Tales of a New Rural : From furrow to fiber—E-commerce-led regeneration in the chineses and japanese countryside

The rapid expansion of e-commerce platforms is fundamentally reshaping rural spaces, embedding them into global circuits of production, logistics, and consumption. This thesis examines the transformation occurring in rural areas through the emergence of e-commerce—a transformation that is altering rural economies and spatial configurations in China and Japan through the lens of critical urban theory (Roy, 2009; Brenner, 2013), logistical geographies (Cowen, 2014), and rural digitalization (Woods, 2007). Moving beyond conventional narratives of rural decline or revival, this research interrogates how digital infrastructures and platform-mediated economies are restructuring labor, land, and governance in non-urban territories. In China, Taobao Villages exemplify the entanglement of rural spaces with e-commerce-driven development. These villages, integrated into Alibaba’s logistical networks, serve as nodes in a broader system of decentralized production and rapid distribution (Lin et al., 2017; O’Connor, 2021). While they generate new economic opportunities, they also reinforce infrastructural dependencies, intensify labor precarity, and reproduce spatial inequalities (Zhang & Al, 2020). The growth of e-commerce logistics in rural China challenges traditional notions of rurality, as villages become extensions of an expansive digital supply chain. In contrast, Japan’s engagement with e-commerce in rural areas follows a different trajectory, often framed within state-led regional revitalization programs (Moon & Reimer). Rather than mass-scale integration into globalized logistics, rural e-commerce in Japan is frequently positioned as a tool for sustaining local economies, promoting high-value niche products, and mitigating the impacts of demographic decline (Knight, 2016). However, similar tensions arise concerning labor sustainability, infrastructural maintenance, and the limits of digital accessibility (Matanle, 2008). By comparing these cases, the research explores the spatial dynamics of rural digitalization under platform capitalism, highlighting how e-commerce simultaneously enables new forms of economic participation while reinforcing uneven development. Ultimately, this study contributes to broader debates on logistical urbanism, digital economies, and the contested futures of rural transformation in an era increasingly shaped by digital infrastructures and market-driven innovation.