Research Database
Innovation Regional Research Center
The Innovation Regional Research Center was founded in 2005, as a part of Faculty of Humanities. The aim of the Center is twofold. First of all, it collects up-to-date data and analyzes current employment realities in Aomori Prefecture, located in a region that has long suffered from under-employment.
The Center then makes this data available to local Government bodies and business groups and works with them to develop effective countermeasures.
Thus far the Innovation Regional Research Center has offered open business lectures and forums on regional employment, local business and job creation issues. The Center has also published the results of its surveys showing that the employment situation in Aomori Prefecture points to a need for the prefecture to develop more self-sufficient and sustainable employment strategies to switch from the dependence on businesses outside the prefecture. The prevalence of irregular, often seasonal, employment and the high-percentage of part-time employees and the so-called NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) among the prefecture’s youth are of particular concern.
Responsibility for improving regional employment conditions should not lie solely on the shoulders of business leaders and employees themselves, but require the attention and cooperation of community organizations, local governments, as well as businesses and education institutions. All these bodies must work together with the aim of creating a region attractive to businesses endowed with highly trained human resources. Given the nationwide trend towards administrative and economic decentralization, concrete, practical steps based on regional achievements will be necessary to actualize the countermeasures needed to combat present employment difficulties.
The Innovation Regional Research Center is organized into three research groups: an econometrics group, a business survey group and a social survey group. These three groups carry out research projects that analyze current employment issues and also suggest countermeasures. The Center will continue hold business lectures and forums, which constitute occasions for participants to interact with persons coming from a wide range of regional entities. They also offer the Center an opportunity to get feedback on its research projects. It is hoped that the end results of the data collected and analyzed, and the collaboration engendered through our lectures. Forums and other outreach programs will translate into concrete and accessible employment countermeasures and proposals.
Research results of the three mutually linked groups will be published in Newsletters and Discussion Papers as well as in EPRC Series.
Activities, Events
EPRC Forums (held twice a year)
The aim of these forums is to present the Center’s research findings and to enable specialists and other interested persons to exchange opinions and ideas on regional issues.
・Issues of Labor Market in Aomori Prefecture (July 2005)
・Local Branding and Job Creation from Rural Tourism and Agriculture Perspective ( September 2006)
・Labor Market and Job Creation in Aomori Prefecture (October 2007)
・The Youth in Aomori Prefecture (October 2008)
・Regional Revitalization and Employment Policy in Japan and Sweden (October 2008)
Business Lectures (held once every 2-3 months)
Specialists from various fields are invited to deliver lectures on the regional employment situation. Results are reported in the Center Newsletter, which is distributed through the region.
・A view on the employment situation in Hachinohe Region (October 2005)
・Enterprises Attraction and Job Creation (June 2007 , January and July 2007)
Discussion papers (published 1-3 times a year)
Members of the Center publish 1-3 discussion papers each year. These discussion papers form the basis of the above-mentioned forums. They are distributed to local companies as well as to various governmental organizations and related academic associations within and outside the area.
・Questionnaire Survey Report on Youth Employment and Their Awareness of the Situation (February 2006)
・Survey Research Report on Youth Employment and Their Awareness of the Situation (March 2007)
・Survey Report on Employment, Lifestyle and Psychological Equilibrium (April 2008)
Center publications
Publications are based on discussion papers and other research findings.
・The Youth in Aomori Prefecture, Youngjun Lee and Itaru Ishiguro (Hirosaki University Press, March 2008)