Akaigawa Village
Hiroshi Akamatsu

It has been ten years since Hiroshi Akamatsu from Akaigawa-mura had assumed the office of village mayor. Even though there are quite a few issues to be tackled in the village including population and finance, Akamatsu pours all of his passion into village management backed up by his natural generosity and determination to accomplish his mission.

Cherry blossoms in spring, maple trees in autumn — leaving “something visible”

“Where is Akaigawa-mura?” Being a small village, one of the problems of Akaigawa-mura was that it did not have much of a presence. So I set up a large sign at the entrance of the routes which led to the village: Otaru, Yoichi, Kutchan and Niki. The sign says that we are affiliated with the Most Beautiful Villages in Japan, thanks to that, people started to refrain from throwing trashes out on the road. Becoming a member of the Most Beautiful Villages in Japan also changed the attitude of us the villagers. We used to leave dirty farming tools and garbage in front of our houses but now we don’t. Joining the alliance effectively changed our mind in that way as well.
I founded Sakura Momiji Kikin (lit. Cherry Tree and Maple Foundation) as a part of landscape making project. Akaigawa-mura is a heavy snowfall area with two meters of snow accumulating on the ground. Typically, there are less cherry tree sights in regions with such climate condition but I want many cherry blossoms in our village. After planting 400 of young cherry trees of about three meters high in my own field, the villagers started to cooperate on the project as well.
Akawigawa-mura is located in the basin of caldera. This rare geographical feature regrettably got in the way of receiving grant-in-aid for many projects in the past. There was a time when I thought I might not be able to do anything in this land. However now that I think back, such frustration drove me forward. I hope that young villagers do their best to support the village in their own ways from now on. I hope they will pour all their energy into living their lives to the fullest.

Interviewed in April, 2017
Writer : Hideko Takahashi / Photographer : Hiroyuki Tamura