Tajimi

Tajimi City as Gifu Prefecture's southern border city faces population decline while watching Aichi Prefecture's automotive prosperity from the sideline—amid this stagnation, the 1-hour drive to Suzuka Circuit carries meaning beyond mere hobby as "escape": ceramics and tile industry town (population 110,070 in 46,580 households 2020, area 117.01 km² with density 1,200/km², population declining from 2000 peak to 99,968-106,810 by 2022, Mino-yaki pottery production area where tableware and tile manufacturing anchor economy but overseas competition and domestic demand decline create hardship, city also notorious for recording Japan's highest temperature 40.9°C in 2007) experiences decline contrasting with adjacent Toyota City's 422,330 population, 14 trillion yen industrial output, and Toyota headquarters prosperity, unstoppable youth outflow to other prefectures creating reality where motorsport becomes resistance movement for the minority searching "reasons to remain in Gifu."

Suzuka represents Tajimi residents' approach to "what Aichi possesses": routes from Gifu Prefecture Tajimi crossing Aichi Prefecture border, traversing automotive industry zones of Seto and Toyota Cities to reach Mie Prefecture's Suzuka approximately 70-80 km requiring 1-1.5 hours, journeys confirming "what we're losing" while viewing manufacturing prosperity through windows—via Route 19, Tokai-Kanjo Expressway, and Higashi-Meihan Expressway passing Toyota-related factory night shift lights en route to Suzuka, Tajimi youth temporarily escape "industrial decline" reality. The 5.807 km FIA Grade 1 circuit, South Course 4,000 yen and Racing Course 8,000 yen fees (SMSC membership) approaching tile factory workers' daily wages never cheap yet justified as "psychological investment for continuing Tajimi residence"—monthly Suzuka sessions permit temporary retreat providing "breathing space" from daily realities of declining Mino-yaki orders, falling tile contracts, and youth outflow. Gifu residents' inferiority complex and pride: Aichi Prefecture with 7.55 million population and 40 trillion yen GDP centers Chukyo region economy, Gifu Prefecture with 1.95 million population and 7.8 trillion yen GDP perpetually treated as "Aichi's hinterland" historically. Tajimi's geographic positioning within 40 km Nagoya commuting distance yet labeled "Gifu" collectively by Aichi residents while deemed "too Nagoya-proximate to feel authentically Gifu" within the prefecture creates ambiguous belonging—this identity uncertainty finds salvation in motorsport as "cross-border common language." When running alongside Toyota City Toyota employees, Seto City potters, and Mie Prefecture locals at Suzuka, Tajimi participants experience "equality where only lap times speak, transcending industrial or prefectural differences"—moments when usual inferiority overwhelmed by Aichi's economic power transforms into small pride that "Gifu can compete."

Motorsport in declining city: Tajimi decreasing from 110,070 (2020) to 99,968 (2022 estimate), motorsport enthusiasts symbolize "those who remain"—knowing Nagoya and Tokyo offer higher incomes and richer lives yet staying in Tajimi through attachments to Mino-yaki tradition, family, and land, this layer rewards itself with Suzuka. Tile factory foreman (38) runs Suzuka South Course Saturdays then family service Sundays, Mino-yaki trading company salesman (29) participates Racing Course after monthly sales achievements, high school teacher (45) expeditions to Fuji Speedway (200 km, 2.5 hours) summer vacation achieving "Gifu escape"—each carves motorsport budgets from household finances as "compensation for continuing Tajimi residence," providing respite from daily battles against population decline. Vehicle choices reflecting economic conditions: unlike Toyota City's GR86s and GR Yarises, Tajimi stays "within reach"—used NA Roadsters 800,000-1.2 million yen (2-3 months of tile factory annual income 4-5 million yen), first-generation Fit modification platforms (300,000 yen entry for young Mino-yaki traders), rarely previous-generation BRZ (teacher bonus injections), tacit understanding that new sports cars remain "what Aichi people buy." Yet used vehicles' "DIY maintenance enjoyment" and "cherishing old cars aesthetic" establish Tajimi style, contrasting Toyota's dealer servicing and genuine parts culture through DIY spirit developed—unique culture leveraging poverty. Extreme heat and cold harshness: Tajimi's inland climate reaching summer 40.9°C and winter near -10°C creates harsh 1-hour Suzuka drive cabin environments—training in old cars without functioning air conditioning through summer heat, shivering through winter pre-dawn departures during warm-up cultivates elitist consciousness that "only those enduring Gifu's severity remain." Suzuka arrival satisfaction encompasses not merely "reaching circuit" but experiencing small victory of "escaping Tajimi, traversing Aichi prosperity zones, arriving at motorsport's equal stage."

Alternative motorsport options limited: Gifu Prefecture contains neither karting facilities nor permanent circuits (depending on Aichi and Mie), Tajimi youth assuming "out-of-prefecture expedition premise" from start—practicing at Nagoya karting facilities (40 km), competing at Suzuka (70-80 km), annually 1-2 times "major expeditioning" to Fuji (200 km) exposing Gifu's motorsport infrastructure poverty. Sim racing remains sole "Gifu-completed" entertainment, Gran Turismo and iRacing possible in Tajimi apartments yet suffering dilemma that "screen experiences fail delivering Tajimi escape sensation," intensifying real driving cravings. Suzuka F1 attendance serves as Tajimi motorsport community's annual general meeting—Mino-yaki factories coordinating weekend closures, 10-15 members renting microbuses heading to Suzuka creating spectacle of temporary festivals forgetting "Gifu decline." Choosing "remaining in Tajimi": while classmates who left for Nagoya and Tokyo post urban life on social media, those remaining constantly question "why stay"—reasons including Mino-yaki family business succession, elderly parents, hometown attachments, or "refusing to flee" stubbornness, yet unavoidably facing psychological stagnation as compensation. Suzuka sessions become self-therapy "preventing regret over staying choice"—satisfaction shaving 0.5 seconds from lap times, interactions with other-prefecture participants encountered at circuits, belonging to cross-border motorsport communities transcending Aichi-Mie-Gifu boundaries supporting self-affirmation that "possibilities exist even residing in Tajimi." Result: Tajimi City as Gifu border city battling population decline and industrial decay positions motorsport as "resistance of those remaining" while watching adjacent Aichi prosperity—ceramics town declining from 110,070, Suzuka 70-80 km 1-1.5 hour drives traversing Aichi automotive zones as "escape" rituals, South Course 4,000 yen and Racing Course 8,000 yen representing near-daily-wage burdens justified as "psychological investment for continuing Tajimi residence," used Roadsters, Fits, and BRZs cultivating DIY spirit countering Toyota's GR culture. Amid harsh 40.9°C summer climate, Gifu intra-prefecture infrastructure absence, comparisons with Nagoya/Tokyo-bound classmates—through all adversities, Suzuka as "cross-border equal stage" provides small pride and self-therapy preventing regret over "remaining in Gifu" choices.