A new attempt at regional revitalization and crowdfunding: FAAVO's love for one's hometown knows no bounds
About crowdfunding
I recently discovered that back in 2012, Taiwan also gave birth to a crowdfunding website–Zeczec
So-called crowdfunding refers to the practice of raising funds from an unspecified majority of people via the internet. As a new form of fundraising, it has attracted considerable attention in countries around the world, and it is said that there are currently more than 500 websites worldwide offering crowdfunding services. In Japanese, crowdfunding is written as "クラウドファンディング", directly transplanted from English, whereby the initiator proposes a plan and, within a certain period of time, raises funds online from unspecified supporters.
Shimane Prefecture's projects are extremely popular
Including the newly opened FAAVO Yamagata in May, there are currently eleven localities adopting a co-management model. This year, Hokkaido, Chiba, Nara, Mie, Hiroshima and other prefectures, as well as cities, towns and villages such as Yokote in Akita, Tsukuba in Ibaraki, Hida in Gifu, and the 23 wards of Tokyo, are also expected to begin operating under the local partner format.
Having taken a look, the Nagano Prefecture where I live currently has no local partner. Because local partners do not accept individual applications, if I could establish a corporate body, it would be nice to join the ranks of crowdfunding.
Resource sharing, information sharing, timely exchange
The reason I am introducing this website is that I have seen the powerful force of online sharing and interconnection.
In the past, most efforts involved holding classes to teach local people how to build websites from scratch, often investing a great deal of effort while the viewership remained low. It would be better to gather together and share a single system, which not only raises exposure but also saves unnecessary effort and expense.
In addition, initiators share their progress and feelings through "follow-up reports" after launching a project, while supporters offer support and encouragement through "support comments" - for many local workers living in remote villages, this is often the warmest form of feedback.
Many wonderful possibilities are gradually coming true, bit by bit, through crowdfunding. Young women who moved to Niigata launched a "Migrant Women's Local Journal", introducing the ins and outs of the village and incidentally running personal ads for young farming families; a man running a clothing store in the shopping street of Miyazaki City created a dedicated shorts brand for Miyazaki, where surfing is popular; a young woman who moved to Shimane's remote island "Oki Islands" renovated a 120-year-old house so that visitors could experience island life more deeply…
What exciting things will come next is something to look forward to.