Vol.

アウェイの状況を変えたのは「覚悟」。１４年間愛されたローカル夜市の誕生秘話

2021.04.23

アクション｜挑戦者のための「下町夜市」

第三土曜日。夕日が沈みゆく館林下町商店街に屋台がずらりと並ぶ。地元のお祭りかと思いきや、縁日で見かける屋台もなく、商店街の店自体は開いていない。代わりに空き地や空き店舗に一夜限りの店が開かれ、一風変わった食べ物や商品、体験型の取り組みには多くの人が集まっている。実は、出店者は各々の志に向かってチャレンジする人たち。県の内外からこの場所に店を開きにやってきては出店のノウハウを学んでいるのだ。なんと14年間も人々に愛された「下町夜市」だが、当初は廃れゆく商店街に「交流人口」を増やすことをゴールとして始まった試みだった。

Action | A "downtown night market" for the challenged

The third Saturday of the month. Stalls lined up in the Tatebayashi downtown shopping street as the sun was setting. I thought it was a local festival, but there were none of the stalls you see at fairs, and the stores in the shopping street themselves were not open. Instead, stores are set up in vacant lots and stores for one night only, attracting many people with their unusual food, products, and hands-on activities. In fact, the people who set up stores are all people who are taking on the challenge of their own aspirations. They come from inside and outside the prefecture to open stores here and learn how to do so. The "Shitamachi Night Market," which has been held for 14 years, was an experiment that started with the goal of increasing the "exchange population" in a declining shopping district.

マチ｜群馬県館林市下町商店街

館林は、室町時代に築かれた館林城を中心に栄えた城下町だった。江戸時代は若き徳川綱吉が城主だったこともあり、当時の要所のひとつだった。今や、活気の中心だった城の姿はないものの、館林市役所では官民協働の動きが活発だ。市は行政が市民と共に事業をつくるこの考え方に日本の中でも先駆けて力を注ぎはじめ、それからすでに20年ほどこの姿勢を貫いている。三田さんいわく「館林はポテンシャルにあふれた田舎街。東京から２時間以内で行けて治安もいい。週末の田舎体験の場として、あるいは２つ目の拠点として、複業の時代に大きな可能性がある。」とのこと。

FIELD | Shopping street in downtown Tatebayashi City, Gunma Prefecture

Tatebayashi was a castle town that prospered around the Tatebayashi Castle built in the Muromachi period (1336-1573). In the Edo period (1603-1868), the young Tsunayoshi Tokugawa was the lord of the castle, and it was one of the most important places at that time. Today, the castle that was the center of the city's vitality is gone, but the Tatebayashi City Hall is still active in public-private collaboration. Tatebayashi was one of the first cities in Japan to focus on this concept of government working together with citizens, and has been doing so for about 20 years now. According to Mr. Mita, "Tatebayashi is a rural town with a lot of potential. It takes less than two hours to get there from Tokyo, and it's very safe. As a place to experience the countryside on weekends or as a second base, it has great potential in the age of multiple occupations. He said.

館林下町商店街

ハナサカ｜三田英彦さん
Hidehiko MITA

群馬県藤岡市生まれ。平成元年、結婚を機に館林市内の文具屋「三田三昭堂」を継ぐため、大手電気メーカーから脱サラをして館林に移住した。文具屋の事業を発展させるだけでなく、地域ごと元気に、というマインドから「下町夜市」をはじめとした多くのイベントを開催。その経験を活かして、現在も地域にイノベーションを起こし続けている。現在は(株)ジャングルデリバリーも経営。

Born in Fujioka City, Gunma Prefecture. In 1989, after getting married, she left her job at a major electronics company and moved to Tatebayashi to take over the stationery store "Mita Sanshodo" in Tatebayashi City. In addition to developing his stationery business, he has also organized many events such as the "Downtown Night Market" with the mindset of energizing the entire community. Using his experience, he continues to bring innovation to the community. Currently, he also runs Jungle Delivery Co.

ハジマリ｜楽市楽座のような場をつくる

三田さんが文具店を継いだ直後に、バブル経済が弾けた。当時は自身の商売のために試行錯誤を繰り返していた。2000年、事態を打開するべく、日本青年会議所への出向を決意。そこで１年間にわたり、地域エコノミスト藻谷浩介氏の全国講演会の鞄持ちをすることになる。全国の膨大な数の地域活性の現場を目にし「人や金はなくとも、1人の情熱で状況は変わる」と確信した。しかし出向を終えて商店街に戻ると、道路の開発が店主たちの引退に拍車をかけていた。もはやこの地域に責任を感じていた三田さんは、「まちづくりを考える研究グループ（まち研）」に所属してリサーチをはじめた。その中で、「地元の人に元気がなくても、楽市・楽座のように狼煙をあげれば、面白い人が集まるはず」というアイディアが降りてきたのだった。

※日本青年会議所は、より良い社会作りを目指す青年経済団体。20-40才の多くの事業家・活動家が所属している。
※著書に「実測！ニッポンの地域力」「進化する里山資本主義」「デフレの正体」など。
※楽市・楽座は、織田信長による、商人が税を払わずに自由に店を出せるようにした政策。

MOTIVATION | Create a place like Rakuichi Rakuza

Shortly after Mr. Mita took over the stationery store, the bubble economy burst. In 2000, he decided to go to the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Japan to break the ice. In 2000, he decided to go to the Japan Junior Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCE) to fix things, and for a year there, he was assigned to carry a bag for regional economist Kosuke Moya's nationwide lectures. Seeing the vast number of community revitalization projects across Japan, he became convinced that "even if you don't have people or money, the passion of one person can change the situation. However, when he returned to the shopping district after his secondment, he found that the development of the road had spurred the store owners to retire. No longer feeling responsible for the area, Mr. Mita joined the "Research Group for Community Development (Machiken)" and began conducting research. In the process, he came up with an idea: "Even if the local people are not energetic, if we make a smoke signal like Rakuichi/Rakuza, we can attract interesting people.

The Japan Junior Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a youth economic organization that aims to create a better society, and many entrepreneurs and activists between the ages of 20 and 40 belong to it.
The Japan Junior Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a youth economic organization that aims to create a better society. Nippon no Chiiki Riki", "Evolving Satoyama Capitalism", "Deflation no Shintai", etc.
The Rakuichi-Rakuza system was a policy by Nobunaga Oda to allow merchants to open stores freely without paying taxes.

ヘンカ｜商店街が挑戦できるアソビバに見えはじめる

「人口は減る。だから、街と交わる人口を増やしていくために、地域の外から人を呼んで、空きスペースで店をやってもらうのはどうか？」商店街で賛同してくれる人は、２割しか居なかったという。開催からしばらくは、ゴミや音などを口実に、心ない言葉をもらう辛抱の時が続いたが、活力のある出店者をあつめて開催を続けた。すると、数年後には取り組みが中小企業庁に表彰され、テレビやラジオでも大きく報道された。ついには、夜市を２分していた道路が歩行者天国になるなど、地域の一大イベントとなっていった。「商店街の店主たちは変わらないし、変える必要はない」という。それでも、夜市の出店者を中心に、出会った人同士が自由に活動をはじめ、それまで生まれなかったコミュニティができて、街に当事者意識をもつ人も現れた。まさに街と交わる人が増えたのだ。

IMPACT | The shopping district begins to look like an asobaba where you can challenge yourself.

The population is decreasing. So, in order to increase the number of people interacting with the town, why don't we invite people from outside the area to open stores in vacant spaces? Only 20% of the people in the shopping district agreed to do so. For a while after the event, they had to endure a lot of harsh words about garbage and noise, but they continued to hold the event by gathering energetic store owners. A few years later, their efforts were commended by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, and the event was widely reported on TV and radio. Eventually, the street that bisected the night market was turned into a pedestrian mall, making it a major event for the community. The shopkeepers of the night market have not changed, and there is no need to change. Nevertheless, people who met each other at the night market began to engage in activities freely, creating a community that had never existed before, and some people became aware of their involvement in the city. In other words, the number of people who interact with the city has increased.

図解｜三田さんと”下町夜市”
ANATOMY | Mita and “Shitamachi (downtown) night market”

ハナサカの特徴

青年会議所へ出向し全国の地方創生事例にふれる
継いだ文具やのために動き始め、マチ全体を盛り上げる発想に
「責任をとります」と伝えることで人を巻き込む

ツナガリ｜外へ外へ。ハードルを超えていく

１人では、当然できない。下町夜市はそういった前提のもと実現されたプロジェクトだ。場所を貸す店主や道路の使用を許可する警察、行政など、とても多くの人や組織が関わることになる。内輪で始めると損得でしか人が動かなくなると考えた三田さんは、はじめから商店街の外の人との協働をイメージしていた。そこで、「まち研」で計画を練るなり、商工会と役所に企画をもちこみ、勉強会を開いた。行政と組むことで、商店街の店主から空きスペースを借りやすくなり、警察も安心して夜市の実現を後押しすることができるのだ。

ECOSYSTEM | Outward and outward. Over the hurdles.

You can't do it alone, of course. The downtown night market is a project that was realized based on such a premise. Many people and organizations are involved in the project, including shopkeepers who rent space, the police who give permission to use the streets, and the government. Mr. Mita thought that if he started the project internally, people would only move based on profit and loss, so from the beginning he envisioned collaboration with people outside the shopping district. So, as soon as he formulated the plan at the "Machiken," he brought the plan to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the city office and held a study session. By teaming up with the government, it became easier to rent vacant space from the store owners in the shopping district, and the police felt more comfortable encouraging the realization of the night market.

ステップ｜全国行脚、そして試行錯誤

日本青年会議所へ出向し、藻谷さんと全国行脚したことが全ての始まり。ただ学んでお終いではいけないだろうと、責任感が芽生える。▷「まちづくりを考える研究グループ」メンバーや、ほか団体の人たちと計画を練る。▷初め、そうめん流しのイベントを開催したが、一時の盛り上がりに過ぎなかった。▷持続的な企画でないと意味がないと考え、下町夜市を構想した。▷行政に話を持ち込み官民協働のプロジェクトとして勉強会をスタート。２年間議論をじっくり重ねた。▷チームで空きスペースの交渉をかけ、伝手を使って出店者を集めた。▷「下町夜市」開催に至る。

STEP | Traveling around the country, and trial and error

It all started when I was seconded to the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Japan and traveled around Japan with Mr. Moya. I began to feel a sense of responsibility, thinking that I shouldn't just learn and be done with it. ▷Making plans with the members of the "Research Group for Urban Development" and people from other organizations. ▷In the beginning, we held a somen-nagashi event, but it was only a temporary excitement. ▷Thinking that it would be meaningless unless it was a sustainable project, we came up with the idea of a downtown night market. ▷Brought the idea to the government and started a study group as a collaborative project between the public and private sectors, and had a lot of discussions over the next two years. ▷The team negotiated for available space and gathered stall holders using their contacts. ▷Established "Shitamachi Night Market".

プロジェクト相関図
Project correlation chart

コツ｜一人の覚悟

１人の情熱が変えていく。それを思い知らされていた三田さんには覚悟があった。「責任はとれるのかと言われたときには、何かあったら僕が刑務所に入ればいいんですよね、と返せば、みんな黙った。責任者にそれくらいの覚悟がなければ、何も変わらないのかも知れない。」その覚悟は、この人だけは進め続けてくれるという信頼を生むだけでなく、夜市のクオリティに確実につながっていた。膨大な関係者や利権者との調整、すべての出店希望者におこなう面接、夜市当日の厳格なマナーチェックなど、ひとつひとつの情熱ある作業が、期待をこえたクオリティを生んでいるのだ。

TIPS | One person's determination

One person's passion can change things. Mr. Mita, who had been reminded of this, was determined. When he was asked if he could take responsibility, he replied, "If anything happens, I should go to jail, right? If the person in charge doesn't have that kind of determination, nothing will change. This determination not only created trust that the person in charge would continue with the project, but also ensured the quality of the night market. Coordinating with a vast number of stakeholders and concessionaires, interviewing all potential vendors, and rigorously checking the etiquette on the day of the night market... all of these passionate tasks have resulted in a quality that exceeds expectations.

コレカラ｜未来へつながるものを

打ち上げ花火のようなイベントではなく、持続的な価値をつくろう。そんな想いをのせた下町夜市は、ついに14年間の歴史に幕を閉じた。そしていま、次の世代が組織を変えて館林駅前でマーケットを開催している。ここでの出店者は、のちに商店街の空き店舗をリノベーションするプレイヤーとして迎えられていくとのことだ。
全国の事例の「パブリックに与える」という考えが三田さんの心を打った。自分が儲けるだけなら、もっと方法があるだろう。それでも、周囲や地域全体をあわせて盛り上げていくことが、実際には遥かに多くのことを未来につないで行くことができる。夜市に参加していた学生の中には、マーケットの主宰者や、街をより良くするべく役人となった人もいるそうだ。いまや、この取り組みは授業でも取り上げられ、三田さんは中学生に講演を行っている。街を変えた情熱の火は長く受け継がれていくにちがいない。

FOR THE FUTURE | Something for the future

Let's create a lasting value, not just a fireworks event. With this in mind, the Downtown Night Market finally came to an end after 14 years of existence. Now, the next generation is changing the organization and holding the market in front of Tatebayashi Station. The stallholders here will later be welcomed as players in the renovation of vacant stores in the shopping district.
The idea of "giving to the public" in the case studies across the country struck a chord with Mr. Mita. If I just want to make money, there are probably more ways to do that. However, if you want to just make money for yourself, there are probably more ways to do that, but if you want to make your surroundings and the entire community happy, you can actually do far more for the future. It is said that some of the students who participated in the night market have become market organizers and officials to improve the city. Now, this initiative is being taken up in classes, and Mr. Mita is giving lectures to junior high school students. The fire of passion that changed the city is sure to be carried on for a long time.