Building Sustainable Agrifood Systems and Resilient Rural Communities in Japan

Raymond Jussaume is professor of sociology at Michigan State University.Kiyohiko Sakamoto is associate professor of sociology at Ryukoku University.Keiko Tanaka is professor of rural sociology the University of Kentucky.

“Building Sustainable Agrifood Systems and Resilient Rural Communities in Japan addresses the dilemma of how to sustain and enhance rural communities in the face of rapid demographic transitions. Through empirical case studies contextualized within macro social forces facing Japan, these prominent Japanese agrifood scholars provide a valuable primer on lessons learned and future work needed to address the global challenges of sustainability and rural development. Global agrifood scholars facing similar dilemmas will find Japan’s social and political rural sustainability innovations informative and useful.”

• List of FiguresList of TablesPrefaceIntroduction: On Meeting the Challenges Facing Rural Japan Raymond Jussaume, Keiko Tanaka, and Kiyohiko SakamotoChapter 1: Investigating the Loss of Family Homogeneity in Rural Communities and Transformation of Community Management Principles Haruhiko IbaChapter 2: Can “Agro-Medico-Polis” Give New Meanings to Rural Japan? Koichi IkegamiChapter 3: The Potential of Bottom-up Agriculture: Supporting Social Innovation in the Sustainable Transformation of Rural Japan Yang Lu and Shuji HisanoChapter 4: Urban-to-Rural Migrants and Lifestyle Entrepreneurs: Opening Spaces of Possibility for Sustainable and Resilient Rural Communities Simona Zollet, Emi Makino, and Meng QuChapter 5: Using Traditional Vegetables as a Way for Agricultural Revitalization: A Case Study of Kyoto Vegetables Aya H. Kimura and Shuji Hisano Chapter 6: Distribution Challenges for Organic Farmers and Rural Eaters: Blurring the lines between AFNs and Japan’s Conventional Food System Chika KondoChapter 7: Role of Education to Empower Resilience in Rural Communities: A Lesson Trial to Cultivate Food Literacy among Elementary School Students Katsura Omori, Hiroyuki Yamada, and Toru WatanabeChapter 8: Crowdfunding for Sustainability? The Emerging Link between the “Hometown Tax” and Sub-municipal Civic Self-governance in Rural Japan Hanno JentzschChapter 9: Barriers to Sustainable Fisheries Governance in Rural Japan: Power Dynamics behind “Stealth” Privatization Alayna Ynacay-NyeConclusion: Lessons from Rural Japan Keiko Tanaka, Raymond Jussaume, and Kiyohiko SakamotoIndexAbout the Contributors