Self-sufficiency has become a dominant priority of rural sustainability in Japan. The paper examines a community mapping initiative that empowers regional residents to rediscover the character of their depleted surroundings. It is an exercise suited to a climate in which responsibility for the future of the countryside is devolved onto its inhabitants, yet also indicative of the status of Japan’s regions as unexpected sites of hope in a nation mired in downturns.
DOI: doi.org/10.5282/rcc/6343