(3) Case studies on initiatives capitalizing on cultural assets including works of literature

[Obuse-machi, Nagano Prefecture: Building a country town rich in life and culture]

Obuse’s town-making efforts revolve around Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), a famous Ukiyo-e painter, as many of his works are in the town. The Obuse municipal government opened the “HOKUSAI Museum” in 1976 to preserve and exhibit his works. In 1983, it also opened to the public a residence where Hokusai often stayed as another museum called “Yuzenro.” Residents around “Yuzenro” suggested that its neighborhood should be landscaped to match the view of the museum. Based on this suggestion, the stakeholders—including the residents and developers—stroke an agreement aimed at ensuring that swaps of land plots and constructions of homes and shops do not mar, and rather enhance, the local landscape. The municipal government, for its part, paved an alley with blocks of Japanese chestnut trees—a local specialty.

Streetscape near “Yuzenro”

The municipal government in 1986 adopted the slogan “a country town rich in life and culture” for its integrated development program. Under the program, the municipality established “eco design standards,” a set of voluntary guidelines on the desired types, colors and materials of buildings in the town. It also designed some districts as zones for town-making that put to good use the historical and cultural atmospheres in the region. In 1989, a center for home building consultations was opened. In 1990, the municipal government established an ordinance aimed at building “a country town rich in life and culture.” The ordinance allows the municipal government to subsidize and commend compliances with the “eco design standards” when constructing buildings, setting up billboards, and planting hedges.

All these efforts have raised the awareness of the whole town with regard to landscapes, increasing the number of buildings of Obuse's traditional architecture style characterized by gable roofs and stud walls. In addition, cultural facilities, including public and private art museums have been constructed one after another. As a result, more than 1.2 million people visit Obuse every year from around the country.

Obuse is also committed to growing flowers. The initiative to build a town full of flower has been originated from a student council of a local junior high school, which started in 1980 to build flower beds with a golden age club and a parents group. Now the initiative has spread to the whole town.

The municipality has been providing full support to this initiative. It opened Floral Garden Obuse in 1992 and Obuse Flower Center in 1997 as a base for promoting flower plants and their seeds and seedlings as new local products. The municipal government sent its officials and residents to Europe to study advanced floriculture there. The participants in this study tour, after returning home, played a leading role in flower gardening in Obuse. This in part helped the flower-planting drive to spread to the whole town. The municipality now commends families, communities and schools that are committed to flower gardening at a flower contest and the “Obuse Landscaping Award” contest.

In 2000, Obuse launched the “Open Garden” program whereby private gardens are opened to the tourists. For this program, the municipality published the “Obuse Open Garden Book,” which introduces such private gardens. With this