In Japan, the concentration of population in urban areas, declining birthrates, and an aging population have resulted in the decline of rural areas. As the population of rural areas declines, the people who live there are also losing their vitality. In order to solve these problems, I have planned a space project to revitalize the region by turning my hometown, Komono Town, into a “space town.” I presented the details of this plan in my 2023 paper. Based on that plan, last February 2024, we held a program to give children dreams by holding lectures by commercial astronauts at all elementary and junior high schools in my hometown. In addition, in August 2024, we invited Indian space researchers to our hometown in order to expose children and their parents in our hometown to cutting-edge space development, and held an event where they could learn about space and interact with each other. This year, 2025, we also plan to collaborate with space professionals from India, Finland, China, and South America to host an event where people from these countries can learn about and interact with space online. This will help to generate interest in our home town, a tourist destination in Hot Springs, and attract visitors from abroad. In addition, nearly half of the population in rural areas is elderly. We will use vacant houses, which are increasing due to population decline, to provide private space education not only for children but also for the elderly. At the same time, we will cooperate with local media to disseminate space education programs targeting the elderly. The elderly can find a purpose in life by having a goal of space travel. In addition, vacant houses can be effectively utilized, which will lead to the revitalization of local communities. In this paper, I will report the results of the verification of the project’s practice, effectiveness, and issues to revitalize the local community by turning my hometown, Komono Town, into a “space town.”
国際宇宙航行連盟(IAF)が主催し、年に1度、開催される、宇宙業界では世界最大の国際会議です。2024年は、2024年10月14日から18日までイタリアのミラノで、イタリア航空宇宙協会(AIDAA)がホストを務め、「Responsible Space for Sustainability」をテーマに、第75回国際宇宙会議(IAC 2024)が開催されました。 会期中120カ国から11,200人以上が参加し、前例のない新記録となり、最大規模のIACとなっただけでなく、我々の銀河系で最も多様な宇宙関係者の集まりの一つとなりました。さらに、3000人がオンラインでライブストリーミングに参加し、一般公開日にはさらに3500人のあらゆる年齢層が参加しました。