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▼ Japan In Focus / Tokushima Pref. Town’s Remote Setting Attracts Drone Fans
- Category:Event
NAKA, Tokushima — In a quiet mountainous area where rushing creeks and chirping birds used to provide the only usual sounds, there is now a mechanical buzz in the air.
The source of the sounds is drones — small unmanned aerial vehicles flying over a town in Tokushima Prefecture.
The town, Naka, where the population has steadily been decreasing, is now promoting itself as the place “where the largest number of drones fly in Japan” by seeking to turn its very lack of uniqueness to its advantage.
Freedom in nature
In late November, at B&G Yagai Katsudo Center, a facility for outdoor activities surrounded by forests and river streams in the town, three drones were gracefully flying in the bright blue sky.
They slowly made circles, rapidly ascended and showed off moves as if they were living creatures. Controlling the drones were officials of the town government’s drone promotion office.
Hayato Tawa, 23, deputy chief of the promotion office, made an appeal, saying, “You can fly drones here in unlimited ways without worrying that they will hit buildings or people.”
In April 2016, the town government became Japan’s first municipality to establish a section exclusively for drones.
In 2017, the town government made a “drone map” that introduces 25 spots in the town suitable for flying drones, including a place that is good for seeing autumn leaves.
After it was released online, the map gained popularity via social media, and about 100 drone fans visited the town from all over the nation in a year.
Hitomi Adachi, a 47-year-old company employee from Naniwa Ward, Osaka, who visited the town for the first time in September, said: “It is different from Osaka. I can freely fly my drone in this great natural setting, and I never get tired of it, even when I fly it for many hours.”
95% forested
Naka town was created in 2005 as a result of a merger of five towns and villages. At the time of the merger, the population numbered 11,596, but it has fallen year by year. The current population is 8,444, and the percentage of residents aged 65 or older has risen to 48.5 percent. There are only two convenience stores in the town, which has no famous tourist spots.
Why did a town in such a condition decide to focus on drones?
Drones attracted public attention in Japan in the wake of an incident in April 2015 in which a drone was found on the rooftop of the Prime Minister’s Office.
At the time, a man who had moved to and was living in the town as a member of local vitalization cooperators happened to remark: “If it were in this town, a falling drone wouldn’t bother anybody. Don’t you think so?”
The Civil Aeronautics Law, which was revised in the wake of the incident, prohibits drone flights in “densely inhabited districts.”
However, Naka is a town where the population has been decreasing and forests account for 95 percent of its acreage. Thus, there are few places in the town that are subject to the law’s regulation.
A plan to vitalize the town’s local communities by using drones has proceeded smoothly. The central and prefectural governments have taken note of the town’s efforts.
After it was released online, the map gained popularity via social media, and about 100 drone fans visited the town from all over the nation in a year.
Hitomi Adachi, a 47-year-old company employee from Naniwa Ward, Osaka, who visited the town for the first time in September, said: “It is different from Osaka. I can freely fly my drone in this great natural setting, and I never get tired of it, even when I fly it for many hours.”
95% forested
Naka town was created in 2005 as a result of a merger of five towns and villages. At the time of the merger, the population numbered 11,596, but it has fallen year by year. The current population is 8,444, and the percentage of residents aged 65 or older has risen to 48.5 percent. There are only two convenience stores in the town, which has no famous tourist spots.
Why did a town in such a condition decide to focus on drones?
Drones attracted public attention in Japan in the wake of an incident in April 2015 in which a drone was found on the rooftop of the Prime Minister’s Office.
At the time, a man who had moved to and was living in the town as a member of local vitalization cooperators happened to remark: “If it were in this town, a falling drone wouldn’t bother anybody. Don’t you think so?”
The Civil Aeronautics Law, which was revised in the wake of the incident, prohibits drone flights in “densely inhabited districts.”
However, Naka is a town where the population has been decreasing and forests account for 95 percent of its acreage. Thus, there are few places in the town that are subject to the law’s regulation.
A plan to vitalize the town’s local communities by using drones has proceeded smoothly. The central and prefectural governments have taken note of the town’s efforts.
Naka was then designated a “special drone zone” by the prefectural government. In February 2016, Japan’s first experiment with using drones to deliver parcels to houses, which was organized by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry and other entities, was implemented in the town as a measure to help people facing difficulties shopping.
The town government also invited drone race events, and has held events for residents to experience flying drones.
Initially, many of the town’s residents were skeptical about the plan, voicing doubt about how useful drones would be. But now, many of the residents have purchased drones and fly them.
Kunishige Takezaki, 79, who has been in the forestry business for many years, is one of the drone users. He became interested in drones in the wake of hands-on events, and purchased one for about ¥150,000 in the summer of 2016.
He said with a smile: “I feel as if I myself am flying while I watch the screen of the controller. This town, where I have lived for many decades, looks different when I see it from the sky.”
Drones are also utilized for the forestry business, the town’s main industry.
Usually, trees cut down in mountains are transported to nearby roads using wires and ropes. It had been a heavy burden for workers to attach ropes to the trees while climbing up and down mountain slopes.
Now the ropes are attached to drones, which carry the ropes to the working sites, so work can be completed within several minutes.
Hirohito Kamei, 41, president of Kamei Ringyo, a Tokushima-based forestry company, expressed hope, saying, “Drones can wipe away the image that forestry work is too hard and can contribute to securing workers.”
The town has attempted to vitalize its local communities for four years. Although its depopulation problem cannot be solved quickly or easily, the sight of drones hovering in its skies gives the impression that the future holds unlimited possibilities.
■ Access
An about 80-minute car ride from Tokushima to central Naka. Bus services are available from JR Tokuhsima Station. Copies of the drone map are distributed at the drone promotion office of the town office, and can be downloaded from its website at http://nakadrone.com/
For more information, call the promotion office at (0884) 62-1184.
The town government also invited drone race events, and has held events for residents to experience flying drones.
Initially, many of the town’s residents were skeptical about the plan, voicing doubt about how useful drones would be. But now, many of the residents have purchased drones and fly them.
Kunishige Takezaki, 79, who has been in the forestry business for many years, is one of the drone users. He became interested in drones in the wake of hands-on events, and purchased one for about ¥150,000 in the summer of 2016.
He said with a smile: “I feel as if I myself am flying while I watch the screen of the controller. This town, where I have lived for many decades, looks different when I see it from the sky.”
Drones are also utilized for the forestry business, the town’s main industry.
Usually, trees cut down in mountains are transported to nearby roads using wires and ropes. It had been a heavy burden for workers to attach ropes to the trees while climbing up and down mountain slopes.
Now the ropes are attached to drones, which carry the ropes to the working sites, so work can be completed within several minutes.
Hirohito Kamei, 41, president of Kamei Ringyo, a Tokushima-based forestry company, expressed hope, saying, “Drones can wipe away the image that forestry work is too hard and can contribute to securing workers.”
The town has attempted to vitalize its local communities for four years. Although its depopulation problem cannot be solved quickly or easily, the sight of drones hovering in its skies gives the impression that the future holds unlimited possibilities.
■ Access
An about 80-minute car ride from Tokushima to central Naka. Bus services are available from JR Tokuhsima Station. Copies of the drone map are distributed at the drone promotion office of the town office, and can be downloaded from its website at http://nakadrone.com/
For more information, call the promotion office at (0884) 62-1184.
- February 16, 2019
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