Relational demography
Within the broad policy orientation of regional revitalization, in recent years Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism has pursued “relational demography” as one of its main strategies. In the non-governmental sector, people like Hiroyuki Takahashi and Kazumasa Sashide, the chief editor of the back-to-nature magazine Sotokoto, have also been strongly advocating this approach.
As explained by Meiji University professor Tokumi Odagiri, “relational demography” is the study of the population that has a relationship with a particular place. At a time of considerable outflow of population from more remote rural areas, the effectiveness of policies such as encouraging women to have more children or recruiting young people to relocate to a particular rural area is quite limited, due to difficulties in practical implementation.
Therefore, in recent years attention has begun to turn to the “relational population,” comprising people who give a location economic support, or who visit regularly or even live there for short periods. Although these people cannot be counted as part of the local population, they still have a relationship, however deep or shallow, with the location. They are a source of energy for local revitalization, and there is a strong possibility that as a result of their long-term association with a place, they may become future migrants who settle in the locality.
Within the strategy of relational demography, the Taberu magazines are one method of promoting the creation of a relational population. One great strength of the Taberu publications is that they can transcend the limitations of a conventional magazine. Since their launch, through their journalism and through food tasting and cultural experience activities, they have been able, as Yang Cheng-ju puts it, to “find interesting linkages.” These diverse links with consumers can help transform fading rural communities.
The best examples of people moving from “consumer” to “activist” are the editors of the magazines themselves. Chiang Pei-yan, founder of Taberu in Eastern Taiwan, who relocated to Nan’ao by herself, has been able to use the publication to link with producers from all over Eastern Taiwan, and even bring together young people who have moved to Nan’ao to play a part in producing the magazine. Also, in view of the unique character of the eastern counties, these young people are very active in organizing cultural experience activities, inviting readers to immerse themselves in the vitality that springs from the mountains and seacoast of this region.
Another example is Blythe Wei, who is currently studying in Taipei. Not only has she been able, through Travel Taberu in Taiwan, to rebuild her former connection with rural communities, she has even enrolled in graduate school in the Department of Bio-Industry Communication and Development (formerly the Department of Agricultural Extension) at National Taiwan University. “After I started studying I began looking at agriculture from a more serious angle,” she recounts. She has also proposed the idea of “participative journalism,” opening up editorial work to others. “This is not my personal magazine, it’s just that I came in contact with the concept of Taberu magazines relatively early on.” Holding fast to this idea, she has invited young people who are still in school to join her editorial team, and by leading them on reporting trips to the countryside, has enabled young students whose lifestyles are far removed from those of rural areas to have the opportunity to visit remote farming communities.
This shows that the significance of the Taberu magazines has not only been to deliver fresh foods directly from farming areas, but also to serve as platforms for promoting interactions between country and city. Besides creating meaningful links between urban and rural areas, they are also searching for opportunities for survival for rural communities that are lagging behind. Or, in the aspirational words of Hiroyuki Takahashi, “They will enable continual contact and interaction between city and country, and spark action to achieve this mission, as the two sides protect each other.”
Taberu magazines and a selected food item are delivered together, providing readers with a sensory experience that transcends the printed page. (courtesy of Taberu in Eastern Taiwan)
Free-range chickens raised in Eastern Taiwan. Eating food from a specific region is an opportunity to learn about the area’s terroir and culture. (courtesy of Taberu in Eastern Taiwan)
Helping farmers with their work and only interviewing them during rest periods enables the reporters of Taberu in Eastern Taiwan to build deep friendships with their interlocutors. (courtesy of Taberu in Eastern Taiwan)
Shiitake mushrooms grown on logs in the traditional way in an Atayal indigenous community. (courtesy of Taberu in Eastern Taiwan)
The editorial team at Taberu in Eastern Taiwan: Chiang Pei-yan (center), Chen Tzu-ching (left) and Tsai Shan (right). All of them have backgrounds in agriculture. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan)
The most familiar of local fruits acquire a sense of novelty through design. (courtesy of Travel Taberu in Taiwan)
Blythe Wei says: “I’m really lucky to have come into contact with Taberu magazines while still a student.”
Travel Taberu in Taiwan covers all of Taiwan. Each issue reveals fascinating scenes of rural life to readers. (courtesy of Travel Taberu in Taiwan)