Tokyo, Nov. 3 (Jiji Press)–A growing number of Japanese companies are launching local projects and working directly with residents to tackle the problems confronting farming, mountainous and fishing communities hit by depopulation and aging. Such efforts are expected to help secure agricultural labor and broaden the ranks of people with continuing ties to the regions. They also offer benefits to the companies themselves, by showcasing their social contributions and opening the door to new business opportunities. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, for its part, is stepping up efforts to draw in corporate participants and to support the communities that host their activities. Visible Contributions Rural Japan faces an ever-more acute shortage of people to keep its communities going. According to the ministry’s 2026 survey on changes in agricultural structure, the number of core agricultural workers–those whose main occupation is farming–fell below one million for the first time, dropping 4.8 pct from the previous year to 986,600. In some areas, it has become difficult to sustain not just farming but the community itself, leaving little time for action. For banks, transport operators, travel agencies and other businesses serving regional markets, shrinking populations and contracting local economies pose serious threats. Against this backdrop, some companies have taken the lead in revitalizing rural areas. East Japan Railway Co., for example, permits employees to take up farm work as a side job and sends them to farms during peak seasons. JTB Corp. has dispatched staff to Tsugaru in the northeastern prefecture of Aomori and elsewhere to run career-experience events for local children, including hands-on activities in agriculture and fisheries. “More and more companies want to get directly involved in rural communities,” a senior ministry official said. In fiscal 2026, the ministry introduced an “impact certificate” program to evaluate corporate activities in rural areas. Under the program, outside experts assess and certify not only the personnel and funds a company commits, but also the social and environmental impact its activities deliver on the ground. Companies can use the certificates to explain their work to shareholders and creditor banks. By making such contributions visible, the ministry hopes to help companies enhance their corporate value and raise capital. Matchmaking via Banks Companies with no local roots, however, find it difficult to get such projects off the ground on their own. The agriculture ministry is therefore looking to regional financial institutions–regional banks and shinkin banks among them–as key intermediaries linking companies with rural communities. These lenders know local conditions well and maintain ties with residents across a broad range of services, from deposits and loans to insurance. For the financial institutions themselves, taking part in rural revitalization projects offers a way to widen their customer base and to monetize services such as management consulting, shoring up their own business foundations. The ministry plans to compile a casebook of pioneering examples in which financial institutions have helped companies enter the agricultural sector or tackle regional challenges, hoping to encourage more lenders to serve as matchmakers between communities and businesses. Companies that have moved into rural areas, meanwhile, will be expected to deepen their local engagement, helping secure the agricultural workforce and create jobs through new lines of business. The ministry stands ready to help. “We will support these efforts by creating an environment in which companies can operate more easily,” a senior official at its Rural Development Bureau said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
