Japan’s remote side job market is revitalising rural economies

When Daichi Ito, 25, joined Ohashi Ryoki as a sales manager about two years ago, sales of the company’s main product, masu – small handcrafted wooden boxes traditionally used in Japan to measure rice or drink sake from – had been declining for some time.

Together with the company’s president, he decided to launch new product lines to boost sales, but the traditional business, founded in 1950, lacked employees with the necessary know-how. Hiring locally didn’t seem a viable option either: In Japan, an aging society, rapidly declining birth rate, and rural depopulation have resulted in a notoriously tight job market.

In the end, Ito was able to scout people via a new remote part-time job website that is trying to help ailing rural businesses like Ohashi Ryoki. The platform, Furusato Kengyo, which means “hometown side jobs,” partners with local governments and companies to connect them to knowledgeable volunteers who want to use their spare time to help out local businesses.

“There is a growing number of people who work in urban areas but want to contribute to their hometowns in some way"

“We have accepted a total of nine volunteers and part-timers so far,” said Ito, adding that with their help, the company was finally able to launch new products in March. They have added bath salts packed in the company’s traditional wooden boxes, as well as wooden air humidifiers and face masks, all sold via a newly created online shop.

For small towns across Japan, programs like Furusato Kengyo are seen as a potential key to revitalizing rural economies. During the coronavirus pandemic, applications from prospective volunteers have risen as more Japanese consider working remotely. At the same time, small rural businesses have been hit especially hard by the pandemic and are in dire need of help.

More than a quarter of Japan’s population is aged 65 or above, making it the country with the oldest population in the world. Birth rates have also seen dramatic declines over the past few years, leading to a shrinking population.

At the end of 2019, Japan’s population stood at around 126.3 million people. But Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research estimates that by 2065, that number could fall by up to a third to around 88 million. By that time, nearly 40% of the population are expected to be 65 or older.

The phenomenon of an aging population paired with a dwindling birth rate, dubbed shoushikoureika in Japan, is already putting the country’s social services under massive strain and pose a major challenge for Japanese policy makers.

Since young people are leaving rural areas for larger cities in droves, towns in the countryside are hit particularly hard by this demographic shift.

In 2014, in a report compiled by think tank Japan Policy Council predicted that by 2040, almost half of Japan’s municipalities could disappear due to the population decline, labour shortages, and the resulting inability to keep up administrative functions.

“There is a growing number of people who work in urban areas but want to contribute to their hometowns in some way,” said Megumi Asano, a representative of G-net, the non-profit behind the job website. “We wanted to create opportunities (for people) to get involved with the community even if you don't change jobs or move to another area.”

“Since the service started in 2018, we have matched over 200 people with 100 projects,” she said, adding that currently about 2000 members are registered on the site.

Usually, people take on side jobs in order to earn additional income, but participants are motivated by more than money, Asano noted. She thinks people sign up because they want to support rural communities and traditional businesses that they feel a connection to, and for some, it is a way to learn new skills or prepare for a career change.

Current businesses looking for help include a car dealership trying to create jobs for the elderly, a company looking to save herb farmers that were hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and a neighbourhood gyoza dumpling restaurant that hopes to attract younger customers. Also on the site is a guest house on a secluded mountain that needs a volunteer to handle its social media presence because it currently doesn’t have internet.

Furusato Kengyo has also partnered with several local governments in prefectures across the country, including Hida City, which used the website to hire remote employees for its municipal administration – a first in the country.

By 2040, almost half of Japan’s municipalities could disappear due to the population decline, labor shortages, and the resulting inability to keep up administrative functions

Local governments have tried to offer incentives for workers to relocate in the past, but these efforts often didn’t lead to results, according to Asano.

People trying to juggle work while caring for an elderly family member or in the midst of raising children might not be able to uproot immediately, she said, but offering a service that allows people to dabble in work like this could lead them to consider more permanent changes down the line.

For Ito at the woodworking company, the project marked an important shift in cultural attitudes.

“For most Japanese, it’s common to work within the same company for a very long time,” he said. “But with this project, you’re able to tap different world views [among people] and reflect that into the corporate vision.” – Max Bernhard

(Photo credit: Unsplash)