Rural Areas between Decline and Resurgence: Lessons from Japan and Austria

Conference @Institute for East Asian Studies, University of Vienna | November 01-02, 2016

 About the conference

The conference ‘Rural Areas between Decline and Resurgence: Lessons from Japan and Austria’ was linked to the research project ‘Aso 2.0’ conducted by the Department of Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna and aimed to bring together scholars from Japan and Austria to discuss issues related to rural areas. A total of twelve presentations addressed the economic and demographic structures that are widely regarded as problematic, as well as aspects of subjective well-being and possible alternative concepts for revitalising rural regions in both countries.

Are the social and economic conditions in rural areas as unfavourable as is often portrayed in the media or by politicians? What potential exists for sustainable development? Where do the two countries share similarities, but also differences, in the situation of rural areas? Can Japan and Austria ‘learn’ from each other?

The conference was intended as a symposium for experts, but was also open to the interested public.

 Dates

  • Tuesday, November 1st, 2016, 06:00~10:00pm
  • Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016, 01:45~09:00 pm

 Conference Programme

Day 1 – Tuesday, November 1st, 2016

  • 01:45~2:00pm: Welcome addresses
    • Melanie Malzahn, Dean of the Faculty
    • Ralph Lützeler, Conference organizer          
  • 2:00~4:00pm: Session 1: Structural change in rural areas
    • Chair: Barbara Holthus
    • Living conditions in rural areas: Stuck in a downward spiral?
      Ralph Lützeler           
    • Impact of structural change on social capital and social networks in rural Japan
      Shin'ya UENO           
    • Approx. 03:00~3:30pm: Coffee break
    • Structural changes in Austrian agriculture in mountainous areas
      Gerhard Hovorka
  • 06:00~09:00pm: Welcome reception in a typically Viennese “Heurigen” restaurant (”10er Marie”, Ottakring)

Day 2 – Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016

  • 10:00~11:30am: Session 2: Subjective well-being and local community building
    • Chair: Ralph Lützeler
    • Parental well-being in Japan: Regional differences
      Barbara Holthus
    • Rural well-being in Japan: Reexamining the Aggregate Kumamoto Happiness Index
      Wolfram Manzenreiter
    • Health for sustainable community development: The case of Kumamoto City’s program
      Yoko Kawamura        
  • 11:30am~01:15pm: Lunch break
  • 01:15~4:30pm: Session 3: Revitalizing rural areas: challenges and opportunities
    • Chair: Wolfram Manzenreiter
    • Vulnerability and resilience as seen in a post-disaster rural environment
      Johannes Wilhelm
    • Participatory community development based on local identity in Kumamoto Prefecture
      Naoto Tanaka
    • Hamlet-based collective farming: Village institutions as resources in Japan’s changing agricultural sector
      Hanno Jentzsch
    • Approx. 2:45-3:00pm: Coffee break
    • The importance of social capital in rural development in Austria
      Georg Wiesinger
    • LEADER initiatives and rural revitalization in Austria
      Theresia Oedl-Wieser and Thomas Dax
    • Public goods or public bads? The influence of agriculture on Austrian rural areas
      Pia Kieninger and Lena Schaller
  • 04:30~04:45pm: Coffee break
  • 04:45~06:00pm: Concluding discussion and exploration of future collaborations

 Publications

Beiträge zur Japanologie Band 46 (2018)

Rural areas between decline and resurgence: Lessons from Japan and Austria
edited by Ralph Lützeler

Contents

  • Ralph Lützeler: Introduction: Rural areas: Dying or just smelling funny?
  • Ralph Lützeler: Living conditions in Japanese rural areas: Stuck in a downward spiral?
  • Gerhard Hovorka: Structural changes in Austrian agriculture in mountainous areas
  • Wolfram Manzenreiter: Rural happiness in Japan: Contrasting urban and rural well-being in Kumamoto
  • Shinya Ueno: Impact of structural change in rural areas and public policies
  • Georg Wiesinger: The importance of social capital in rural development, networking and decision-making in rural areas
  • Barbara Holthus and Ralph Lützeler: Regional differences of parental well-being in Japan (Project Report A)
  • Naoto Tanaka: Participatory community development based on local identity in Yamato town, Kumamoto prefecture
  • Yoko Kawamura: Health for sustainable community development
  • Johannes Wilhelm: Disaster resilience in coastal pacific Tōhoku: Restoring livelihood after the 2011 great east Japan earthquake and tsunami
  • Theresia Oedl-Wieser and Thomas Dax: The impact of LEADER initiatives to rural revitalization in Austria
  • Signy Spletzer: Here to stay: The revitalization initiative zen of the aso region and its impact on the local community (Project Report B)

 List of Participants in Alphabetical Order

  • Thomas Dax | Bundesamt für Bergbauernfragen, Vienna
  • Barbara Holthus | University of Vienna
  • Gerhard Hovorka | Bundesamt für Bergbauernfragen, Vienna
  • Hanno Jentzsch | Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien, Tokyo
  • Yoko Kawamura | Kumamoto University
  • Pia Kieninger | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
  • Ralph Lützeler | University of Vienna
  • Theresia Oedl-Wieser | Bundesamt für Bergbauernfragen, Vienna
  • Wolfram Manzenreiter | University of Vienna
  • Lena Schaller | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
  • Naoto Tanaka | Kumamoto University
  • Shin’ya Ueno | Kumamoto University
  • Georg Wiesinger | Bundesamt für Bergbauernfragen, Vienna
  • Johannes Wilhelm | University of Vienna