such a situation? Will it expand and renew its facility to compete with its potential rival facility? I would rather suggest that Osaka City should redevelop the vicinity of Kaiyukan and link the aquarium with adjacent facilities, so as to attract more tourists to its neighborhood areas. At present, many visitors to the Kaiyukan return home immediately after enjoying the aquarium.
This has something to do with a shift in industrial structures. I believe that rather than building new facilities as we have in the past, we are now required to remodel existing facilities. In other words, the mainstream of current trends concerns renewal, not construction, due to a tight community budget and several other factors.
In a sense, the construction of new towns has also reached saturation point. Instead of constructing new towns, we need to redevelop and add new values to old towns; this is already taking place in some Western countries, where several redeveloped old towns have begun to attract tourists.
In this regard, we have a good example in Kobe. Kobe's China Town flourished before World War II, but went into decline afterwards. I remember that at one time there were only three Chinese restaurants there. Over a decade ago, however, the China Town community reconstructed a Chinese-style gate and a bower called "liang ting" in Chinese. The construction of these structures was very effective in creating an authentic Chinese atmosphere, hence encouraging more and more Chinese restaurants and grocery shops into the town. Today, the Chinese atmosphere envelops even some alleys outside the original China Town.
In lkuno Ward, Osaka, there is a Korean Town, where many Koreans live. The community of this town has also constructed a Korean-style gate to create a Korean atmosphere. As a result, the town has recently begun to attract tourists.
Currently, in many Asian countries that enjoy high economic growth, construction of theme parks is booming. I do not oppose this trend; however, I believe these Asian countries, including Japan, can also develop a lively, natural downtown atmosphere as a tourism resource, by maximizing the areas attractiveness. In the case of Amagasaki City, there are several tourist sites; however, they are not yet organically linked. Accordingly, what is now essential is to connect individual tourist sites organically. In other words, the city after developing individual sightseeing "points" must then progress to developing several "connecting lines" and finally a large spacious "area."
To the south of Hanshin Amagasaki Station, there remains a quarter crammed with old temples. Since this quarter is described in Chikamatsu's plays, citizens are now promoting the traditional urbanscape preservation of this area. I believe that such grassroots movements on the part of citizens are indispensable in promoting tourism.
Before concluding this keynote lecture, I would like to discuss the characteristics of "culture" and "civilization." Although there are several definitions of these terms, the basic and generally accepted one defines that "civilization" is universal whereas "culture" is not. For instance, railways, gas and water services, and electricity are universal, since they are used in the same manner all over the world. Owing to this universal nature, modern civilization, first developed in Europe, has spread all over the world.
In contrast, "culture" is something local, deeply associated with the land and climate of a particular locality, since the origin of this word was "to cultivate" in regard to refinement of mind, taste and manners. I admit, however, that some cultural aspects appear universal; recently, Japanese dishes have become popular in some Western countries, and English is spoken all over the world. Perhaps, these "cultural" aspects have more in common with the properties of "civilization."
Among various Asian cities, I strongly feel the presence of "culture" in Seoul and Bangkok. On the other hand, I have an impression of the dominance of "civilization" in such cities as Hong Kong and Singapore.
In my view, an ideal tourism city must have both "culture" and "civilization". I mean that a city without "civilization" cannot attract tourists even if it has its original local culture and valuable traditions. On the other hand, a highly "civilized" city that has no unique culture is not attractive, either. Personally I do not like cities that have no alleys or side streets, because I always run into an alley whenever I see someone I do not want to meet. To me, a busy old town is really fascinating, and I believe that humans do not always like to be in a sunlit, clean and well-ordered district; sometimes, we are more attracted by shady, crammed, and slightly shabby districts. In this sense, alleys in Kyoto attract many tourists, as well as the grand palaces and temples.
Today, Osaka City is campaigning to make the City more attractive to tourists. To this end, the City is constructing new facilities equipped with high technologies, especially sophisticated media technology. Although I generally value this campaign, I would like to suggest that the City should place greater emphasis on "culture" rather than "civilization." Osaka is rich in traditional culture, including traditional performing arts, which should be used effectively as tourist resources.
Currently, there are various sightseeing tours of Osaka; one tour takes tourists to Osaka Castle, Sumiyoshi Shrine, and Shitennoji Temple, and another takes them to Osaka Castle and Kaiyukan Aquarium. I suggest that Osaka should also provide tours that take tourists to both modern and historic facilities; for instance the combination of Kabuki or Bunraku (puppet show) Theater and Kaiyukan Aquarium is likely to attract tourists. By combining both
