Putting on a local event once is different from creating a network that keeps working after the organizer leaves. Niigata City’s two new community positions are designed around the second task. The successful applicants will first listen, map relationships and find openings among factories, farmers, residents and civic groups. Only then will they test and develop projects with local partners.
The official Japanese title is Kyōsō Community Manager; this report renders it as “Co-Creation Community Manager.” Formally, each person will be appointed to the Niigata City Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps. There is one post in Higashi Ward and one in Nishi Ward. This is not one job covering every manufacturing, agriculture and fermentation theme across the city.
Niigata opened recruitment on August 28. Pre-entry and the completed application are due by 11:59 p.m. on November 7. The city expects appointments around January 2027, subject to discussion with the selected candidates. The process consists of document screening, an online interview and notification of the successful candidates.
Higashi Ward wants to take open factories beyond an event
Higashi Ward has more manufacturing establishments and manufacturing workers than any of Niigata City’s eight wards, according to the recruitment page. In 2023, the Niigata City Higashi Ward Open Factory initiative began around the Niigata Woodworking Center Cooperative. Participating factories and workshops open their workplaces for tours, hands-on activities, sales and encounters with local industry.
Borderless Japan, the contractor supporting recruitment and the managers’ activities, says about 20 companies will participate in the 2026 open-factory program. The recruitment material also points to businesses that have experimented beyond conventional production: a printer opening its factory, an ironworks establishing an adjacent cafeteria and a Buddhist-altar shop developing a woodworking brand.
Possible work for the Higashi manager includes interviews with businesses and residents, factory tours and workshops, regular conversations between companies and neighbors, experiences connecting children with local occupations, and studying whether an unused warehouse could become a meeting point. These are examples to develop with the community, not guaranteed projects or a job description limited to administering the existing event.
Nishi Ward wants to connect coast, agriculture and fermentation
Nishi Ward’s field is “nature and culture.” The brief brings together the coast, farming, food, brewing and fermentation. The manager is expected to meet farmers, restaurants, companies and community groups, understand the work already underway, and connect people whose skills and problems complement one another.
The city’s examples include products developed by farmers and restaurants, programs combining coastal and agricultural experiences, events presenting fermentation and brewing culture, and shared places where residents can gather. Other local activity includes using out-of-spec produce, beach cleanups, children’s cafeterias and food sharing.
The post does not mean that the manager must personally operate a farm, manufacture food or run a brewery. The central work is identifying practitioners, building trust, testing a small initiative and establishing who can operate and finance it if the experiment succeeds.
| Assignment | Theme | Likely partners | Illustrative activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higashi Ward · one person | Manufacturing | Manufacturers, open-factory organizers, residents, children and civic groups | Factory experiences, business-resident dialogue, industry-centered gathering space |
| Nishi Ward · one person | Nature and culture | Farmers, restaurants, brewers, coastal groups and food-support initiatives | Farm-to-table products, nature programs, fermentation events and shared space |
The contract terms matter as much as the monthly hours
The initial engagement would run from an appointment around January 2027 through March 31. Annual renewals can extend it through December 31, 2029. For fiscal 2026, the fee is fixed at ¥209,000 a month including tax, based on roughly 100 hours of activity. From fiscal 2027, the city and manager will agree on an activity plan, with a ceiling of ¥264,000 including tax for about 125 hours a month.
Annual activity expenses are capped at ¥1.44 million. Eligible items can include housing up to ¥50,000 a month, a vehicle, travel, tools, training, qualifications and event costs when connected to the assignment. Utilities, food, national health insurance and national pension contributions are personal expenses. The budget cannot be used to buy land, buildings, automobiles or other personal assets.
Outside work is allowed if it does not interfere with the assignment and the manager notifies the city. That flexibility also places more responsibility on the applicant. The arrangement does not carry the timekeeping, social insurance, leave or retirement benefits of conventional municipal employment. Candidates should assess taxes, insurance, relocation costs and livelihood alongside the headline fee.
Applicants must satisfy relocation rules
The national cooperation-corps framework limits who can remain in place and apply. In principle, candidates must currently live in an urban area of one of Japan’s three major metropolitan regions, or in a non-disadvantaged part of a designated city, and be able to move their home and resident registration to Niigata City after appointment. Separate routes exist for some former corps members, Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme alumni and residents returning from abroad.
There is no age or gender restriction. Applicants need an ordinary driver’s license and must be able to drive regularly. They also need ordinary working ability with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, email and social media. Because eligibility depends on the exact municipality and district of current residence, prospective candidates should confirm their status with Niigata City before applying.
A candidate first submits a pre-entry form on the recruitment site. Application documents are then sent to that person and must be completed and returned by email before the deadline. A pre-entry submission by itself is not an application. Online information sessions are scheduled for 7 p.m. on September 10 and October 1, with recorded viewing also available.
The city also plans a two-night, three-day field tour from October 16 to 18, limited to the first ten participants. Participants bear travel to Niigata, personal meals and part of the lodging cost. The tour may help a candidate evaluate the assignments, but the guidelines do not promise an advantage in selection.
- Choose Higashi or Nishi: they are separate posts with distinct fields.
- Confirm that the current address satisfies the cooperation-corps relocation rule.
- Be able to move to Niigata City and transfer resident registration around January 2027.
- Build a household budget using the contract fee and personally funded insurance, pension and living costs.
- Submit the full application—not only pre-entry—by 11:59 p.m. on November 7.
The three-year test is whether the work survives the manager
Niigata appointed three Co-Creation Community Managers in the previous recruitment round, covering Chuo, Konan and Akiha wards. For the new round, it again contracted Borderless Japan to support recruitment and field activity. The announced progression moves from learning the community, to testing and implementing ideas, to building a structure that can remain after the term.
Outside talent can bring useful questions and connections. It can also misread local history, duplicate existing work or move faster than trust allows. Pushing immediately for a business can weaken relationships; stopping at conversations can produce no visible change. The managers will need room to run small tests, document costs and partners, and discontinue ideas that do not work.
Individual project budgets, numerical performance targets, operating organizations and deliverables have not been fixed. The exact appointment date remains negotiable, and the workload and fee from fiscal 2027 will be agreed later. Applicants are not choosing a finished job. They are choosing a place from which to design the work with the people who already live and work there.
- Niigata City — Co-Creation Community Manager recruitment page, updated August 28, 2026
- Niigata City — Fiscal 2026 Regional Revitalization Cooperation Corps recruitment guidelines (Japanese PDF)
- Borderless Japan — Announcement of Niigata City recruitment and activity support, August 28, 2026
- Niigata City Higashi Ward Open Factory Executive Committee — Official site