This open access volume (in German; English and Japanese translations forthcoming) contains four short research articles presenting approaches to communicative places in Germany and Japan, as well as seven essays by researchers involved in the projects, local actors, or visitors to these places. The publication facilitates both a conceptual discussion of communicative places and a deeper understanding of practical social projects in both countries. The authors understand the concept of communicative places as an umbrella term for the spatial aspects of (re)vitalisation practices in rural communities – that alternatively are also referred to as ‘social places’ or ‚places of resilience‘. The volume’s theoretical texts complement the case studies and excursion reports. The publication is co-edited by Claudia Neu, Norio Okada, Yoshiyuki Yama, and DIJ’s Sebastian Polak-Rottmann who also contributed a short research article on places of resilience in rural Japan.