Shinjo Village, located on the border between Okayama and Tottori prefectures, has been selected as “Japan’s most beautiful village.” It is a village of about 700 people that is focusing on efforts to preserve the rich nature as it is, untouched. DX has just begun, and budgeting will begin next fiscal year. (Kitajima Kei)

小倉博俊村長（Mayor Ogura Hirotoshi）

Shinjo Village is a village of about 700 people in the northwest of Okayama Prefecture, adjacent to Tottori Prefecture. In recent years, the number of births has been about 5, and the number of deaths has been about 15.

It is a member of the “Japan’s Most Beautiful Villages Association,” an NPO organization that has been selected as Japan’s most beautiful village.

The Japan’s Most Beautiful Villages Association is an organization that was established in 2005, and aims to promote the independence of small but beautiful regions with a unique brilliance, and to pass on traditions, scenery, and culture. It manages the use of the name “Japan’s Most Beautiful Villages” while protecting the scenery and culture of Japan’s farming, mountain, and fishing villages, which can never be regained if lost.
Mayor Ogura Hirotoshi of Shinjo Village says, “We have been working steadily to preserve the rich nature and coexist with nature. We have been asked to develop various things in the past, such as golf courses and solar power generation, but we believe that it is best to leave the rich nature as it is and untouched, and have avoided uncontrolled development. This has led to us being the most beautiful village in Japan.”
Shinjo Village has been recognized in three 100 selections. One is the Kenashiyama beech forest, which is one of the “100 Best Water Source Forests.” The Kenashiyama beech and dogtooth violets have also been selected as one of the “100 Best Fragrant Landscapes.” In addition, the sound of the stream along Gaisen Sakura Street in Shinjo-juku, which flourished as a post town on the Izumo Kaido, has been selected as one of the “100 Best Soundscapes of Japan to be Preserved.”
The criteria for selecting the most beautiful village in Japan are not just the scenery. There are several criteria, but one of them is the active participation of women. In fact, the high evaluation of Shinjo Village was due to the active participation of women.
For example, there is a women’s group in the village that preserves local cuisine. Women are also playing a part in revitalizing the village, such as by establishing a group that plants flowers along the national highway.
Yamada Yukinori, head of the general affairs and planning department of Shinjo Village, explains, “There are cases of young women leaving the village, but on the other hand, more women are returning to the village and settling down. For example, more than 70% of the women who worked as community revitalization volunteers have settled here.”

Digital transformation has only just begun, and there is still much to be done.
“Currently, we are collecting ideas from employees for digitalization to improve the work of the town hall, and we plan to create a budget for next year and incorporate the ideas into the project,” said Yamada.
The digitization of the region is also still in the early stages. Shinjo Village’s elderly population is 36%, so it is not a marginal village, but like other regions, the elderly population rate is rising. In this situation, it has not yet been determined what should be digitized to contribute to the welfare of the villagers.
Yamada said, “However, the national policy is toward digital, so we must also advance digitalization. We will proceed while utilizing the Digital Garden City Nation Initiative Grant.”
Shinjo Village’s core industry is agriculture, focusing on the glutinous rice variety “Hime-no-mochi.” The village is planning to establish a village-run rice center and build a third processing plant in the near future. This will establish an integrated system of production, processing, and sales. Until now, Hime-no-mochi processed products have been sold mainly at roadside stations in the village, with sales of about 300 million yen, but the opening of the processing plant will expand the scope of distribution, and sales are expected to increase to 500 million yen.
Challenges facing agriculture are the aging of farmers and the increase in abandoned land.
“Because rice prices are low, some farmers are reluctant to farm even if it means incurring a loss. From this perspective, we would like to raise the price of rice to a level that will motivate farmers by establishing an integrated system,” Yamada said.
Regarding agriculture, they are also working on using drones to spray pesticides.
Shinjo Village is also focusing on forestry, and is currently promoting clear-cutting and reforestation. However, clear-cutting and reforestation requires workers to carry seedlings up steep mountain slopes, which is a big burden. For this reason, they are considering using drones to transport the seedlings.

In relation to the primary industry, animal damage has become a local issue in recent years. In Shinjo Village, the problem has not become so serious, but people feel that the number of wild boars, monkeys, and deer is increasing. About 200 wild boars and 30 deer are captured annually. There are also bears, but there have been no cases of them attacking private homes.

“Currently, the boundary between areas where humans live and areas where animals live is becoming blurred. As a countermeasure, we would like to improve the slopes at the foot of the mountain. Since it is not well-maintained now, animals are more likely to appear,” says Yamada.

As for tourism, they will focus on Gaisen Sakura Street, which symbolizes the most beautiful village in Japan. On Gaisen Sakura Street, there is a lodging house called “Sugai Residence” that was renovated from an old house. Only two groups can stay, but it is so popular that it is difficult to make a reservation on weekends.
“As a village, we would like to increase the number of old houses like this and revitalize Gaisen Sakura Street,” says Yamada.
Meanwhile, the number of vacant houses is increasing in Shinjo Village, which is an issue. They would like to make good use of these houses by renovating them into old houses or renting them to new residents, but they say that progress is slow.
The owners are not letting them go because they only come back occasionally. However, most owners stop coming back sooner or later.
“If that is the case, I wish they would sell them sooner or rent them back to the village…” says Yamada, folding his arms.
In terms of issues, he also points out areas with no mobile phone reception. The areas with no reception are in the mountains, but there are residents there, so they would like to solve the problem.
“We are looking at this positively, as satellite communications will be available in 2027,” says Yamada.

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