TADAIMA 2026 · Day 1 of 4 ／ Part of TADAIMA 2026 (Oct 25 – Nov 22) ／ Facilitated by Tomas Nilsson, Linnaeus University
TADAIMA 2026Main events · Day 1 of 4
Thursday, 5 November 2026 ／ 13:00–16:00 JST ／ Shimoda, Izu
Local Questions,
Global Connections
Creating interdisciplinary research from Shimoda
TADAIMA アカデミック・ワークショップ 2026
DATE
Thursday, 5 Nov
13:00–16:00 JST · Day 1 of TADAIMA 2026
PLACE
Shimoda, Izu
Shizuoka — 2.5h from Tokyo by train
PARTICIPATION
By invitation
For researchers only
LANGUAGE
English
Facilitated by Tomas Nilsson, Linnaeus University
Key Points
注目ポイント
This year, we would like to start with the questions — and the people.
Rather than building something right away, we see 2026 as a time to shape the core questions together and gather the people who want to work on them.
What should we measure, and how should it be defined? How can this keep going in a sustainable way in 2027 and beyond? These are the questions we would like to discuss with researchers.
We would also love to have people from public policy and regional economics in the room — people who know how plans and budgets actually come together.
Program
プログラム
- 13:00–13:15
Welcome and introductionイントロダクション
Elena Tsukada and Tomas Nilsson introduce the TADAIMA initiative and the role of Day 1 within the wider programme, outline the workshop’s philosophy, and comment on why Shimoda provides a particularly interesting setting for interdisciplinary and place-based research.
- 13:15–14:30
Sharing ideasアイデアの共有
Participants briefly introduce themselves and the questions that currently inspire their research — short conversation starters rather than formal presentations. A research challenge you are exploring, an empirical setting you know well, a theoretical perspective you find promising, a methodological question, or an issue that deserves greater scholarly attention. Connections to Shimoda, Izu or other local contexts are welcome but not essential.
- 14:30–15:30
Research creation labリサーチ・クリエーション・ラボ
Building on the presentations, we collectively explore the themes that emerge: shared interests, complementary expertise and opportunities for collaboration. Which local and global challenges deserve further investigation, what theoretical perspectives might enrich them, what empirical material could be collected, and which methods might be appropriate. We also explore collaboration with local organisations, businesses, municipalities and community members, and possibilities for joint publications, field schools, grant applications and future research projects.
- 15:30–16:00
Reflection and next steps振り返りと次のステップ
A collective reflection on the ideas that emerged: promising research themes, potential collaborations and practical next steps, as well as questions to carry forward into TADAIMA and other efforts across Japan and around the world toward sustainable global “relationship populations” (kankei jinkō).
A case on the table
What could research
do for a town’s future?
チェンマイの事例から考える
One conversation starter we will bring: Chiang Mai’s Nomad Friendly District.
Chiang Mai is testing a provincial policy sandbox for how digital nomads and local communities can live and work together. In September 2026 its Nomad Futures Lab ↗ brought researchers, residents, officials and coliving operators together for three weeks. The output was a blueprint for the district, a futures paper — and Flyways, a bilingual newspaper telling stories from the district’s future.
The question for the room: what would a Shimoda version look like, and who would need to sit at the table?
Shimoda already has several years of recorded outcomes from an ongoing programme. What it does not yet have is a shared research pillar, or a story of its own future. That gap is a research question in itself — and a good place for local and global perspectives to meet.
About the facilitator
ファシリテーター
Tomas Nilsson, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing and Tourism Studies, Linnaeus University, Sweden
He teaches and researches business practice through storytelling, communication and rhetoric, and also works as a senior communication advisor at AB Endoxa.
His current fieldwork asks how stories can create a sense of a future in communities facing crisis and depopulation — looking at social entrepreneurship, place development and digital nomads in regional Japan.
He does not study Shimoda from a distance. He joins the programme, runs sessions, and looks at the phenomenon from the inside — flying in from Sweden to do it. He designed this session and will lead it on the day.
Shimoda is one of only two field sites in his current study. The other is Odaka, in Fukushima Prefecture, a town hit by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. Findings from the fieldwork will be presented in 2027.
A sister workshop in Sweden (planned)
At Linnaeus University, Tomas plans to hold a similar interdisciplinary workshop with colleagues and students — exploring joint projects and teaching cases that bridge Sweden and Shimoda/Izu.
Why Shimoda
なぜ下田か
Since 2024, Shimoda has run an ongoing coliving programme rather than a one-off event. What that produces is rare for research: a place with several years of continuous, recorded behaviour to look at.
These are operational records — bookings, nights stayed, referral source — not survey responses.
Return rate across all nomads on an annual basis: 26% (n≈70, since June 2025).
One ambition matters as much as the others: what research can give back to the community it is conducted in. Not Shimoda as a site for data collection, but reciprocal value — through public engagement, education, collaborative projects and local knowledge exchange.
Overview
開催概要
- Date
- Thursday, 5 November 2026 ／ 13:00–16:00 JST ／ Day 1 of TADAIMA 2026
- Place
- Shimoda, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka (2.5 hours from Tokyo by train). Venue details are sent once you get in touch.
- Format
- A creative research workshop — not a conference, not a seminar. No finished work required.
- Who it’s for
- Researchers, postgraduate students, and research-oriented practitioners working on regional development, community resilience, social entrepreneurship, place narratives, mobility, and local–global relations. Experts in public policy and regional economics are especially welcome.
- Facilitator
- Tomas Nilsson, Ph.D., Linnaeus University, Sweden
- Language
- English
- Participation
- By invitation, for researchers only.
Around the day
Four days in Shimoda, 5–8 November.
The Academic Workshop opens the four public days of TADAIMA SHIMODA 2026 (25 October – 22 November): a prefectural symposium on digital nomads, a bilingual community forum, and a world culture festival built with local residents and students. Day 1 is deliberately the narrow, deep one. Each day stands on its own; many people come for two or three.
- Nov 5 ThuAcademic DayYou are here
- Nov 6 FriDigital Nomad SymposiumDetails →
- Nov 7 SatTADAIMA Mirai KaigiDetails →
- Nov 8 SunWorld Culture FestivalDetails →
Part of TADAIMA SHIMODA 2026 ／ Facilitated by Tomas Nilsson, Linnaeus University
Contact form →
日本語ページ →
Shimoda, Izu