Hello everyone. This is Tomohiro Nakamichi from Shibecha Town. Welcome to 'Shibecha Days,' the series where I share the charms of Shibecha from my perspective. Time flies, and this is already the fourth installment.

December is here, and 2021 is coming to a close in the blink of an eye. Looking back, 2021 was a year of change for me. As the world was struck by the unprecedented coronavirus, and conventional wisdom was overturned, I feel we were all forced to reconsider our way of life.

Amidst all this, I chose to move from Chiba Prefecture to Hokkaido and live with my dogs in the heart of nature.
One thing led to another, and I am now working as a member of Shibecha's Community-Reactivating Cooperator Squad.

Currently, the Shibecha Community-Reactivating Cooperator Squad is focusing on disseminating information about the town, using YouTube as a starting point. It's been half a year since we started, and through this process, various challenges and issues have come to light. Today, I'd like to talk about that.

(During an interview with NHK. We promote Shibecha not only through our own media but also through various other outlets.)

Looking at the activities of local governments, it seems that every municipality struggles with a lack of 'information dissemination ability.' There are so many wonderful activities and events, and they want more people to know about them, and for more people to learn about their town. I hear these sentiments often.

In response, local governments are starting to use social media and YouTube to get the word out. Some cases have been successful. However, in today's age where everyone is a creator, a flood of information flows every day, and both viewers and creators are struggling in this sea of information.

We also started broadcasting on YouTube, and as expected, we struggled at first.
That's when I decided to rethink the fundamental meaning of information dissemination.

(An event held in early winter. We actively cover the few events held during the pandemic.)

First of all, what exactly is regional revitalization? There's no set formula or clear definition, and what constitutes revitalization is ambiguous. A common pitfall seen in local governments is that they and a small group of people get excited, leaving the target audience and townspeople behind.

I realized we had to be very careful about this. After half a year as a cooperator, what do I feel is the most important aspect of regional revitalization?

It is 'for each and every resident to feel that they love their own town.'
I believe it all comes down to this.

No matter how much information the cooperators disseminate, no matter how many wonderful spots or specialty products the town has, if the residents themselves deny the potential of their own town, true revitalization can never happen.

So, how can we make the residents come to love their own town?
That's what I thought about next.

(I was deeply moved by the rime ice I saw for the first time in my life on a -10°C morning.)

One of the things that surprised me after moving here was that, unexpectedly, even the townspeople often don't know the good things about their own town. Not just about the town itself, but what the town office is doing and what it plans to do.

Who are the people working with passion for their town? Because this isn't visible, people don't know what kind of town they live in. I feel this is what's happening.

Therefore, we decided to use YouTube to disseminate information both for the townspeople and for people outside the town.

For the residents, YouTube serves as an information board and a place to rediscover their hometown. For outsiders, it's a place to learn about what Shibecha is like. I felt it was necessary to keep both of these wheels turning.

However, this is easier said than done.
Getting people to know the charm of their own town. It sounds simple, but as I mentioned earlier, many municipalities struggle with this. I also ran the YouTube channel for six months and went through a period of worrying about why the number of subscribers wasn't increasing.

But recently, I feel like I've started to understand what's truly important.

(Red-crowned cranes are a common sight in town. Many have gotten used to them, but for me, everything is extraordinary.)

This might be true for anything and may sound obvious, but if you're only chasing numbers driven by external factors and results, like 'as a cooperator' or 'to revitalize the region,' it doesn't seem genuine.

The most important thing is 'to love this region as a resident yourself, and to express that.'
I believe it all comes down to this.

Instead of directing your heart's vector outward, turn it inward and simply enjoy it. I hope that this energy will gradually spread and ultimately help the townspeople see the potential of their own town.

The snowy landscapes that are ordinary for the locals, the deer and red-crowned cranes crossing the road, the majestic Mt. Nishibetsu—for me, every day is fresh and filled with surprise and wonder. I don't think you can find nature that changes so dynamically anywhere else in Japan but Hokkaido, and the nature in the Eastern Hokkaido region, in particular, remains truly wild.

The people who live here are all warm, and it's natural for them to greet and help each other. For me, coming from the city, this was one of the things that made me very happy.

I came to Shibecha by a fortunate turn of events, and I truly love this town.
This is not just because of the nature, but also largely because I like the people who live here.

I want to nurture this feeling more and more in this land.

(My dogs were overjoyed with their first snow. We're enjoying Shibecha's nature every day.)

2021 has flown by, and 2022 is just around the corner. First, I want to focus on our YouTube channel and aim for 1,000 subscribers by summer. I know it's often difficult to get people to watch a local government's YouTube channel, so I'm trying to film with beautiful visuals to spark interest. I hope that the beautiful imagery itself will be a reason for people to give it a watch.

And going forward, I want to continue sharing the charms of Shibecha, always keeping in mind that the most important thing is for me to be the one enjoying it the most. Please take a moment to check out the Shibecha Town Community-Reactivating Cooperator Squad's YouTube channel.

I'm sure you'll see a side of Shibecha you never knew.

Shibecha Town Community Revitalization YouTube Channel