. Introduction
From the authors’ perspective, both the “Village” (community) and “Product” parts of the One
Village, One Product (OVOP) equation are equally important. Unfortunately, so far in
international development practice it appears that the OVOP movement is being promoted as a
quick fix for community development by focusing on product development and marketing
whilst virtually ignoring community capacity issues (see Takano 2007). Development of
community capacity is highly related to the successful introduction and implementation of
more advanced community policy structuressuch as that which the OVOP movement entails.
This paper explores the experience of Oyama-machi, an inspirational archetypefor, and
successful implementer of, the One Village, One Product (OVOP) movement. Oyama-machi
achieved significant community capacity development and promotion of agricultural development
by introducing the NPC (New Plum and Chestnut) movement in 1961.
1
Under this and successive
campaigns ume(Japanese plums), kuri(chestnuts)and enokimushroomcultivation activities were
introduced to Oyama as well as a range of other community development activities well before the
OVOP movement began. It is important to describe and analyze the community development
experience of Oyama prior to introduction of the OVOP movement in order to isolate
underlying factors and requisites for the community’s ability to take full advantage of the
opportunities presented by the OVOP movement and to offer recommendations for other
communities to be able to do so also.
In the following pages some of the social capital building strategies that led to Oyama’s
community capacity developmentare describedand elaborated upon. Such activities covered
in this paper include: Oyama Yuusen Housou(cable radio); the Ohayousoftball tournament;
and an overseas sister city relationship. The paper analyses how these activities stimulated
community capacity development and knowledge creation and transfer through the
establishment and strengthening of community networks (social capital).The paper first briefly
describes the model of community capacity development and community policy structure and
literature on knowledge and social capital before outlining the experience of Oyama-machiin
terms of strategies forpromoting social capital and resultant impacts on community capacity
development, knowledge creation and sharing and the introduction of higher value-added
community policy structures.
Data for this paper was collected whilst the authors were preparing case studies for
JICA group training programs held at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in 2006-2007. Also,
data was collected during study tours and community lectures conducted in Oyama-machi for
the JICA training as well asfrom informal community interviews and observations made by
Stenning whilst conducting fieldwork in Oyama in February 2008.