There are many more cases in which local communities successfully promote tourism by original means. During this panel discussion, I hope panelists will present various successful cases that will help local governments and tourism-related parties use their local assets for promoting tourism.
First of all, I would like three panelists, Mr. Kanzaki. Dr. Inose, and Mr. Hirono, to comment, in five to ten minutes, on what we should do to use local cultures for promoting tourism.
The first speaker, Mr. Kanzaki, is a Shinto priest of a shrine in Kibi, Chugoku region. He also studies traditional local cultures, conducts field work throughout the nation, and serves a private institute on tourism as a chief researcher. Mr. Kanzaki, please.
Kanzaki: Good afternoon. My name is Kanzaki. Today, I would like to say something idealistic. I believe that you will all agree to my view that tourism and journeys, which I would like to call "tabi" in Japanese, must be beneficial to both tourists and hosts, and perhaps to a third party: travel agents. In other words, the benefits of "tabi" must be shared by the three parties concerned.
In the latter half of the Edo era (1603 - 1867), there was a tourism boom in Japan. Since it is very difficult to prove this here at this Symposium, due to limited time, I would like you to refer to books; there are many books published that demonstrate the tourism boom in that era. Despite the fact that the number of outbound Japanese tourists has now reached 15 million. I do not believe that recent travel boom surpasses that of the Edo era. As Professor Takada mentioned, there is a great imbalance between inbound and outbound tourists. Accordingly, the present situations is far from the idealistic principle of mutual benefit to hosts and guests, or trilateral benefit among the three parties concerned.
By mutual or trilateral benefit, I mean not only a share in economic gain, but also spiritual satisfaction, such as in visiting unknown places and meeting interesting people. Sometimes tourists even maintain such new friendships after leaving the country they visited. In the Edo era, travelers not only benefited from the journey, but also contributed to the locality they visited.
For instance, there were then many artists of the Kano School in Kyoto. These artists often left Kyoto on a journey whenever they became unable to make a living in Kyoto. Some local people, rich landowners and merchants in most cases, let these artists stay in their houses for weeks, and sponsored their artistic activities. Today, many artistic works of the Kano School are still treasured by wealthy local families.
Through such travelers, the "central" cultures of Kyoto and Edo (now Tokyo) were disseminated nationwide. In other words, the development of local cultures was owing to these travelers and a few wealthy local people; although their number was limited, they were highly motivated to support such artists.
Although I said that the number of wealthy people was limited, many people benefited from traveling artists, since the landowners and merchants also opened their houses during the artists' visits, inviting farmers and their children. On such occasions, their houses turned to private schools where local children learned how to read and write. In the latter half of the Edo era, Japan's literacy rate improved to nearly 100%, even in rural areas. Japan's high literacy rate, which we now enjoy, dates back to the latter half of the Edo era, when even peasants' children were given opportunities to learn from travelers.
In other words, travelers of the time contributed greatly to the nationwide dissemination of literacy. In contrast, it seems to me that today's travelers are insensitive to the sentiment of local people; travelers, including myself, must reflect upon what they can do for the benefit of local communities, in addition to spending money.
How much can we assimilate ourselves into local communities, and how much can we do for the benefit of local people? Although these seem to be difficult questions, we can at least try to give a good impression of ourselves to local people. Remembering that local people are evaluating travelers, we must endeavor to cultivate our own personality.
Today, on my way to this Symposium, I was on a bullet train, listening to a solo performance of my favorite singer, Sayuri Ishikawa. In her talk, she said that when she visited Mongolia last year with her child, she became friends with a nomad family, who lived in a tent called a "gel." Since the children of that family wore worn-out clothing, she promised to send them her child's old clothing. To keep her word, she plans to visit Mongolia again this year, said she. Listening to her talk, I could not but hope that she will really visit that nomad family again and keep her word. If she does not, I am afraid that the nomad family might think that Japanese are dishonest.
Over the past thirty years. I have traveled various regions to conduct folklore field studies. Each time I leave a locality, I am tempted to say, "I will come back." Sometimes, such words are literally understood; local people wait for me many years, and if I never go back they will regard me as a liar. Accordingly, I must refrain from saying "I will come back," even when I have a strong desire to say so. I sincerely hope that tourists keep their words and are sincere to local people.
During the past decades, many Japanese people have gone on domestic and overseas journeys. Did we give good impressions to host countries and people? Were we nice and attractive enough for local people to become interested in Japan? I agree that cultural resources are important assets with which we can attract overseas tourists; but human resources are even more important. I believe that the essential point for revitalizing localities
