The Present Situation of Fishing Villages under Conditionsof Depopulation

Trends of a decrease in the Japanese population have continued since 2004. However, the populations of 11 prefectures are still growing, so a tendency for uneven distribution of populations has increased. This trend can also be seen in the relationships between the provincial cities and agricultural, mountain and fishing villages. The situation of this tendency in rural villages has continued for more than ten years. In agricultural, mountain and fishing villages, there are many villages that are not able to maintain their communities because of a decrease in population and an aging society. Though there are many studies regarding farm villages, studies on fishing villages have not been reported. In this study, we analyzed the data available from the “ fishing port village investigation” and “ fishing industry census” , etc. and describe the following; a) Details of the present conditions of fishing villages, b) Classification of fishing villages, c) Proposals for promotion of fishing villages in the future.JEL Classification: R00