Alyawmu Holds DAO Manager Study Session on Moving from Regional Revitalization Corps to City Councilor

Alyawmu Inc., a Sapporo-based company promoting regional revitalization through NFTs, held a DAO manager study session using its Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps DAO solution. The session was for members of the Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps who had relocated to local communities. The lecturer was Mr. Shinmura, who moved from Shibuya, Tokyo, served in the forestry division of the corps, and now works as a city councilor in Ashibetsu, Hokkaido. He shared practical knowledge on why he left the corps before completing his term to run in the 2019 unified local elections, what administrative reforms he was able to achieve as a city councilor, and how prospective candidates can prepare for the 2027 unified local elections. The DAO manager study session is designed to turn the personal experiences of corps members into cross-regional learning. The missions and environments of Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps members vary greatly by municipality, and the work is often described as having no single correct answer. At the same time, local sites across Japan contain many reproducible lessons that cannot be captured by numbers alone, including practical know-how, lessons from failure, and ways of building relationships. Alyawmu holds these sessions so that corps members who are producing results in the field can provide realistic, practical learning opportunities for new members and those currently facing obstacles. The session focused not merely on sharing tips, but on the process that leads to results: clarifying the missions expected by municipalities, the behind-the-scenes work of daily activities, building trust with residents and city offices, examples of social media outreach and related-population creation, as well as failures and current challenges. Participants were encouraged to think about how the examples could be applied in their own regions. This session’s theme was “From Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps Member to City Councilor in Ashibetsu, Hokkaido: Preserving the Region by Engaging with the Core of Administration.” Mr. Shinmura explained why he chose city council membership as an exit strategy after his three years in the corps, the administrative reforms he achieved as a city councilor, including the creation of a free-mission category for the corps and the city’s zero-carbon declaration, and reforms related to Ashibetsu’s current situation, where around 1,200 deer, 800 raccoons, and 25 brown bears are captured annually but the city lacks a game meat processing facility. He also discussed a plan to preserve Ashibetsu High School by creating a “Natural Animal Science Department,” and shared practical know-how for running in the unified local elections scheduled for April 25, 2027. A key point of interest was his consistent stance that preserving a region requires engaging with the core of administration. Beyond events or entrepreneurship, he described an approach in which elected representatives, as citizens’ delegates with certain authority, can influence the direction of local government itself. Mr. Shinmura moved to Ashibetsu in 2016 as a member of the corps’ forestry division. During his term, he actively worked on projects such as developing venison pet food, commercializing kuromoji medicinal herb products, holding venison curry classes, and opening Ashibetsu’s first private lodging business. At the same time, he felt constant pressure to produce results within the three-year term. Although he was offered career paths such as joining a forest association or doing chainsaw work for a forestry company, he decided he would tire of focusing only on forestry. A casual comment from a friend at a barbecue, suggesting he should become a councilor, led him to leave the corps mid-term and run in the 2019 city council election, where he won his first term. Despite early resistance and warnings that there was no room for a newcomer, he won again in 2023, showing through his own career that becoming a councilor can be a viable next step for corps members. As a city councilor, Mr. Shinmura has made numerous proposals through general questions and committee work, actually moving systems forward. A representative achievement was the creation of a free-mission category for Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps recruitment. Previously, recruitment was limited to fixed categories such as agriculture or forestry, but the new proposal-based category allows applicants to present what they want to do, creating an entry point for more diverse talent. He has also helped realize the city’s zero-carbon declaration and pushed for air conditioning in the aging city hall. He is now working on issues such as revising a hot spring voucher program for residents aged 70 and over, whose usage rate remains around 20%, establishing an all-weather playground, and expanding use of the Yuya training room. He noted that councilors do not have budgetary authority and often occupy a role similar to oversight, but they have many opportunities to speak with section chiefs, department heads, the mayor, and deputy mayor. Working with motivated city staff at the subsection-chief level almost like teammates to create policy together is common and important. In that sense, the ability to involve others beyond formal authority was presented as a key to administrative reform. About 90% of Ashibetsu’s area is mountainous, making it rich in hunting resources. Each year, approximately 1,200 Ezo deer, 800 raccoons, and 25 brown bears are captured. However, because the city has no game meat processing facility, most of these resources are discarded as waste. Mr. Shinmura argued that this is a serious waste for a city that often says it lacks money, and he is advancing a plan to attract a second branch of a nearby game meat processing operator to Ashibetsu. In response to the risk of Ashibetsu High School closing, he has proposed creating a “Natural Animal Science Department,” tentatively described as a hunter department. By building an appealing school that attracts students from inside and outside Hokkaido, he hopes to slow the population decline that would accelerate if the high school disappeared. For large-scale ideas like this, he is also working in parallel with prefectural and national lawmakers to build support. Looking ahead to the unified local elections scheduled for April 25, 2027, Mr. Shinmura shared four practical points for corps members interested in running for office. First, clarify your purpose: why you are running, what you are dissatisfied with, and what you want to advocate. Putting motivation into words becomes the axis of an election campaign. Second, build a group of supporters. A genuine support group of around 10 people can be decisive. In rural areas, communities are small and many people may only support quietly, so sincere allies are especially important. Third, plan funding and scheduling. Leaflet production costs around 300,000 yen, and total costs of around 3 million yen can serve as a benchmark, though there are examples of candidates winning with 1 million or 500,000 yen. For newcomers, walking and meeting people directly is crucial. Fourth, manage risks. Understanding from spouses and family, as well as organizing one’s past personal affairs, are essential. Family members will also be seen as the family of a councilor, so gaining their consent is one of the biggest preparations before running. As a reference book, he introduced “A Winning Guide to Local Elections,” which covers the Public Offices Election Act, and emphasized the importance of learning basic municipal administration, such as the difference between general and special accounts. Mr. Shinmura is a city councilor in Ashibetsu, Hokkaido and a former Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps member in the forestry division. Born in Hachioji, Tokyo, he is 43 years old. After graduating from Nihon University’s College of Commerce, he joined CyberAgent, where he worked in the president’s office and media sales. He became independent at 26, running a bar in Shibuya and a curry restaurant in Akasaka, which were featured in publications such as dancyu. In 2016, he moved to Ashibetsu and joined the corps. He left before completing his term, ran in the 2019 unified local elections, and won his first term. He was reelected in 2023. He now serves as a city councilor while also working as managing director of a forestry cooperative, promoting wood education as a certified Wood Education Meister, and engaging in harmful wildlife control as a hunter. His current roles include Ashibetsu city councilor, managing director of the Ashibetsu Future Forest Cooperative, Hokkaido governor-certified Wood Education Meister, chair of the Sorachi Regional Kitamori College Support Subcommittee, and vice chair of the Ashibetsu Lion Preservation Society. His local activities include responding to citizen consultations, operating private lodging, outdoor guiding, hunting, and manufacturing and selling wood chips. Mr. Shinmura commented that regional revitalization fails not only because of population decline, but also because decision-making is concentrated in the administration and among a limited group of stakeholders, while the realities of the field and local strengths are not sufficiently reflected. Regarding people, new challenges are often met with excessive criticism, creating an atmosphere that drags others down. Interests and relationships become fixed, and maintaining the status quo tends to take priority over change. He said he does not know whether he can break through such conditions, but he continues working every day. Participants also shared comments. Nari, a DAO manager in Monbetsu, Hokkaido, said that when thinking about how to improve Monbetsu, many issues go beyond the framework of the corps, so becoming a city councilor and strengthening one’s ability to propose and speak out is one possible path. Hearing Mr. Shinmura’s experience as an Ashibetsu city councilor felt useful and relatable. Nari is working toward reviving a creators’ festival that had been held in Monbetsu before the pandemic, and strongly related to the difficulty of building a core community of supporters. Takumi, a DAO manager in Tottori City, said that although he had understood political and administrative systems intellectually, there was a large gap between knowing something and thinking of it as one’s own issue. After becoming a Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps member and working closer to local government, regional issues and systems began to feel more immediate. Hearing Mr. Shinmura, who started from the same position and continued facing the region until becoming a councilor, made that path feel not like a distant world, but like a real possibility. Alyawmu plans to continue holding study sessions where dispatched corps members can share knowledge, applying practices born in each region across communities to increase regional value overall. The company also invites people to join DAOs in their own regions or regions of interest. DAO participation link: https://lit.link/alywamu-dao Alyawmu Inc. is a Sapporo-based startup that provides hometown tax NFTs, tourism NFTs, and Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps DAO solutions to municipalities across Japan to promote regional revitalization through DAOs and NFTs. By turning regional attractions into NFT return gifts for hometown tax donations and operating DAOs in local communities, the company creates new financial resources while supporting city promotion and related-population creation. The name Alyawmu comes from an Arabic word meaning “today.” The company provides advanced NFT technology to municipalities and regions that want to take on challenges today and supports the creation of communities that continue to receive support. Company information: Alyawmu Inc.; Representative: Hiroaki Hatanaka; Address: Katran Asabu Room 302, 2-23, Kita 38-jo Nishi 6-chome, Kita-ku, Sapporo; Established: November 18, 2020; Capital: 164.49 million yen, including reserves; Business: regional revitalization consulting and development using NFTs; URL: https://alyawmu.com/; Twitter: https://twitter.com/alyawmu/; Voicy: https://voicy.jp/channel/3545