What is this?

This is the file to circulate among a local community. In a local community people use this to tell each other many kinds of information, for example the neighborhood’s funeral, the day we take out garbage or the local community body’s meeting and so on. 　　　　　　　

　　The people insert advertisements of the stores in the local community in this. In return the stores pay the cost of making this.　 　

From the past, people have emphasized the connection with a local community in Japan. About 200 years ago if a person didn’t follow some local rule, he or she was ostracized by the others in the community and it is difficult for them to survive in the community.

　At present it is not as hard as it was but the person doesn’t place importance on relationships among people in the local community. He or she will not please people in it too much. So people in a local community tend to care about the public image.

　Why do the people give attention to the connection

with a local community in Japan?

In my opinion there are 2 big reasons why we do.

　One of the reasons is that Japan has many disasters such as earthquakes and eruptions, tsunamis. And once the disaster strikes, no one do something alone. The people have to help each other. For example if a man is buried under the rubble with earthquake and waits to come to the rescue by the national government, he will die. So Japanese need some prompt disaster relief in local community in time of disaster. But it is impossible that they help each other only when the disaster strikes. Therefore Japanese try to have the close connection on a routine basis and they prepare the disasters.

The other reason is that Japanese are not the people who cultivate oats but rice. Oats don’t take too times and works to grow. But in contrast rice needs many hands and much work to cultivate. In the past there weren’t the rice planting machines and the rice reaping machine. As a result a lot of people termed together and plowed one large rice field in order to harvest much rice efficiently and survive. As it is now, most of rice grower use many kind of machine so they can plant and harvest rice for themselves.