| A film about Japan’s Local Vitalization Cooperator program is screened in various parts of the country. The movie is named “Hitoshizuku,” which can be translated as “One Drop,” was filmed and directed by Daisuke Yamashita, 32, in Minami Osumi Town, Kagoshima Prefecture. He interviewed more than 200 cooperators in the program nationwide and completed the movie with the cooperation of the women’s division of a local agricultural cooperative, JA Kagoshima Kimotsuki. According to the Regional Power Creation Group of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, this is Japan’s first movie on the theme of the Local Vitalization Cooperators, as far as it knows.
The story is about a woman in her 20s who moved from Tokyo to Minami Osumi Town, Kagoshima Prefecture and became a regional revitalization cooperator to make a fresh start and her country life dream come true. At first, she felt uncomfortable with the gap between her dream life and the reality, but she grew as she interacted with residents. Since its release in November 2023, it has attracted over 3,100 audiences nationwide. The director, Yamashita, is from Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture. In July 2017, he became a cooperator in his mother’s hometown, Minami Osumi Town, Kagoshima Prefecture, to start his activities to record the beautiful town on film. He visited more than 200 cooperators throughout Japan and incorporated their challenges and struggles into the story. He did location shoots for 13 days, 12 days in Minami Osumi Town. The women’s division of JA Kagoshima Kimotsuki cocked supper for him during those 12 days. “I hope this film will raise the profile of the cooperators,” he said. (Fujihira Itsuki)  A regional revitalization cooperator cycling down a slope in the film |