Welcome to drone town
INAQUIET mountainous area where rushing creeks andchirping birds used toprovidetheonly usual sounds, there is nowa mechanical buzzintheair, T source of the sounds is drones - small unmanned aerial vehicles flying o a town in Tokushima Prefecture. The town, Naka, where the popu- lation has steadily been decreasing, is now being promoted as the place "where the largest number of drones fly in Japan" by seeking to turn its very lack of uniqueness to its advantage. In late November at the B&G Yagai Katsudo Centre, a facility for outdoor activities surrounded by forests an streams within the town, three drones were gracefullyflyinginthebright blue sky.
They slowly made circles, rapidly ascended and showed off moves as if ey were living creatures. Controlling the drones were officials of the munic- ipal government's drone-promotion office. Hayato Tawa, 23, deputy chiefofthe promotion office, made an appeal, say- ing, "You can fly drones here in unlim ited ways without worrying that they will hit buildings or people. In April 2016 the town became Japan's first municipality to establish a section exclusively for drones.
In 2017thelocal government made a "drone map" that identified 25 spots suitable for flying drones, including a place that is good for seeing autumn leaves. Afterit was releasedonline, the ma gained popularityviasocial media, and about 100 drone fans visited from all over the nation in the course of a year. Hitomi Adachi, a47-year-old com pany employee from Naniwa Ward Osaka, who visited the town for the firsttime in September, saidit was"dif- ferent from Osaka. I can freely fly my drone in this great natural setting, and I never get tired of it, even when I fly it for many hours.
Naka was created in 2005 asaresult of a merger of five towns and villages. The population then was 11,596, butit has fallen year by year. The current population is 8,444, with residents age 65 or older making up 48.5 per cent. There are onlytwo convenience stores in the town, which has no famous tourist spots. Why did atown in such a condition decide to focus on drones?
Dronesattracted publicattention in Japan in the wake of an incident in April 2015 in which a drone was found on the rooftop of the Prime Minister's Office.
At the time, a man who had moved to and was livingin the town as a mem ber of local vitalisation cooperators happened to remark, 'Ifit were in this
drone enthusiasts who admire the views town, a falling drone wouldn't bother anybody. The Civil Aeronautics Law revised in the wake of the incident prohibits drone flights in *densely inhabited dis- tricts,
They slowly made circles, rapidly ascended and showed off moves as if ey were living creatures. Controlling the drones were officials of the munic- ipal government's drone-promotion office. Hayato Tawa, 23, deputy chiefofthe promotion office, made an appeal, say- ing, "You can fly drones here in unlim ited ways without worrying that they will hit buildings or people. In April 2016 the town became Japan's first municipality to establish a section exclusively for drones.
In 2017thelocal government made a "drone map" that identified 25 spots suitable for flying drones, including a place that is good for seeing autumn leaves. Afterit was releasedonline, the ma gained popularityviasocial media, and about 100 drone fans visited from all over the nation in the course of a year. Hitomi Adachi, a47-year-old com pany employee from Naniwa Ward Osaka, who visited the town for the firsttime in September, saidit was"dif- ferent from Osaka. I can freely fly my drone in this great natural setting, and I never get tired of it, even when I fly it for many hours.
Naka was created in 2005 asaresult of a merger of five towns and villages. The population then was 11,596, butit has fallen year by year. The current population is 8,444, with residents age 65 or older making up 48.5 per cent. There are onlytwo convenience stores in the town, which has no famous tourist spots. Why did atown in such a condition decide to focus on drones?
Dronesattracted publicattention in Japan in the wake of an incident in April 2015 in which a drone was found on the rooftop of the Prime Minister's Office.
At the time, a man who had moved to and was livingin the town as a mem ber of local vitalisation cooperators happened to remark, 'Ifit were in this
drone enthusiasts who admire the views town, a falling drone wouldn't bother anybody. The Civil Aeronautics Law revised in the wake of the incident prohibits drone flights in *densely inhabited dis- tricts,
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