This trial tour (monitoring tour) in eastern Shimane, did not go to the usual hotspots Adachi Museum of Art, Matsue Castle or Izumo Taisha Shrine.
Instead, Alex Kerr, an expert in Japanology and Oriental Studies and author of ‘Japan Landscape Theory’ and ‘Nippon Pilgrimage’, was invited to join the tour, meeting people, touching on local issues, and discussing inbound tourism and cultural heritage in Japan throughout the itinerary.
Whether it is crafts, performing arts or cuisine, the development of traditions is a positive story about changing the form while retaining the essential core parts that cannot be compromised. Alex, an expert on traditional Japanese culture, told me that the essence of the old traditions will always remain, and this struck me with some profound realisations. He also mentioned the problem of the dwindling number of successors to Yasugibushi, a local folk song that is representative of Shimane Prefecture, and suggested that if the medium of communication is expanded, such as TikTok, it will be possible to reach a new audience and become a new presentation method, which will attract the interest of younger people.
I want to pass on traditions with their core meanings still attached. To achieve this, I believe we Japanese need to change our attitudes towards how we pass on these things. This experience gave me the opportunity to reassess my thoughts and ideas on this matter.
We were able to get some useful suggestions on how to create travel products that are specialised for distinctive regions, and we realized that broadening the scope and lowering the barrier to entry is a good approach.
Going forward, we will develop travel products based on what we have learned from this trial tour (monitoring tour). We will also promote it overseas through YouTube videos and English articles.
Through this regional project, we will continue to do our best in contributing towards solving Japan’s social issues, such as the concentration of population in big cities, regional population decline, aging society, and growing number of vacant houses.
The tours will be sold as community-based tourism (CBT) travel products that contribute to the local community through travel experiences, such as tours to view vacant houses, workshop-style experiences in renovating old houses, tours to stay overnight in renovated old houses, discussions on issues facing local areas in Japan, preservation of traditional performing arts that remain in the region, and passing on of local cuisine and culture.
At Heartland, our mission is to pass on local traditions not only locally, but also on a global scale.
