木下丈二村長（Village Mayor Joji Kinoshita）

Itsuki Village in Kumamoto Prefecture, famous as the birthplace of “Itsuki’s Lullaby,” has a population of about 800 and an aging rate of 48%. It can be said to be a typical marginal village. Currently, the focus is on digital transformation using optical broadband infrastructure. It also focuses on environmentally focused tourism that makes use of the rich forests. (Kei Kitajima)

Itsuki Village in Kumamoto Prefecture’s Kuma District is famous as the birthplace of “Itsuki’s Lullaby.” It is a village that has existed since the Edo period and has never experienced a merger. It has a population of about 800 and an aging rate of about 48%. By the way, there were about 2,000 people in the Meiji period. The population peaked in 1959, when there were about 6,000 people.
Village Mayor Kinoshita Joji says, “I want to restore the population to the 2,000 people of the Meiji era. I think we need at least 2,000 people to protect this area.”

Itsuki Village has also been at the mercy of dams. Plans to build a dam were proposed in 1966, and the village was scheduled to be submerged. As a result, 70% of the village’s 4,000 residents at the time moved out of the village. However, the dam has still not been completed. There was opposition from environmental protection groups, and in 2008, the then governor of Kumamoto Prefecture withdrew the dam construction plan, causing confusion.

Currently, following the heavy rains of July 2020, momentum is building for dam construction, and there are plans to develop a run-of-river dam dedicated to flood control. In this way, Itsuki Village has been shaken by dam construction for more than half a century. As a result, the settlement rate has not increased.

Itsuki Village is now trying to focus on digital transformation. Although it is a small municipality, it has optical fiber broadband spread over a wide area, and is preparing to promote digital transformation by making use of the optical fiber infrastructure.
“We are actively promoting ICT and would like to take the initiative in areas such as shopping support and remote medical care,” says Mayor Kinoshita.
Currently, notices to villagers are distributed on tablet devices. Distribution of the devices to villagers will be completed in March of this year.
In fiscal 2013, the village will promote the use of an app. The villagers will be instructed on how to use the app and aim to improve the efficiency of administrative services through the app.
“Itsuki Village is large, and the villagers live scattered around. By utilizing ICT, staff will be able to carry out procedures and other tasks while looking at each other’s faces in a two-way manner, without having to visit the villagers’ homes,” says Mayor Kinoshita.
The village is also considering the use of ICT in medicine. There is a clinic in Itsuki Village, and for many years a private practitioner came to treat patients, but this has become difficult due to the declining population and lack of doctors.
For this reason, the village is connected to a medical center in Hitoyoshi City via optical fiber broadband, and medical information for the villagers is shared.
“We have doctors come to our clinic, but by making good use of optical fiber broadband, we want to provide face-to-face consultations, similar to remote medical care,” says Mayor Kinoshita.
However, he points out that one of the challenges of ICT is the cost. For example, maintaining optical fiber broadband that has been laid out over a wide area is not easy. In the forests, trees can fall on the cables, and small animals such as squirrels can chew through them. Repairs have to be made every time this happens, but the costs are heavy.
“I believe that digitalization should start locally, but the costs of digitalization are quite heavy for small municipalities. I believe the cost burden is more than three times that of urban areas. I would like something to be done about that,” says Mayor Kinoshita.

かやぶき民家（水没予定地から移築した旧犬童家の住宅）Thatched roof house (the former Inudo family home, relocated from the site scheduled for flooding)

Itsuki Village’s core industry is forestry.
The village is promoting digital transformation, such as taking photos of forests with drones and analyzing them digitally. However, in recent years, the village has had difficulty securing forestry workers.
Mayor Kinoshita said, “Forestry will not work if it is pursued solely for its economic value. Sixty percent of Japan’s land area is forested. That forest is protected by 2.5% of the population. Is this really appropriate for a country? If the forests are left unattended, they will go wild, water sources will disappear, disasters will become more severe, and the country will collapse. I want the government to reconsider how the region is. And then digitalization should be promoted.”
In terms of the balance with forests, harmful birds and animals are also increasing. Itsuki Village captures 1,500 deer a year. No matter how many deer are captured, the number of deer does not decrease. This is because in the past, when snow fell on the mountains, they would die naturally, but now it does not snow. Also, when road construction is carried out, salt calcium is spread as a deer melting agent. When the deer lick it to replenish their salt, they do not become bloated, but rather become more energetic.
In this situation, Itsuki Village is also focusing on gibier.
Itsuki Village is promoting efforts to combine forestry and tourism. The Kawabe River that runs through the village has had the best water quality in Japan for 18 consecutive years. The village still practices slash-and-burn agriculture. The village is also rich in alpine plants. It is also the birthplace of some of Japan’s most famous lullabies.
“We will responsibly develop the community and forests in an environmentally friendly manner, and maintain the clear streams. We want to promote Itsuki Village by combining environmentally focused community development with tourism,” says Mayor Kinoshita.

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