Land Use Innovation Program Seminar No. 18
"What Can We Learn from Local Revitalization Practices in Shuraku Maruyama and the Castle Town of Tamba-Sasayama?"

Overview

Yukio Kino has worked on regional revitalization through the adaptive reuse of historic buildings, including traditional Japanese houses, while serving in various positions, including as an official of Hyogo Prefecture and Deputy Mayor of Sasayama City. He has established nonprofit organizations and general incorporated associations to advance these efforts. His projects include an auberge in Shuraku Maruyama and a distributed development model utilizing vacant houses in the castle town of Sasayama, both located in Tamba-Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture. Drawing on these initiatives as models, the national government amended relevant legislation in 2017, making it possible to operate entire-house rental accommodations and distributed hotels. These models are now being adopted in many regions.

This seminar will focus primarily on the initiatives in Shuraku Maruyama and the castle town of Sasayama. Mr. Kino will discuss how the restoration and adaptive reuse of traditional houses have contributed to attracting creative talent, generating locally driven industries and employment, and preserving historic townscapes. How can viable businesses built around local cultural resources support community livelihoods and create conditions that enable people to continue living in their communities? Drawing on his practical experience and insights into on-the-ground strategies and institutional design, Mr. Kino will share his perspectives, providing an opportunity to consider the sustainability of rural areas from a broad range of viewpoints.

The Land Use Innovation Program examines mechanisms, institutions, and policies for improving land use, taking into account the importance of coordinating land use in accordance with local contexts—including historical, natural, cultural, and social conditions—as well as the interdependencies that arise across different scales in the process. The diverse cases represented by Shuraku Maruyama and the castle town of Sasayama illustrate how the restoration and adaptive reuse of traditional houses can serve as a starting point for connecting the local economy, employment, landscape conservation, and everyday life in rural communities.
Through this lecture, we aim to learn under what conditions locally rooted initiatives can take shape and how they can bring about changes in the use of local land and resources. We also hope to draw on these experiences as a basis for considering land use and the design of institutions and policies in other regions.