Cultive to Host MAFF Online Seminar on Public-Private Co-Creation for Solving Rural Community Issues

Cultive Inc., which operates “river,” a platform for solving regional issues through Japan’s corporate hometown tax donation program, will hold an online seminar on May 26, 2026, as part of its “Regional Revitalization Policy Utilization Seminar Series.” The session, led by an official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, is titled “Support for Solving Regional Issues Using Public-Private Co-Creation Mechanisms: Collaboration Among Diverse Stakeholders Toward the Revitalization of Rural, Mountain and Fishing Villages.” The seminar will explain MAFF’s initiative to support issue-solving in rural, mountain and fishing communities and to help realize profitable agriculture, forestry and fisheries through public-private co-creation mechanisms. In Japan, population decline and aging have made challenges increasingly visible in rural areas, including the difficulty of maintaining local communities and the decline of regional economies. Addressing these issues requires collaboration among diverse actors, including government bodies, private companies, financial institutions and related organizations, while making use of local resources and strengths to build sustainable communities. The seminar is intended for local governments, relevant ministries and agencies, private businesses, financial institutions and others working on regional revitalization in rural, mountain and fishing areas. It will provide an accessible overview of public-private co-creation approaches to solving regional issues, as well as MAFF’s related initiatives. Topics include support for project formation by intermediary support organizations centered on regional financial institutions, and the issuance of government certificates to companies working to solve issues in rural communities. The seminar will also cover the “Hirosaki Agricultural Support Project,” an agricultural volunteer tour initiative aimed at addressing labor shortages during peak farming seasons in Hirosaki City, as an example used in combination with the corporate hometown tax donation program. In this project, a company that manufactures and sells cider made from apples used the program to help solve and revitalize challenges in the apple and cider industries. The initiative has received the FY2025 Certificate for Activities Contributing to the Promotion of Rural, Mountain and Fishing Villages. The event will be held online via Zoom from 10:00 to 10:30 on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Participation is free. The speaker will be Tomoya Murayama, Section Chief at the Rural Revitalization Promotion Office, Rural Planning Division, Rural Development Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The organizer is Cultive Inc., and the seminar will be conducted as a subcommittee activity of the Regional Revitalization SDGs Public-Private Partnership Platform. Tomoya Murayama joined MAFF in 2022. After working in a department promoting production of various items such as rice and vegetables, he was involved in MAFF budget formulation centered on public works projects. Since July 2025, he has been in his current role, advancing policies to support rural issue-solving through public-private co-creation, particularly initiatives in which the national government issues certificates to companies and other organizations. Cultive’s “river” is a platform that gathers knowledge for regional revitalization centered on the corporate hometown tax donation program. Through the program, it connects regions and companies and aims to create a society where as many people as possible can continue to live happily through regional revitalization. The company also operates “Kifuru Online,” an online donation portal for corporate hometown tax donations, where users can search donation projects across Japan and donate online.