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The online magazine HIGHLIGHTING JAPAN

FEBRUARY 2024

SPECIALTY PRODUCTS DRIVING LOCAL REVITALIZATION
(PART 1)

The cover of this month

INDEX

  • All over Japan, the development of specialty products that make the most of regional resources is helping to revitalize local economies. The One Village, One Product (OVOP) Project, which originated in Oita Prefecture, continues to serve as a model for local revitalization on an international scale. This issue of Highlighting Japan introduces readers to a variety of specialty products that have sparked local revitalization, such as carved wooden bears, ironware, and silk, as well as wine, mangoes, and even wool felt products from the Kyrgyz Republic that have been created with Japan's international cooperation.

FEATURES

  • Interview with Professor Sobajima Noriyuki, Faculty of Modern Business, Nagoya Sangyo University

  • Carved wooden bears are a well-known tourist souvenir from Hokkaido. Get to know the delightful carved bears of Yakumo Town, their birthplace

  • Discover Iwate Prefecture's Nambu ironware, which is quite popular around the world, especially in Europe

  • Explore silk products from Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture—the only place in Japan that makes them using a seamless process all the way from silkworm breeding to garment production

  • Learn about a natural wine from Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture, which has been served at official summit banquets and in first-class cabins on international flights

  • Have a look at the ripe mangoes produced in Miyazaki Prefecture, famous as premium luxury gifts

  • Find out about the One Village, One Product project, a community revitalization project that originated in Oita Prefecture, has spread throughout Japan, and is now used as a model in other countries

  • Check out these wool felt dolls from the Kyrgyz Republic. They were created using Japan's One Village, One Product project as a model

Also