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A group photo of all participants in the "Connecting Rural Exchange" program, held in Ihama, a port town in Minamiizu. Mitsui is third from the right in the front row.

In the "Waseda Student Reports" segment, students talk about campus life moments, when a variety of people gather and learn together, along with their own realizations and growth. This time, Mitsui reports on the "Rural Exchange Project," a new project launched by Waseda students!

Why not become a part of the town even if you don't live there?

Secretary General of the Rural Exchange Project
Daiki Mitsui, third-year student, School of Political Science and Economics

From September 18 to 24, 2025, 24 university students from the Tokyo metropolitan area, primarily from Waseda University, participated in the "Connecting Rural Exchange" program, staying in Minamiizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, at the southernmost tip of the Izu Peninsula. This was part of the "Rural Exchange Project."

The "Rural Exchange Project" was launched by a team of five people, including myself, who participated in a workshop on creating a connected population (*) in Minamiizu at the Waseda University Regional Collaboration Workshop in 2023. We thought that the key to creating a connected population was to allow more people to experience the warmth of the townspeople that we encountered during fieldwork during the workshop, so we proposed and realized this project in March 2024. The event we planned as the core project is "Connecting Rural Exchange."

*This does not refer to the "settled population" who have moved to the area or the "exchange population" who have come to visit as tourists, but rather to people who are involved with the area in various ways.

"Connecting Rural Exchange" is not just a sightseeing trip or a student club training camp. By experiencing Minamiizu's charms, challenges, and everyday life through this communal living, participants can get a simulated experience of "being a part of the town even without living there." This groundbreaking initiative is run largely by the "Rural Exchange Project Secretariat," a voluntary organization of which I serve as Secretary General, and its operational team, the "Rural Exchange Project Management Bureau."

During the program, the students lived together in Minamiizu and engaged in a variety of activities, including:

・Volunteer activities at various businesses and private homes
・Special classes held at all elementary and junior high schools in the town to share the foundations of children's career choices and lifestyles
・Participation in local events
・A social gathering inviting local residents and children to the lodging facility where the activities were based
・A barbecue with crowdfunding supporters and including recreational activities such as fireworks and somen noodles
・Co-hosting an event with the Minamiizu Chamber of Commerce

Left: Helping with rice cultivation by riding on a combine harvester
Right: We collaborated with the Minamiizu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and helped with the lottery at a town event.

The purpose of this project is to create a connected population, which we define as "being part of the town, even if you don't live there." When we first came up with the "Rural Exchange Project," our main focus was on "doing something" and "learning from the challenges facing rural areas."

However, their experiences in the "Connecting Rural Exchange" program clarified their awareness of the town as a related population. At the social gathering, they heard from a town council member about the serious issue of a lack of successors, and during a special class at school, they met a child who said, "I want to leave this town in the future." As the faces of the people they had been involved with came to mind, the town's issues no longer seemed like someone else's problem, but rather their own. Through these experiences, each of them shared concerns and thoughts about the town's future, truly becoming "a part of the town, even if they don't live there."

A group photo with townspeople at the social gathering for "Connecting Rural Study Abroad." Many people participated, including those from Minamiizu Town Hall, which is a co-organizer of the project, sponsoring companies, town council members, the tourism association, and the chamber of commerce.

In addition to this, the Rural Exchange Project implements a variety of other measures. By providing opportunities for students to interact with the town from multiple angles, we have established a system in which many students, including the secretariat and management office, can accompany them on the path to becoming a connected population.

・Booth at the local community event "Earth Thanksgiving Festival" held every autumn on Waseda Campus
・Arranging training camps for Waseda University volunteer student club (introducing accommodations, providing lectures on applying for training camp subsidies, matching with volunteer locations, etc.)
・Volunteer participation in tourism promotion events in Minamiizu and Suginami Ward, which is a partner municipality
・Implementing workshops in collaboration with companies and other organizations to create a connected population outside of students

A workshop for active seniors was held in Omotesando, Tokyo, in collaboration with the private company Moon Creative Lab Inc. We will continue to promote collaboration with companies and organizations, and explore new possibilities for creating a connected population in Minamiizu.

Furthermore, our name recognition has recently increased within the town through the distribution of the Minamiizu newsletter, "Minamiizu Public Relations," and the pamphlets published independently by our secretariat. As young people with the potential to lead Minamiizu into the future, we feel a strong sense of great expectations and the responsibility that comes with them.

The "Rural Exchange Project" is not something to be consumed as a one-time, glamorous memory, but rather something that goes beyond "connecting with the countryside." As you visit again and again and share the changing seasons, you will gradually feel like you are becoming a part of the place. This ongoing relationship, that is to say the process of becoming a connected population, will foster a sense of identity and trust as a "second home." Why not come to Minamiizu as a new way to spend your university life that goes beyond simply being a means of self-actualization?

The rapeseed flower fields are a tourist attraction in Minamiizu. In spring, we are greeted by a field of rapeseed flowers.

[Rural Exchange Project]
・Website: https://inakaryuugaku.com/
・X: @inakaryuugaku
・Instagram: @inakaryuugaku