{"id":809,"date":"2025-09-29T05:58:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T20:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/?p=809"},"modified":"2025-09-29T05:58:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T20:58:23","slug":"speaking-of-the-waters-at-the-foot-of-mt-yotei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/?p=809&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSpeaking of the Waters at the Foot of Mt. Y\u014dtei\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"wp-block-jinr-blocks-designtitle b--jinr-block b--jinr-h2rich d--h2rich-left d--h2rich-style1 d--titledesign-weight-thin d--h2rich-none js--scr-animation\" style=\"border-color:false\"><div class=\"c--h2rich-contents\"><h2 class=\"a--h2rich-maincopy d--bold ef\" style=\"color:false\"><strong><strong>Covering a Panel Where Local Leaders Gathered in One Room<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s truly rare to see this many towns and villages\u2014<strong>Rusutsu, Kimobetsu, Kutchan, Niseko, Rankoshi, Kyogoku<\/strong>\u2014come together under the single theme of <strong>water<\/strong>. Water is daily-life infrastructure and a tourism asset, and at the same time it touches sensitive issues like rights and development controls. Challenges around water are already in motion across the region, and this panel was a valuable moment to share that reality through a <strong>whole-watershed lens<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-jinr-blocks-designtitle b--jinr-block b--jinr-h2rich d--h2rich-left d--h2rich-style1 d--titledesign-weight-thin d--h2rich-none js--scr-animation\" style=\"border-color:false\"><div class=\"c--h2rich-contents\"><h2 class=\"a--h2rich-maincopy d--bold ef\" style=\"color:false\"><strong>Shifts in Snow and Water That Hit Daily Life <em>and<\/em> Tourism<\/strong><\/h2><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rusutsu\u2019s Mayor <strong>Sato<\/strong> remarked calmly, \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to get livelier, but we also need a net to protect what matters.\u201d<br>Kimobetsu\u2019s Mayor <strong>Hayashi<\/strong> spoke candidly about changes in the <em>quality of winter<\/em>: \u201cToo much snow at year\u2019s end, and then in February the opposite\u2014snow shortages.\u201d For ski destinations this is a matter of survival, and it also signals a <strong>changing rhythm in the water cycle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-jinr-blocks-designtitle b--jinr-block b--jinr-h2rich d--h2rich-left d--h2rich-style1 d--titledesign-weight-thin d--h2rich-none js--scr-animation\" style=\"border-color:false\"><div class=\"c--h2rich-contents\"><h2 class=\"a--h2rich-maincopy d--bold ef\" style=\"color:false\"><strong>The Weight of Rapid Growth in Kutchan and Niseko<\/strong><\/h2><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kutchan\u2019s Mayor <strong>Monji<\/strong> shared striking numbers: in a town of <strong>15,000 residents<\/strong>, there are <strong>18,000 overnight guests<\/strong>. The room stirred at the estimate that <strong>5\u20136 billion yen<\/strong> in water-supply upgrades would be needed just to cover the New Year peak.<br>Niseko\u2019s Mayor <strong>Katayama<\/strong> introduced a local <strong>water-resource ordinance<\/strong> that prohibits withdrawals beyond the product of <strong>area \u00d7 precipitation<\/strong>. The stance wasn\u2019t to reject investment or development, but to <strong>clarify rules to secure sustainability<\/strong>\u2014and that left an impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-jinr-blocks-designtitle b--jinr-block b--jinr-h2rich d--h2rich-left d--h2rich-style1 d--titledesign-weight-thin d--h2rich-none js--scr-animation\" style=\"border-color:false\"><div class=\"c--h2rich-contents\"><h2 class=\"a--h2rich-maincopy d--bold ef\" style=\"color:false\"><strong>A Culture That Treats the River as \u201cMother\u201d<\/strong><\/h2><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rankoshi\u2019s Mayor <strong>Kin<\/strong> introduced the <strong>Unified Shiribetsu River Ordinance<\/strong> shared by seven municipalities and a <strong>31-year-long clean-up campaign<\/strong>.<br>His words\u2014\u201cWe want to keep a culture of caring for the river, not just using it\u201d\u2014radiated regional pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From Kyogoku, <strong>Deputy Mayor Kobayashi<\/strong> highlighted <strong>Fukidashi Park\u2019s springs<\/strong> (80,000 tons\/day; 500,000 annual visitors), while also describing how <strong>water levels in Kyogoku rise more easily<\/strong> and the burden of <strong>late-night monitoring<\/strong>. It conveyed a real, on-the-ground tension you won\u2019t find in a tourist brochure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-jinr-blocks-designtitle b--jinr-block b--jinr-h2rich d--h2rich-left d--h2rich-style1 d--titledesign-weight-thin d--h2rich-none js--scr-animation\" style=\"border-color:false\"><div class=\"c--h2rich-contents\"><h2 class=\"a--h2rich-maincopy d--bold ef\" style=\"color:false\"><strong>The Keyword That Tied the Room Together: \u201cConnection\u201d<\/strong><\/h2><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moderator <strong>Professor Takashima<\/strong> summarized with this line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cIn the end, the strongest infrastructure is the connections between people.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Different viewpoints were linked into a single current by the <strong>Shiribetsu River<\/strong> watershed. The atmosphere favored <strong>coordination<\/strong> over <strong>confrontation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-jinr-blocks-designtitle b--jinr-block b--jinr-h2rich d--h2rich-left d--h2rich-style1 d--titledesign-weight-thin d--h2rich-none js--scr-animation\" style=\"border-color:false\"><div class=\"c--h2rich-contents\"><h2 class=\"a--h2rich-maincopy d--bold ef\" style=\"color:false\">In Closing<\/h2><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Water circulates\u2014across municipal borders, across national borders, across time.<br>This panel became a frank space for asking <strong>how local governments receive that reality<\/strong>. Water-protection ordinances, the surge of visitors, aging water pipes, and staff watching the river in the middle of the night\u2014each story seemed separate at first, but together they formed a single narrative: <strong>\u201cLet water be the reason our towns and villages join hands.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This gathering wasn\u2019t just an event; it already felt like a <strong>watershed-wide statement of intent<\/strong>. As water issues deepen, the value of meetings like this came through powerfully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s truly rare to see this many towns and villages\u2014Rusutsu, Kimobetsu, Kutchan, Niseko, Rankoshi, Kyogoku\u2014com [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jinr_url_youtube":"","_jinr_pip_youtube":false,"_jinr_time_youtube":"","_jinr_thumb_youtube":"","_jinr_media_youtube":"","_jinr_category_edit":false,"_jinr_category":"","_jinr_title_display":false,"_jinr_snsbutton_display":false,"_jinr_ads_display":false,"_jinr_thumbnail_display":false,"_jinr_profile_display":false,"_jinr_representations_display":false,"_jinr_relatedpost_display":false,"_jinr_sidebar1col_display":false,"_jinr_sidebar2col_display":false,"_jinr_seotitle_display":"","_jinr_description_display":"","_jinr_keyword_display":"","_jinr_hastag_display":"","_jinr_canonical_display":"","_jinr_noindex_display":false,"_jinr_paidpost":false,"_jinr_paidpost_product_id":"","_jinr_headtag_article":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-examples-of-cooperation-en"],"views":"9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":810,"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions\/810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rusutsu-sustainable.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}