<aside> 💡 introductory guide to how to meet new local people, governmental initiatives, etc
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<aside> 💡 Information sourced from Megumi, who held a talk on how to connect with local community. Notes and transcript found here:
Community Outreach - Megumi talk
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How I (Megumi) started my journey was to participate in tours related to immigration, which local governments held. I was looking for something like this one.
<aside> 💡 Megumi shared a link: https://www.furusato-web.jp/event-info/p102726/
This website shows migration related information. Currently (as of Sept 11, 2023) it is showing an Izu City Migration Experience Tour “How to Live in Izu City”
Translated from the website, the description of the event reads:
Izu City is located in the middle of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture.
While there are scenic tourist spots such as Shuzenji Onsen, Amagi Onsen, and Toi Onsen, it is also a peaceful area with rich rural scenery and a quiet coastline townscape.
For those who are interested in Izu City and those who are thinking of moving, we will hold a migration experience tour.
Introducing work, childcare, living expenses, etc., about real life in Izu City. There is also a tour of vacant houses.
It is also recommended to stay for one night and enjoy the hot springs and sightseeing.
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City immigration tours takes like one or two day trip, and you can experience seeing akiya in that city and introduce interesting people to Akiya Collective. They can provide language resources, and you can potentially apply to stay and do a trial period in a house to live in, like a place that the government sponsors for a week or so, and they may also introduce akiya that can be purchased. Joining this tour can also allow you information on the local atmospheres and vacant houses, and also connect to previous immigrants who have started life there.
They can introduce the people who have their own job in the town. They can show us some akiyas to us, some possibly you can rent if you want to move to the city. Megumi went to one of the tours five years ago, and they brought them to the local traditional crafts factory.
<aside> 🏠 On government supported housing / immigration trial houses
Trial houses are about ￥30,000 per month. About $200 USD, very affordable. The houses are typically very livable and don’t need much renovation (if it’s from the government). Some houses are not that proper, or not that livable, seems to depend on the local government and availability.
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<aside> 🤝 How to approach local governments and get information
Q: What was the approach that you used to actually, to like go and talk to the local governments? Most of the time when visiting areas, did you end up just like stopping by the town hall when you're visiting? Did you have to schedule something beforehand?
Megumi: I mostly have already contacted them before I visited them. How I approached them was, there’s a kind of exhibition in Tokyo and Osaka, in big cities. The exhibition can have several local governments come together with booths to talk about what the locality offers, and what the region is famous for. The exhibition centers on akiya or local revitalization.
Name of the exhibition, or Japanese word is “Ijū sōdan-kai” (移住相談会)
Megumi visited only three or four exhibitions, but because there are three or four local governments each time, that is like 9-16 local governments contacted. Efficient!
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<aside> 💬 How to meet new people when you move to a new city
Similar to our Izu host (Watanabe-san) helping introduce us to different people, it’s kind of the same way to network person to person. Through the local government, they introduced Megumi to interesting people like cafe owners and other local citizens. She spoke to a local government in January and especially if the population is small, they have all the information.
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