It's October.
The weather is warm and the new school year is making me feel excited. It's not that we're lucky, but the neighborhood association group that Usagi and I belong to has been dissolved this school year. We weren't notified that we had withdrawn or that our group had been dissolved, so it feels like it's ended without any real feeling.
The number of people canceling memberships gradually increased...
When the team leader came around about 10 years ago when the store opened, I remember collecting neighborhood association fees from most of the households (he was good at collecting them), but due to aging and other factors, as of last year, more than half of the households were not members of the neighborhood association.
It was only natural that the residents who remained would explode with emotion, thinking, "If that's the case, then we'll have to deal with all sorts of problems too! We'll have to deal with all sorts of problems too!" I think it was out of a sense of responsibility that they told those around them that they were thinking of quitting, thinking that it would be difficult for those who remained if they quit.
When we went to ask for advice from the family who had lived there the longest, they seemed to think it was a godsend and said, "Well, let's leave too, yay!"
(After hearing their story, it didn't seem like the residents were burdened by the association, and they complained that even though they attended association meetings, their opinions were never accepted, with comments like "It's impossible" and "Who's going to do it?", so it seemed like there was some resentment even among the long-time residents.)
As for our shop, we were worried that we would be ostracized by the local community if our whole group left the neighborhood association, but when it came to the choice between dissolving our group or continuing as just one shop, we felt that it would be more interesting if we disbanded, so we decided to leave together.
#Our standards are the worst
The neighborhood association president declared him ostracized...
This is the reaction of the neighborhood association after we announced that all members of our group were leaving."Please submit a notice of withdrawal stating that you accept that you will no longer be guiding people or distributing meals in the event of a disaster."It seems that they received this message, and all the residents in the group that decided to leave the neighborhood association signed a petition and submitted it to the neighborhood association.
The neighborhood association president also spoke to us individually (without the talk of signing the petition) and said he wanted us to remain, but we replied that it would be difficult to reach a compromise, as the neighborhood association would have its own sense of community, and we ourselves would have our own "small group sense of community." I think both sides may have become emotional.
They told us to write a written resignation letter, and that if we had any opinions we should just attend meetings and voice them (meaning they have no power to listen to the voices of the residents), and the pressure from the village and the presence of silver democracy were clearly evident.
It ended with me feeling like the ``that's just the way the neighborhood association is'' that I had always found unpleasant when watching from the outside was revealed.
A few years ago, when a big typhoon came, we cooperated and helped each other. I wondered if spontaneous mutual help could be demonstrated. Although the group left the neighborhood association, I feel that the unity of the group has become even stronger.
I had thought that neighborhood associations would gradually disappear due to the aging population and lack of personnel, but it seems that this is not the case...
I believe that the town's good public safety is a result of the village society, so I feel that the neighborhood association itself is necessary, but at the same time, I feel like it's not what it should be. I wonder if there are other people who are troubled, and if it's like this in every area. Since I left the neighborhood association, I've started to think more about it, so I'd like to continue to keep an eye on its activities.
I'm not sure if it's appropriate to post a story like this on social media, but I thought that by writing down what actually happened, it might serve as some kind of preventative measure.
