Researcher

Masato Ito

Research Fellow / Senior Lecturer
PhD (Social Sciences)

■Research Area
Sociology, Community and Regional Policy Studies, Mobility Studies, Urban Rural Migration , Rural Revitalization

My field of research is institutions and policies related to the “Mobility” of people, goods, capital, and information, and how to achieve sustainable local communities, from sociology and policy studies.

I have been specialized in research on the promoting urban-to-rural migration and settlement, tourism development, and rerated population strategies.

In today’s post-modern society, we need to recognize regions as fluid, changing entities, rather than fixed, static entities. However, conventional institutions, policies, and business have not adequately responded to these changes.

My approach involves identifying the social structures and dynamics that shape contemporary regions and mobility patterns. I then develop medium- to long-term policy recommendations for companies and governments based on these insights.

I excel in planning and managing projects that involve multiple stakeholders in a region, conducting interview surveys, fieldwork, and discourse analysis to inform my strategies.

Major Works

Masato Ito（2023）Birth and Shifts of Migration Promotion Policy by Local Governments-The Case Studies of U-Turn Policy and Technopolis in Kumamoto Prefecture-, International Public Economy Studies, 34: 85-93.
Masato Ito（2023）Why was the Migration of Baby Boomers to Rural Areas actively Promoted?- Focus on Justification/Legitimation Strategies of Pro-migration Discourse in National Research Group Reports-, The Japanese journal of regional policy studies, 31: 40-49.
Masato Ito（2023）Exploring the Relationship Between Mobility and Policy Through an Analysis of the Local Vitalization Cooperator: Focusing on Kaufmann’s Concept of ‘Motility’, Hitotsubashi Bulletin of Social Science, 15: 53-62.
Masato Ito（2023）An Analysis of the Changes in the Discourse on Promoting Migration to Rural Areas in Japan’s Postwar National Land Planning ~Analysis of Comprehensive National Development Plan to The 2th National Spatial Planning Act~, Planning and Public Management, 42（2）: 46-53.
Masato Ito（2023）A Study on the Relationship between Cultural Policy and Migration Promotion in Local Governments -A case study on “Engeki no Machizukuri”in Toyooka city, Hyogo prefecture-, Journal of the Japan Association of Regional Development and Vitalization, 18: 169-178.

Major Lectures

2024: Innovation of Mobilities Paradigm: Considering Algorithmic Mobilities
Ritsumeikan University and University of South Australia Research and Educational Exchange Agreement Conference
2022,2023: Urban Regional Policy and Promoting Urban-Rural Migration
Guest Lecture, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University
2022: Past and Future about Multi-Habitation and Urban to Rural Migration
Guest Lecture, Nagano Prefectural Government
2021: SDGs, Regional Development, Innovation: Thinking about Sustainable Community Development
Guest Lecture, Chubu Gakuin University・Chubu Gakuin University Junior College

Educational Background

2024: PhD in Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi City, Tokyo, Japan
2021: MA in Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi City, Tokyo, Japan
2019: BA in Tourism and Environmental Studies, Nagano University, Ueda City, Nagano, Japan

Career

2024-: Visiting Researcher, Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Research Organization
2023-2024: Public Administration Studies (Part-time Lecturer), Economics and Informatics Department, Tsukuba Gakuin University, Tsukuba City, Japan
2023-2024: Policy Case Studies (Part-time Lecturer), Economics and Informatics Department, Tsukuba Gakuin University, Tsukuba City, Japan
2023-: Visiting Researcher, Musashino University Entrepreneurship Institute
2023: Sociology (Part-time Lecturer),College of Nursing and Nutrition, The University of Shimane, Hamada City, Japan
2022-2024: JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists（DC2）, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Major Awards

2022: Best Presentation Award
Historical Shifts in the Image of Urban-Rural Migrants in Post-War Japan
Autumn Meeting 2022, The Association of Rural Planning
2022: Encouragement Award
The Birth and Shifts of Policy-Based Migration Promotion by Local Governments
37th Research Conference, Japan Society of Research and Information on Public and Co-operative Economy
2020: Best Presentation Award
Who are “Migrants”?
43th Annual Academic Conference, Japan Association for Planning and Public Management