Exchange meeting between Shimokawa Town and Hokuryu Town (exchange of opinions) Part 2

Monday, October 25, 2021

At 2:00 p.m., we visited Komorebi, a town development center, where we were met by Shinji Kameda, chief of the Shimokawa Town Office's Policy Promotion Division.

Community development center "Comorebi

Comorebi is the town's information transmission facility that brings things, things, and people together.

Guide map of the museum

Tenant organizations: Shimokawa Furusato Kogyo Cooperative Association, Shimokawa Town Industrial Revitalization Support Organization Town Promotion Promotion Department, NPO Shimokawa Tourism Association, JA Kitaharu Shimokawa Branch Office (attached), etc.

tourist information center

Exhibition room of the town's specialties and artworks made by artisans

Shimokawa Town: Toward the realization of a sustainable community - SDGs Future City Shimokawa

Mr. Shinji Kameda, Manager of SDGs Promotion Strategy Office, Policy Promotion Division, gave a presentation on Shimokawa Town's efforts "Toward the realization of a sustainable local society - SDGs Future City: Shimokawa" at the Planning and Development Office in the Como Levi-Kan.

1. What kind of town is Shimokawa?
2. Past Initiatives (-2015)
3. Future Initiatives (2016-)
4. Partnerships with diverse entities
5. Why incorporate the SDGs?

What kind of town is Shimokawa?

Overview of Shimokawa Town

• Shimokawa-ism" continues to challenge crises and difficulties
• Toward the Realization of Sustainable Local Communities
• Recycling-oriented forest management
• Cascading use of forest resources to make the most of the forest's bounty
• Forest symbiosis society Economy✕Society✕Environment
• Ichinobashi Bio-Village Model Environmental Future City Model:
  　
  In 2009, Shimokawa's Ichinohashi district had a population of 95 (51.6% aged ratio). 2010 saw the start of a village revitalization project, creating an energy self-sufficient residential area that can accommodate a super-aged population.
  　
  Housing complex (26 units), heat supply facility, local cafeteria, community center (post office, police station, common space for residents, laboratory for cultivation of special forest products, contemna seedling cultivation, seedling cultivation of medicinal plants, etc.)

Past Initiatives (-2015)

Creating a new flow of people to a sustainable village

• Introduced the "Regional Revitalization Cooperative Team" to revitalize marginalized villages.
• Activities: Removal of abandoned houses, ICT monitoring, daily life and shopping support, snow removal, community cafeteria operation, house cultivation, stone oven pizza sales, product development, functional plant cultivation, environmental conservation, support for facilities for the disabled, support for village support NPOs, facility management, water source management, etc.
• Recent years: woodworker moved to the area in 2016; former regional development cooperative worker started a business in 2017; prospective Ezo deer processing entrepreneur moved to the area in 2018.
• Population remains about the same and the working-age population increases. Aging rate halves from 51.6% in 2009 to 25.6% in 2021.

Recent Trends

• Active migrants: Hupu Forest Inc., NPO Forest Life, forestry✕ chainsaw art, woodworking

Initiatives and Results

• Shimokawa Town receives the 1st Japan SDGs Award, 2017, SDGs Promotion Director-General (Prime Minister) Award

Future Initiatives (2016-)

basis

• We aim for a sustainable "Shimokawa" by utilizing and developing local resources (forest resources, etc.) to the maximum and most efficient extent.

Regional development incorporating SDGs Expanding favorable trends and resolving future issues

• The ideal Shimokawa Town in 2030 Shimokawa version of the SDGs

The 6th Shimokawa Town Comprehensive Plan (top-level plan) 2030 Vision Implementation Plan

1. Positioned for planning purposes
2. Positioning the 2030 Vision as the future vision
3. Set indicators of what you want to be
4. Positioning of relevant SDG goals in each policy area
5. ideal state
6. Strike (project)

Shimokawa SDGs Indicator

• Jointly developed by Shimokawa Town, Hosei University and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

Efforts to realize the Shimokawa version of the SDGs

• Economy: Creating a Circular Economy
• Society: Creating a town where people can continue to live
• Environment: Creating a Decarbonized Society

Partnerships with diverse entities

Movement through the incorporation of the SDGs

Partnerships within the community

• Residents' Volunteer Association for the Realization of the Aspirations
• Workshop to think about the future of Shimokawa Town
• Shimokawari Kashi-net (women's activities, supportive society)
• Shimokawa SDGs mapping

Outside the region Partnerships

• Co-creation relationships that complement and support each other
• Mitsui Fudosan, Yoshimoto Kogyo, Japanese BP, Unilever Japan, Tokyo Tatemono, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hosei University, City of Yokohama and City of Sapporo

Yoshimoto Kogyo K.K. Connecting and Expanding with the SDGs

• 2017 First Japan SDGs Award:
  Shimokawa Town won the Prime Minister's Award and Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. won the Partnership Award!

　

• Creating a good example of SDG collaboration through "Localka" and "Entameca
• The project "Shimokawa Town Co.Founding of the "M.I.T."!
• The production and performance (2019.10.12 performance) of "Shimokawa no Mori Kigeki" created by all residents, expanding the smiles of Shimokawa by revitalizing the community through the power of laughter.
• Shimokawa Town is the setting for Hiroshi Shinagawa's film "Restart," which will be released nationwide on July 16, 2021, as part of Shimokawa's charms.
• Director Akira Ishida's four-frame manga "Tomato Comic Artist Haruka Shimokawa Eight".

Why incorporate the SDGs?

• Realizing a sustainable Shimokawa by utilizing the SDGs as a tool for urban development and regional revitalization
• Contribute to the achievement of the SDGs by spreading the example and model of Shimokawa Town both domestically and internationally.

Incorporating the SDGs into a sustainable Shimokawa Town (2016-2021)

1. Checklist:Discover new issues and gain awareness by looking at the community from the 17 goals
2. Backcasting:Implement high-quality community development by looking at the present from the future (future vision) and taking steps to realize this vision.
3. Branding:Communicate vision and initiatives through the SDG framework and improve brand and presentation
4. Partnerships:Meeting various people and developing new ones through collaboration

The Shimokawa Challenge: Connecting People and Nature to the Undependent
Shimokawa, a town that continues to realize and challenge itself through co-creation with diverse people

Thank you very much for the many wonderful stories that show the passion of the town of Shimokawa as it continues to move forward toward a sustainable community.

A view of the courtyard of the Community Development Center "Comorebi," a facility where the town's information is gathered and connected.

Ichinobashi BioVillage

After the briefing, we moved to Ichinobashi BioVillage.

Ichinohashi Housing

Ichinobashi BioVillage is an energy self-sufficient residential catchment area for the super-aged population.

The housing complex consists of 22 units connected by a tenement-style exterior corridor, with one to three bedrooms, and all hot water and heating for the houses is supplied by a wood biomass boiler.

Ichinobashi Housing Center

The Ichinobashi Residential Center building includes a post office, a police station, and common areas for residents.

Inside the housing center, Mr. Kameda explains the town while looking at a map showing what the town looked like in its heyday in the past.

Ichinohashi residential area

Overall layout plan

Layout of the housing complex

A layout of the housing center to a cluster of housing units connected by a corridor from the housing center.

Exterior corridors of residential buildings

Cultivated housing surrounded by greenery with a series of paths

Local cafeteria (Station Cafe Ichinohashi)

Ichinobashi District District Heat Supply System

Wood fuel silo (raw chips)

Woody biomass boiler (raw chip-fired hot water boiler)

control unit

Hot water piping

Woody biomass boiler

Mr. Kameda, the chief manager, explains.

Ichinobashi District District Heat Supply System

A system that sends wood fuel from a silo equipped with an automatic feeder to a boiler combustion furnace by means of a conveyor, and converts this combustion energy into hot water for supply.

Shimokawa Town Special Forest Products Cultivation Laboratory

Shiitake mushroom cultivation house

Shiitake mushrooms are grown on shiitake mushroom beds in greenhouses heated by a wood biomass boiler.

Shelves lined with fungus beds made from sawdust

Control of temperature, humidity, wind, and number of days of incubation are important factors in cultivation.

Thick-fleshed shiitake mushrooms growing on a mycorrhizal bed

Inside the greenhouses with well-managed bedding racks

Entrance to the workshop

Packing operation

Shiitake Mushroom Standard Table

Shimokawashi shiitake mushroom "Mori no kyoku" (mycorrhizal cultivation)

These are carefully selected, thick-fleshed, magnificent shiitake mushrooms.

Four shiitake mushroom houses installed

Hupu Forest

After this, we headed to "Hupu Forest Co.

（Hupu no Mori Co., Ltd. factory tour

This is essential oil production utilizing the branches and leaves of Abies sachalinensis, a coniferous tree in the "Hupu no Mori" Shimokawa-cho forest.

• The essential oil business of the Shimokawa Forest Cooperative, established in 2000, was taken over by the NPO Morino Seikatsu (Forest Life) in the town, and in 2012, Hupu no Mori Inc. was launched as an independent company in the essential oil business.
• Released the lifestyle brand "NALUQ" in 2015
• In 2016, the NALUQ Cosme line won the grand prize at the Social Products Award 2016

Abies sachalinensis is an evergreen credit tree belonging to the fir family of the Pinaceae family. It is used for Christmas tree firs and kadomatsu (gate pine) because of its conical shape and beautiful fresh green leaves.

A talk by Ms. Marie Tanabe, Representative Director

Marie Tanabe moved to Shimokawa-cho in 2007. She had always loved and used essential oils, but when an employee of her company at the time retired, she took over her job and joined the company.

The essential oil is extracted from the leaves of Abies sachalinensis.
Shimokawa Town is a forestry town, so we started this project to make effective use of the branches felled in the forestry industry. This year marks the ninth year since we launched the "Hupu Forest. Hupu" means "Abies sachalinensis" in Ainu language.

We go out to the forests where the trees are being logged, manually and carefully cut and gather the leafy parts of Abies sachalinensis and pack them into baskets full of raw materials.

In the distillation process, the raw materials are placed in a kiln and steamed, and when the steam is cooled, it returns to liquid form to yield aromatic distilled water. Two layers of oil and distilled water are extracted from the upper layer and the lower layer, respectively. After distillation, some of the leaves are dried and made into pillows for effective use. The rest is used as compost.

Originally, fir tree oil was used daily in Russia, Europe, and other foreign countries. It is known to be effective for sauna, respiratory care, cold prevention, and blood circulation," says Tanabe.

Steam distillation is used to extract oil and distilled water

FUPUNOMORI" series

This lineup captures the refreshing aroma of Hokkaido fir and the scent of the forest as much as possible.

NALUQ

A forest lifestyle brand to enjoy the scent of Hokkaido's forests.

This natural essential oil is a blend of various fragrances based on forest plant ingredients, inspired by the "forests of Hokkaido.

When we think of Hokkaido's fragrances, we think of Hakka and Lavender, but "Abies sachalinensis Fragrance" is a fresh, light, foreign scent for a forest fragrance. I hope it will be recognized as the third scent of Hokkaido, which gives a sense of nostalgia. said Mr. Tanabe.

Hupu no Mori - Hokkaido Fir Essential Oil Official Website

...

Morinonaka Yokuru, an intercommunity exchange facility in Shimokawa Town

We stayed at Morinonaka Yokuru, an inter-community exchange facility in Shimokawa Town. Morinonaka Yokuru is a cottage equipped with a kitchen and other necessities for long-term stays, and is managed and operated by the NPO Morino Seikatsu as a designated manager.

living

Panel heaters installed in each room are supplied with hot water from a wood biomass boiler to keep you warm!

Thermo handle for panel heater

Panel heaters installed under windows

kitchen

kitchenware

complete set of pots and pans

dinnerware set

Dressing room (washbasin and washing machine installed)

bathroom

toilet

Bedrooms (2 rooms)

Yockle Garden

The next morning after a good night's sleep and waking up feeling great, Seki gave us a tour of the Yokuru Garden on the property.

At Jokul Garden, vegetables and harps are grown under "permaculture," "no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers," and "natural farming methods.

Guests are free to pick and eat vegetables from the garden for breakfast. What a wonderful arrangement!
Unfortunately, at the time of our visit, most of the vegetables were also finished.

If you visit in the height of summer, you may find many delicious vegetables.
I'm looking forward to it!

NPO Forest Life

Accommodations in Shimokawa-cho, Hokkaido (hotel/cottage) Morinonakayokuru | NPO Mori no Seikatsu

Accommodation in Shimokawa-cho, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido, Japan. Cottages with kitchens available for long term stays. Can also be used as a business hotel. Hokkaido North Hokkaido...

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Shimokawa Town

Shimokawa Town Hall
　63, Saiwai-cho, Shimokawa-cho, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido
　Tel: 01655-4-2511
Area] 644.2k㎡.
Population] 3,124 people, 1,687 households
Number of visitors in 2028: 92,390 (Gomi Hot Springs, Great Wall, etc.)
Events, etc.] 2028: 16,200 visitors (Udon Festival, Ice Candle Museum, etc.)From the Town Handbook document (2020 edition)"
Website]Shimokawa Town -A Town of "Excitement" in Northern Hokkaido