기업가의 지역경험을 기반한 리더십에 관한 연구: 일본 도쿠시마현 키토 마을의 지방창생 사례를 중심으로

Study on Leadership Based on Entrepreneurs’ Local Experience: Focusing on the Case of Regional Revitalization at Kito Village of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Purpose: This study aims to elucidate the structural mechanisms through which local experience accumulated by private entrepreneurs forms and operates as regional-based leadership. Amid complex crises of depopulation, youth exodus, and aging in Korean local communities, administrative responses and capital investment alone have proven insufficient. This study therefore examines how an entrepreneur’s embodied local experience can serve as the core resource for community-driven regional revitalization. Research design, data, and methodology: We conduct a qualitative case study centered on the regional revitalization practices of entrepreneur Yasushi Fujita(藤田恭嗣) at Kito Village of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Primary data were collected through field research from January, 2025, including in-depth interviews with Fujita, the Mirai Convenience Store manager, the Golden Yuzu Factory director, and three local residents. Interviews were transcribed into Korean and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Triangulation was achieved by cross-referencing interview data with field observations, corporate business reports, and administrative statistics from Naka Town(那賀町). Results: Findings are theorized as a three-stage leadership model— ‘Social Insight–Structural Experimentation–Brand Diffusion’—linked to K. Lewin’s theory of organizational change. First, Social Insight redefines regional problems as latent assets, transforming community sensibilities into strategic resources. Second, Structural Experimentation builds endogenous regional capacity through resident-led co-design, establishing community hubs including PRISM LAB, the Mirai Convenience Store, and Next Chapter. Third, Brand Diffusion connects regional identity with external markets via KITO YUZU storytelling and global networking through the Uzushio Summit, manifesting as Creating Shared Value (CSV) and sustainable management. Key outcomes include a 1.8-fold rise in yuzu unit prices, the first operating surplus of the Golden Yuzu Factory (+¥16,736,778 in 2024), and tourist recovery to 16,581 persons (2023). Implications: Local experience is not mere background knowledge but embodied social, cultural, and economic understanding that enables entrepreneurial judgment and strategy. The three-stage model forms an endogenously innovative regional structure, demonstrating that bottom-up, experience-driven leadership can complement externally driven top-down policies. The model offers new strategic perspectives for Korean regional revitalization policy, with particular practical implications for how private entrepreneurs’ local experience can be institutionally leveraged in an era of population decline.