Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Asian Studies

Reader 1

Samuel Yamashita

Reader 2

Angelina Chin

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2026 Miyu L Owada

Abstract

This essay is a case study of place-based agricultural branding in Japan, particularly in the sub-urban context of Mitaka City, Tokyo. Shifting the focus from rural revitalization models typically studied in this field, this study brings sub-urban landscapes into the conversation. Although existing studies assume a top-down policy is implemented for agricultural branding in Japan, the study assesses to what extent this structure holds true for the Mitaka context, comparing narratives across four tiers: the national Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF), the prefectural Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), the municipal Mitaka City and Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) Tokyo Musashi branch, and local producers. Methodologically, the research utilizes a qualitative discourse analysis examining policies, publications, and interviews. These perspectives are evaluated against a typological framework on regional branding strategies and institutional gaps established by Ikuta et al. in their 2007 article, "Regional Branding Measures in Japan — Efforts in 12 Major Prefectural and City Governments."

The analysis reveals structural gaps between national policy and micro-level realities. While MAFF strategies prioritize global export competitiveness and a unified "Japan Brand” based on its assumption of a homogenized, large-scale rural farming landscape, this model fails in spatially constrained sub-urban environments that lack the historical continuity and spatial capacity. Instead, the study finds that urban agricultural branding in Mitaka functions as a decentralized, bottom-up survival mechanism. Local producers actively repurpose or reject top-down frameworks to protect their multi-generational farmland from urbanization, justifying their continued existence within the metropolitan landscape.

Download

Share

COinS