Joined the Regional Revitalization Cooperative in Nanto City, Toyama, Japan

I became a Regional Revitalization Cooperative Member in Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, Starting in October, 2025. I’d like to introduce myself and explain why I moved to Nanto, Toyama.

Asked myself if I’m fully satisfied to live in Tokyo.

I’m a 27-year-old born and raised in Tokyo. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a comfortable environment, studied abroad in California during my university years, and after graduating, started to work at an international IT company.

A few years into the job, I began to question whether I should keep working at that company in Tokyo. That career path felt like an escalator — my salary would keep rising automatically, and every tasks are efficiency- and performance-driven. I started to wonder: wouldn’t it be more meaningful to step off that escalator and climb the stairs with my own two feet?

I came to believe that traditional crafts and handwork were where I could find true meaning in life. Not only learning Japan’s precious culture and skills intellectually, but acquiring them physically through the body — that struck me as something of genuine, high-level value.

“I have no idea whether I can actually make a living as a traditional craftsman. That’s exactly what makes me motivated.”

With that thought, I had no choice but to try. To pursue becoming a traditional craftsman specializing in Buddhist sculpture (busshi , 仏師— a highly specialized artisan who carves Buddhist statues), I first started attending a Buddhist sculpture school in Tokyo for 1 year as a hobby.

“Inami” — the well-known town of wood carving, where traditional carvers lives

As I’m positively considering moving to a region surrounded by nature, I knew that In Nanto City located in Toyama Prefecture, there is a town called “Inami” — a town renowned for wood carving. Toyama Prefecture was completely unfamiliar to me at the time.

This dragon carving is the symbol of Inami wood carving.

When I visited Inami around April 2025, I found remarkable wood carvings everywhere throughout the town — Buddhist statues, cat carvings, ranma (transom carvings — decorative carved wooden panels traditionally placed above sliding doors in Japanese architecture), and much more.

There is Ranma in a house where I stayed

I also visited “Inami Wood Carving School” (Inami Chōkoku Juku), a training school for people, and actually tried carving myself. Among the students, some are fully dedicated as apprentices in workshops. I was fortunate enough to visit the famous workshop “Nanbu Hakuun Wood Carving workshop” together with them. Everyone at the school was very kind, and thanks to them, I had the precious experience of seeing the workshop.

The Buddhist statues and Ranma created by the carvers are so vivid and refined — they almost seemed to move. Creating works from wood showed me its human imperfection and its softness that ronots can’t replicate.

A New Possibility: The Regional Revitalization Cooperative

I was anxious about whether I could fit into the local community. But there was no point in overthinking it, so I made up my mind to move there. However, in the modern era where demand for wood carving is declining, it has become difficult for workshops to hire apprentices, and I was unable to become one.

While searching for any available work in Nanto City without giving up, I luckily found that the Nanto City Hall was recruiting members for the Regional Revitalization Cooperative (Chiiki Okoshi Kyōryokutai — a Japanese government program that encourages people from urban areas to move to rural regions and support local communities).

Speaking with the person in charge at the city hall , I learned that this role has real advantages for someone relocating from outside the area. First, I can meet and talk with people active in the Nanto community. I can help with local events and festivals. My personal network will grow. It was an opportunity that he community get to know who I am.

It has now been two weeks since I relocated. My work is stimulating and genuinely fun, of course. There is so much about Nanto City I still don’t know — probably 99% of it. On the everyday side of things, I’ve finally figured out how to properly sort my garbage (Japan has very strict and detailed rules for waste separation, which can be quite overwhelming for newcomers).

Going forward, I’d like to share my life and culture in Nanto, Toyama, Japan.

Thank you, and I look forward to you visit Nanto soon!

Written in 5th October, 2025