The relationship with Urahoro was formed while learning about community development.

Urahoro is a town of about 5,000 people, where forestry, fisheries, dairy farming, and field cultivation are all thriving. Urahoro is a town of about 5,000 people, rich in industry. Mr. Komatsu moved to Urahoro immediately after graduating from a university in his hometown of Tokushima. What brought him to this town from the distant land of Shikoku?

Townscape of Urahoro Town

When I was selecting a university in my third year of high school, I had a vague idea that I wanted to become a public servant, so I thought, 'It would be better to learn about urban development,' and I decided to study in a department that specialized in that field. While I was in school, I also did an internship at a company that was engaged in human resource development and urban planning. Urahoro was very interested in a local human resource development project in Tokushima that the company I was doing an internship with was conducting. The new project started with the suggestion that we could create a route for students to study in Urahoro and get involved in community development, and I decided to visit Urahoro myself.

Mr. Komatsu supported the students in Urahoro by helping them prepare for fieldwork and arranging meals while they gathered and slept together to think about projects that would help the town thrive.

Mr. Komatsu as a student (fourth from right)

I visited Urahoro for the first time around September of my junior year of college, and from there I went back and forth four times until graduation. I stayed in Urahoro for an extended period of time during summer vacation and wrote my graduation thesis there, and the town gradually became more familiar to me.

I want to create an inn that will serve as a base for travel for the younger generation.

Just before graduating from university, Komatsu learned that Urahoro was looking for a local development cooperative. His mission is to work in the tourism business. After his term of service expired, it was recommended that he start his own business in the town. It was a very timely opportunity for Mr. Komatsu, who was preparing to eventually start his own business in the tourism industry by obtaining a travel business license while he was still in college.

I wasn't worried about emigrating, but I had a vague idea of what would happen after my term as a cooperative worker ended," he recalls.

I applied for and was accepted into the cooperative and moved to Urahoro in 2017. In my second year, I started working on tourism projects in earnest. At the time, I was in charge of the "Noobari" (*) project promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which involved guided tours of Urahoro, including bird-watching tours, hamanas harvesting, and visits to coal mine sites.

*This is a type of stay-and-go tour in which visitors stay overnight in an agricultural, mountain, and fishing village area and enjoy meals and hands-on experiences that make use of the rich local resources.

You can see the red-crowned crane, a special natural treasure of Japan.

The remains of a coal mine in Urahoro, which used to be a coal mining town.

At the same time, he began preparing to start his own business, and in his third year as a cooperative worker, he set up his own business. After starting his own business, in addition to guided tours, he was also in charge of arranging business trips for town hall employees and school excursions for junior high school students. Another major task I accomplished was the opening of a guesthouse.

A snapshot taken in March 2020, before the guesthouse was completed, when we invited Chihiro Nazuka (left), who runs the "Kokekokko" guesthouse in Akan Town, to give an online presentation on the theme of "Guesthouses that grow with the town.

Chihiro Natsuka (left), owner of the guesthouse "KOKEKOKKO" in Akancho, was invited to give an online presentation on the theme of "Guesthouses that grow with the town. In the guided tours I have been involved in, visitors stay in Urahoro for a short period of time. That makes it difficult to make it a viable business. And there were no hotels in Urahoro where young travelers could easily gather, so I thought it would be great if there was a guesthouse where they could stay for a long period of time.

Komatsu purchased a 35-year-old building that had been a bachelor dormitory and renovated it with his own hands. He has enjoyed DIY projects since he was a student, and even in Urahoro he has done simple renovations such as re-covering the floors of his own house with the help of others, so he had fun renovating the guesthouse with his friends.

A total of 200 local people, mainly town hall employees and cooperative members, helped with the renovation of the guesthouse.

While working at the guesthouse, I realized that there was a shortage of labor in the primary industry.

Thus, "Hahaha Hostel" was born in July 2021. Just hearing the name makes one feel happy, but at the time, when the travel industry was not able to keep up with the spread of the new coronavirus, they did not have much visibility at first as to how to get customers to come to the hostel.

Exterior view of Hahaha Hostel

Seventy percent of the users are travelers, and many others are there for construction work or business trips. University students who are doing fieldwork also stay at the hostel for long periods of time.

When I was preparing for Hahaha Hostel, I had been working part-time at a dairy farmer I met during my training as a cooperative worker, and even after the opening of the hostel, I continued to work with them when there were no customers. When I talked with them in the field, I could feel that they were suffering from a chronic shortage of labor.

One day, Komatsu, who was enjoying dairy farming despite the hard work, asked a dairy farmer, "For example, if there was a girl who wanted to stay in Urahoro for a month and work part-time, would you accept her? He asked the dairy farmer. The answer came back, "Sure.

There are many people working on farm stays in Hokkaido, and some farms have more than 100 applications throughout the year. And there are actually quite a few kids who would like to experience dairy farming in Hokkaido. Then I thought that if we could get them to use Hahaha Hostel as a farmstay accommodation, it would be beneficial for the inn and also help the farmers, creating a good cycle.

With a dairy farmer who has been a great help to us

Through this process, Mr. Komatsu gradually began to think about "what I can do to increase the number of young people living here. When you move to the countryside, the first thing you need is a place to live and a job. And there are many jobs available in Urahoro.

Just as I was thinking, "Well then, let's focus on primary industries such as dairy farming and recruit people who want to experience work through the inn's website," I was approached by the town of Urahoro to participate in a new project. That is the portal site "Tsutsuurauraura," which provides information on job openings in Urahoro Town and also provides job matching services.

Tsutsuurauraura" is a job site that also provides information on daily life.

There have been job sites that specialize in specific jobs, such as "only agriculture," for example. However, this information is only for those who have decided to work in agriculture. And if you want people to choose Urahoro, located on the left side of Tokachi, within the framework of "jobs in agriculture," the hurdle is quite high. Instead, why not invite people to come to Urahoro, experience life in Urahoro, get to know the people of Urahoro, and learn about Urahoro through a variety of work experiences, regardless of the field? The "Tsutsuuraura" program was born out of an attempt to give form to such a concept.

The idea was conceived by Mr. Ogawa of the Urahoro Town Hall's Industry Division (at the far end).

Mr. Komatsu's job is to solicit businesses that want to post job information and to coordinate with those who visit Urahoro through "Tsutsuuraura". Currently, about 20 jobs and work experience opportunities are listed on the site. The site also has a section called "Urahoro no Koto" where you can read real life stories about life and work in Urahoro written by people who have actually stayed in the city. The site also functions as a portal site where information is updated as needed.

I had a vague idea of how the producers would react, but I didn't know how the commercial and industrial sectors would react, so I was a little nervous when I approached them. But we were relieved to find that more than 10 companies accepted our offer and were more flexible than we had expected.

Shichikyo Suisan Co., Ltd. engages in salmon set-net fishing.

which inherited the 100-year-old Urahoro Charcoal technology in 2021. The charcoal is made from Quercus crispula grown in Tokachi, Japan.

Urahoro is a town that encourages young immigrants to take on challenges.

I have lived in Urahoro for 5 years. What does Mr. Komatsu, a senior immigrant, see in Urahoro now? And what is the reason why he continues to live in Urahoro?

Urahoro is full of an atmosphere that supports the challenges of the younger generation. Whenever I ask for advice or a favor, the first thing they do is listen to me. The other day, a 20-year-old boy took over a long-established soba noodle shop, and when we had a pre-opening in the winter of 2021, members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry came to eat soba about once every two days. I thought, "That's what support is all about, isn't it?"

A friend living in Urahoro was the catalyst that connected him with Hahaha Hostel, a young immigrant. Through Mr. Komatsu's introduction, he got a job at a ranch, and now he is working hard at a restaurant in the town.

When you take action, there are people who will support you. With this in mind, Mr. Komatsu himself has naturally become less anxious and fearful of failure. Even if the management of the inn does not go well, I can find a new way while working as a dairy farmer. Living in a town with a rich industry gives him such a sense of security.

In the future, I want to be able to help young people who want to live in Urahoro when they want to do something, and provide them with a place to do it. I also hope to organize a welcome party for newcomers to the community so that those who have moved to Urahoro as a result of "Tsutsuuraura" will not feel alone without any horizontal connections or peers.

Now, Mr. Komatsu is preparing a new project: a shared house where young immigrants can interact with each other. As an immigrant himself, he knows the anxiety and loneliness that people experience when they first move to the area, and he would like to help alleviate some of that. I want to support young people in the same way that the people of my town helped me in the past. I am filled with such feelings.

Kenta Mori (right), an immigrant from Mie Prefecture and former member of the Regional Development Cooperation Volunteers, who plans and sells "rosa rugosa," a cosmetic product using the "Hamanasu" flower that blooms in Urahoro.

If you have a long vacation, why not visit Urahoro as a tourist? If you find a job that interests you even a little, we recommend that you try working there casually. You may be able to feel the energy of young people and the warmth of the people who have lived here for a long time.