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Paper short abstract

“Communicative spaces” enable an open discussion among a diverse set of people and create a productive atmosphere supporting adaptive community practices. Based on my fieldwork in three rural regions in Japan I introduce three different examples of how communities set up and use such spaces.

Paper long abstract

Demographic change has created gaps in regional Japan, making it increasingly difficult to sustain patterns of community organisation and local activities. To address these gaps, local authorities and citizen groups alike have started initiatives in various parts of the country that implement different models to cope with the current situation. This paper understands the creation of a “communicative space” (Okada 2021) as the core of several recent revitalisation initiatives. These spaces enable an open discussion among a diverse set of people and eventually create a productive atmosphere supporting adaptive community practices.

Based on my fieldwork in three regions in Japan (Kumamoto, Tottori, rural Tokyo) I introduce three different examples of how communities set up and use communicative spaces. I demonstrate that these spaces are not limited to a specific age group, such as older adults, or based on the place of origin, such as some community associations, but exist in various shapes and contexts. In order to conceptualize a communicative space, I introduce its characteristics and requirements, resulting from a qualitative analysis of my fieldwork stays.

I conclude that communicative spaces perform a crucial role in adapting local communities to persistent risks, not only linked to demographic change, but to a more general discussion of disasters. Due to its processual nature they need to be continuously activated, but because of this very reason they also provide a space for collective action and gradual transformation.