The Shimane Peninsula Cycling Adventure Project has begun.

As part of the project, a cycling course will be built across the unique geological landscape of the Shimane Peninsula, which is a registered Japanese Geopark, with the intention of attracting inbound tourism from Western countries.

Heartland Japan conducted a preliminary research tour, joined by three male British cyclists, a female British travel journalist and a Finnish travel buyer who were invited to experience the beautiful Shimane Peninsula first-hand. The group carried out their monitor tour from November 26th to 28th, 2019.

Dating back to the Edo Period and continuing even today, visitors to the Shimane Peninsula can take part in a pilgrimage that takes them to 42 significant locations across the bay. These pilgrimage sites were once visited by the famous half Greek and Irish writer, Lafcadio Hearn (also known as Koizumi Yakumo), who recognized them as being significant not just from a cultural and historical standpoint, but also as a place of inspiration for stories.

This time our trip was also reported on by the local TV station BSS, who broadcast across central San’in. As part of their coverage, we shared our hopes to increase and stimulate inbound tourism within the region.

Through our goal and concept of ‘sharing our hometown with the world’, Heartland Japan are working to re-examine rural locations such as Shimane Peninsula from a global perspective, seeking out experiences and activities that can be commercialized as tour products and finding ways to encourage foreign visitors and take in foreign money.

In addition, our projects are helping locals to see the global value and importance of their own hometowns, providing communities with the ability to develop an important sense of local pride that they can then confidently share with the world.