Urban Migrants in Rural Japan by Susanne Klien

Author:Susanne Klien [Klien, Susanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural & Social
ISBN: 9781438478050
Google: _CjKDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: SUNY Press
Published: 2020-02-01T04:17:18+00:00

Meaningful Mobility and Downshifting

Last but not least, to return to the idea of “meaningful mobilities” coined by Tim Cresswell discussed earlier in this chapter, the individual trajectories depicted show the comprehensive shift in thinking that is under way in contemporary Japanese society: Mobility is now increasingly perceived as a positive sign of mature and responsible individuals centered on making a worthwhile contribution and achieving a life that makes sense to them individually, just as Morley had suggested that mobility “is increasingly seen as a social good and immobility increasingly acquires, by contrast the connotation of defeat, of failure and of being left behind” (2000: 202). Both settlers in their twenties who have only worked a few years as well as more senior employees at the top management level have started to actively weigh their options by reflecting carefully on their work and lives and, in many cases, choosing mobility. A geographically and territorially fixed lifestyle with the home at its center has given way to a more hybrid lifestyle of “individualized mobility,” to borrow Elliott and Urry’s term (2010: 87) that combines home and mobility, in a vein that reminds us of Urry’s “post-modern nomads” who embody societies of deterritorialization (2000: 27).

In the majority of cases, mobile youth in one way or another refer to practices of “downshifting,” that is, practices that aim to reduce living expenses, the amount of material belongings, clutter of all sorts, with the ultimate goal of facilitating a focus on meaningful things and practices. Ultimately, thinking about individual decisions to drop out of corporate careers, many narratives suggest that the lack of meaningfulness in material abundance was a major incentive. The shift from material wealth to the personal freedom to use one’s time is perhaps the greatest societal transition that is presently taking place: Takasaka, the owner of the bar Tama ni ha TSUKI wo nagamemasho (Let’s gaze at the moon sometimes) in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, used to work in a major department store with an annual income of 6 million JPY. Now he earns a bit more than half of this; however, he has much more time available to himself. Takasaka is not interested in making a fortune; all he wants is to make enough money to keep himself going so that he can do what he likes. Recently, after earning too much, he has increased his days off to three a week. He spends his free time with his family and works growing vegetables in Chiba Prefecture (Furuichi 2014: 209–210). Takasaka calls himself a downshifter, that is, someone who puts priority on slowing down his lifestyle, distancing himself from the consumption society, and emphasizing personal values; his bar attracts other downshifters. Takasaka’s case shows that there are numerous urbanites who pursue a lifestyles based in two locations to engage in practices that make sense to them and their families while earning a living—meaningful mobility at its best.

The choices of the individuals portrayed earlier entail a complex postmodern combination of sedentary and nomadic lifestyles, of

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