro Town?

Mr. Sato: My first stay was from October 2020 to March 2021. During that time, I was involved in the "Shihoro Shopping Street Visualization Project" and the "Shihoro Yotteku? Map." After that, I returned to Shihoro from September 2021 to February 2022, and I worked on this booklet during my second stay.

――What was your role?

Mr. Sato: I interviewed nearly 60 shops and was in charge of the text for the shop cards and the articles for the guidebook. During my stay, I also frequented the shops, interacted with the local people to help them understand the project, and worked to raise its visibility.

――So you were a bridge for the community.

Mr. Sato: Yes. Through the internship, I had many tasks, like creating the booklet and helping out at the shops. But by conducting interviews with the people from .doto and being by the side of Mr. Hotta (President of atLOCAL Inc., which operates Michi-no-Eki "Pia 21 Shihoro"), I was able to experience firsthand what it means to "work locally and live locally."

(In the middle is Yuki Hotta, President of atLOCAL Inc. On the right is Asahi Ushiro, an intern like Mr. Sato.)

――Were you interested in "working locally" before the internship?

Mr. Sato: Actually, I wasn't strongly interested from the beginning. It all started when I read the magazine ".doto" and thought, "I want to go to Eastern Hokkaido!" There was a flyer inside that looked like a job posting, and after registering, I found the information for this internship and applied.

――Why did you visit twice?

Mr. Sato: My hometown is Eniwa City, but during my first four-and-a-half-month stay in Shihoro, I became more knowledgeable about Shihoro than my own town. The more I learned, the richer the everyday scenes of the town seemed to become. For my second visit, I went because I wanted to experience that again.

――Could you share any memorable experiences from your stay?

Mr. Sato: As introduced at the beginning of the booklet, we held an event called the "Shihoro Mini Shopping Street Market" at Pia 21 Shihoro. The concept was to "bring the shopping street to the Michi-no-Eki to create an opportunity for many people to get to know the shops." We reached out to the shop owners, and while they weren't overly enthusiastic at first, I was so happy to see them participate more and more actively as the event drew closer.

I remember being surprised by one of the participating shops, Harao Bookstore. We had initially asked them to select about 20 books for the event, but before I knew it, they had prepared nearly 60. It was deeply memorable to be able to work on this event with such passion alongside the local people.

――We've spoken with Mr. Hotta before, and he always says his work is "for the people of Shihoro Town." This initiative really feels like a manifestation of that.

Mr. Sato: Mr. Hotta's goal is to create "the Michi-no-Eki most needed by its townspeople," and I felt that I was able to give shape to that teaching in my own way. The content of the event was created by five interns, including myself, and I think one of the interesting aspects was that we came up with our own ways to introduce the town.

Mr. Nozawa: The interns' stays were at different times, and some weren't even there during the event, but it was the interns who suggested, "We want to do an event! And we want to include it in the booklet!" When I ask various people for their feedback on the booklet, many mention that they could feel the passion of the townspeople from the event photos featured at the beginning.

Thank you, Mr. Nozawa and Mr. Sato!
We often look for enjoyment outside our own towns, through travel and sightseeing, but surprisingly, we often don't know the charms of the places we actually live. The "Miru Shiru Shihoro Book," which vividly conveys the appeal of Shihoro's shops and people, is set to become an essential guidebook for every household in town.