Development and Demographic Change: A study of policy initiatives in rural Japan

Lauren Prather, a rising Senior at George Mason University along with her mentor Dr. Manjusha Nair. Has been working on the project “Development and Demographic Change: A study of policy initiatives in rural Japan.” Which is an interview-based research project that will explore development in rural areas of Japan. The scholarly question this project hopes to explore is, what are economic methods that are currently being used as policy initiatives to encourage development in rural Japan. This project hopes to answer these questions: 1. How did the population shift happen? 2.How are the rural areas of Japan fighting to keep their history, culture, and cities alive? 3. And could the lessons we learn from their efforts be a guide for all Nations in the future? This project is still in progress and the video provides context for future plans for the research and project.

Hello, my name is Lauren Prather, and I am a rising senior at George Mason University. I am a double major in Economics and Global Affairs and my project is “Development and Demographic Change: A study of policy initiatives in rural Japan.” Which is an interview-based research project that will explore development in rural areas of Japan. The scholarly question this project hopes to explore is, what are economic methods that are currently being used as policy initiatives to encourage development in rural Japan. This is the project I have been working on alongside my mentor Dr. Manjusha Nair. I was motivated to study this topic because of my personal interest in rural areas. I am from Kentucky and have grown up around a lot of smaller towns. In high school I was able to participate in an exchange program to Japan and was introduced to small towns there as well. As my curiosity grew in both global affairs and economics, I noticed an interesting trend taking place in Japan and other countries that had advanced in development, a decreasing population. This decreasing population directly impacts the population demographics as the younger populations of rural areas move to larger cities in order to pursue more opportunities in their education and employment. While this project looks through economic policy with an applied human lens in mind it is rooted in economic ideas for development. And hopes to answer these questions: 1. How did the population shift happen? 2.How are the rural areas of Japan fighting to keep their history, culture, and cities alive? 3. And could the lessons we learn from their efforts be a guide for all Nations in the future? It is important to study the subjective experiences of those in rural towns. In some studies, it is suggested that one should simply live with decline. And yet this is also seen as a moment of defeat for many of those living in these areas. They see the death of their culture and way of life. It important to study this topic to understand the paths of hope for saving these towns and preserving the culture. Through the demographic transition theory, we will see a time where birthrates no longer exceed death rates in this time the world will need answers on how to preserve smaller towns, for it must be recognized that a limitation on spatial resources will not allow all future residents of the world to migrate to large cities. How then will the government manage and preserve the rural areas? In this project, we hope to explore initiatives in the work and the possible application to other rural areas. As you can see there is a graph on this slide that demonstrates the demographic transition theory this graph was originally created by Mac Roser and taken from OurWorldInData.org. My research is based around interviews and questionnaires given to rural towns in Japan to assess programs and policies they are implementing in order to attract both a younger population and to increase economic development. The aim of this study is to deduce effective ways to encourage population growth and increase economic growth in rural Japan. The variables that will be extracted will be an interpretation of the data in a historical context in order to determine the success or failure of programs implemented by local governments in order to encourage population and economic growth. This extrapolation will then be analyzed through a lens of the possible global implementation of these policies. A lot of my research so far has revolved around gaining IRB approval. The IRB or Internal Review Bord is a group that reviews research to make sure it is both ethical and safe for all involved. As my research involves human subjects who are being interviewed ensuring their safety is of the upmost importance. This process takes a very long time and as you can see on the slide I had to get both interview questions and a questionnaire approved. I finally received approval at the start of July. After I gained approval, I was able to create a list of cities in prefectures that are considered rural in Japan. I have recently just heard back from my first city so soon I will send them a consent form and my initial questionnaire. As I look forward to hearing back from others. Though the program is coming to a close I do not plan on stopping my project. I will work to gather more data and compile it into a paper that I hope to get published. I am very grateful for OSCAR for allowing me to study something I am so passionate. And would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Nair. Thank you for listening.