Digitalizing Neighborhood Associations | From LINE Groups to Smart Bulletin Boards

Challenges Facing Neighborhood Associations | Declining Membership and Shortage of Leadership

Neighborhood associations across Japan are facing serious challenges. According to a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, membership rates in neighborhood associations have declined to an average of approximately 70% nationwide, and in urban areas, it's not uncommon for rates to fall below 50%. Among younger generations especially, voices are growing: "I don't see the benefit of joining a neighborhood association" and "I'm too busy with work to participate in activities."

The shortage of officers willing to serve is also severe. In many areas, the average age of association chairs exceeds 70 years old, and all tasks—distributing bulletin boards, collecting membership fees, organizing cleaning activities, and running festivals—are concentrated on a small number of elderly residents. Paper bulletin boards can take 2 to 3 weeks to complete a full circuit, creating problems with information freshness.

One solution gaining attention for addressing these challenges is the digitalization of neighborhood association activities. When people hear "digitalization," they often think "Won't that be difficult for seniors?" However, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' communication usage trend survey, smartphone ownership among people in their 70s has reached approximately 75%. LINE usage rates are about 80% among those in their 60s and approximately 65% among those in their 70s. In other words, smartphones are already an everyday tool for senior generations.

How to Leverage LINE Groups | Clear Operating Rules are the Key to Success

The easiest first step toward digitalization is leveraging LINE groups. Since many residents already use LINE daily, there's the major advantage of not needing new app installations or explanations of how to use them.

However, simply creating a group without thought can lead to confusion. What successful neighborhood associations have in common is the establishment of clear operating rules. Specifically, decide on rules like these in advance: Posts should be official announcements from officers as a rule, with general members' posts limited to sharing impressions after events or local information. Responses should be sufficient through "like" reactions, with individual exchanges conducted in personal chats. Refrain from posting during late night and early morning hours (9 PM to 7 AM).

You can also use LINE Official Account (formerly LINE@). It allows free distribution of up to 1,000 messages per month and includes survey features, rich menus, and auto-reply functionality. Unlike personal LINE groups, members can't see interactions with each other, providing better privacy protection. For neighborhood associations with 200 or fewer households, the free plan is sufficient to operate.

One caution: while LINE is convenient, information easily gets lost in the flow. For important announcements, use the note feature to pin messages and set up regular announcements. Additionally, to be considerate of households that don't use LINE, it's important not to completely abandon traditional methods like paper bulletin boards and phone calls.

Implementing Electronic Bulletin Board Services | Transitioning from Paper Bulletin Boards

To further advance neighborhood association digitalization, consider adopting a dedicated electronic bulletin board service. Representative services include Yui Net, Ichinoi Chi, and Jichikai Navi, each with different features.

Yui Net is a proven service with a track record of adoption by over 4,000 neighborhood associations nationwide. It offers bulletin board distribution, schedule management, survey features, and safety confirmation functions. Monthly costs vary depending on the number of households, but for 100 households, it's approximately 5,000 to 10,000 yen per month. In some cases, local governments provide subsidies for costs.

The advantage of electronic bulletin boards is overwhelming speed in information transmission. While paper bulletin boards take 2 to 3 weeks to reach all households, electronic bulletin boards deliver to everyone in seconds. With read management features, you can track who has confirmed messages and send reminders to unread households. They can also be used for safety confirmation during disasters, providing significant benefits from a disaster prevention perspective.

For implementation, an effective approach is to begin testing among officers, expand gradually to ward leaders, and eventually roll out to all households in stages. Hold explanation sessions in small groups multiple times, and provide individual support opportunities for those anxious about smartphone operation. In most cases, even people in their 70s and older can learn the basic operations in about 15 minutes if you go through them step-by-step on the screen together.

Cashless Fee Payment and Online General Meetings

Collecting membership fees is one of the most burdensome tasks for neighborhood association officers. Visiting each household to receive cash, issuing receipts, and recording in ledgers—cashless payment adoption can dramatically reduce this effort.

QR code payment services like PayPay and LINE Pay can be used commission-free for peer-to-peer transfers. With PayPay's "split bill" feature, you can bill and confirm payments within a group at once. Additionally, with the spread of online banking, bank transfers require far less effort than before. With a Japan Post Bank account, you can transfer funds for free via Japan Post Direct.

You can also hold your annual general meeting online. Following the 2021 revision of the Condominium Management Appropriateness Law, condominium associations were permitted to hold online general meetings, and similar movements are spreading in neighborhood associations. Using Zoom or Google Meet allows participation from home. By combining written votes and online voting, some associations have increased participation rates from the traditional 30% to over 70%.

Keys to successful online general meetings are: distributing materials as PDFs beforehand, sharing screens while explaining materials during the meeting, using the chat feature for Q&A, and sharing meeting minutes on the cloud.

Finding the Optimal Balance Between Digital and Analog

The most important thing when advancing digitalization is not "replacing everything with digital," but rather "finding the optimal balance between digital and analog." No matter how convenient the tools, leaving some people behind undermines the meaning of community.

Most successful neighborhood associations adopt a "digital-first, analog-complementary" policy. While basic information is distributed digitally, households that don't use digital services receive a paper summary once a month. Event announcements are sent via LINE, but posters are also displayed on bulletin boards. This hybrid approach ensures no one is left behind.

It's also important to use the time freed up by digitalization for face-to-face interaction. When officers have less administrative work, they can focus on the original purpose: building connections among residents. Neighborhood association digitalization is a means, not an end. The ultimate goal is to create a regional community where residents across generations connect loosely and help each other in times of need.

When embarking on digitalization, start small with what you can do. Create one LINE group, or try sending the next bulletin board as a PDF. Small successes build on each other to move forward the entire neighborhood association's digitalization. SOROU.JP will continue to share information on regional digitalization cases and smart communities.