New Waku-Waku Lifestyle in Hot Springs to Connect Gaps Between Urban and Rural Areas

Abstract

Japan has the largest number of hot springs in the world, and the hot spring areas have the potential to improve the self-sufficiency rates of energy and food. It is more effective for people living in hot spring areas to use geothermal heat directly. However, most people, money, and services in Japan are gathering to cities, while the hot spring areas are depopulated. If this depopulation is accelerated, less money or fewer people gather in high potential areas and will aggravate geothermal utilization. To stop this trend, we propose a new lifestyle to work in hot spring areas for people working in urban areas, especially programmers and researchers who can work with PC computers and internet. We will demonstrate to people who have jobs in urban areas and evaluate realizability and effectiveness of working in a hot spring area. We will discuss whether this approach contributes to improvement of geothermal utilization rates in Japan and all over the world.