2022 Volume 21 Issue 2 Pages 204-211
As Japan's population is declining, the shortage of bearers is a serious issue in rural areas. Meanwhile, "regional experience seekers," also known as "more than tourists and less than migrants," have attracted attention in recent years, and were introduced as a policy in 2017. Since then, discussions have been held at various ministries and agencies, and many local governments are currently working to create regional experience seekers. As expectations for the creation of regional experience seekers are rising, this study formalized the information about councils and other bodies of the central government dealing with regional experience seekers, and measures creating regional experience seekers according to the factors hindering involvement with the local community. Thus, it was found that the discussions in seven councils have generally been conducted in conjunction with other ministries and agencies. Moreover, it became clear that there were few concrete efforts reducing the time and physical burden and gaining the understanding of family members and accompanying persons.