Enlisting on-line residents: Expanding the boundaries of e-government in a Japanese rural township

Abstract The purpose of this article is to analyze and learn from an unusual way in which local bureaucrats in a Japanese rural township are using the Internet to serve their constituents by enlisting the support of “on-line residents.” Successful e-government requires not only rethinking the potential uses of computer technology, but in adopting new patterns of decision-making, power sharing, and office management that many bureaucrats may not be predisposed to make. The main thesis of this article is that necessity and practicality can play a powerful motivational role in facilitating the incorporation of information technology (IT) at the level of local government. This case study of how bureaucrats in Towa-cho, a small, agricultural town in Northeastern Japan, have harnessed the Internet demonstrates clearly the fundamentals of building a successful e-government framework in this rural municipality, similar to many communities in Europe and North America today.