Recent progress in Japanese geographical studies on sustainable rural system: Focusing on recreating rurality in the urban fringe of the Tokyo metropolitan area

Abstract

In this paper we point to "rurality" as an option within "urbanity" in the urban fringe of the Tokyo metropolitan area as well as discuss some ways for recreating rurality and a mechanism for restructuring it within a sustainable rural system. Rural and urban residents have been mixed in the urban fringe, and rurality has been diminishing with the increasing number of urbanites and the decreasing amount of rural land use. In some parts of the urban fringe, however, a sustainable rural system has been restructured through the establishment of farm shops, social networks, and activities connected to the conservation of forestland. These functions as a node to connect rurality with urbanity, and reinforcing this connection over time has led to the development of a sustainable rural system that comprehensively combined characteristics of rural and urban communities. Explaining how a sustainable rural system is restructured through intertwining rurality and urbanity is an important issue for contemporary geographical studies.