Koyo Murata left his small hometown for Tokyo before returning a few years later to transform an abandoned community center into a guest house.
Provided by Koyo Murata
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Koyo Murata, 25, the founder and operator of the Villa ASO guest house in Taiki, Mie Prefecture, Japan. His words have been edited for length and clarity.I grew up in a quintessential countryside town in Japan with about 8,000 people. My elementary and middle schools had only about 100 students combined. There are even fewer children there now.After school, we'd play in the river or organize soccer matches in the park. I felt lucky to be surrounded by rivers, mountains, and the sea.Looking back, I realize my hometown, Taiki, was already part of a broader trend in Japan.Rural towns like it are disappearing as people move to Tokyo. The capital is where you find the best jobs. Most kids who grow up in small towns like mine dream of making it to the big city.I got to live that dreamI moved away at 19 to study electrical engineering at Mie University; after graduating, I spent three years in Tokyo working in construction management and later in independent sales.My life was full, but I didn't like how crowded the city could be. The greater Tokyo metropolitan area consists of nearly 37 million people. The trains were always packed, and people seemed more uptight than the friendly folks back home. Over time, I began to realize how valuable life in the countryside really was.
