Abstract
Tourism is one of Okinawa's leading industries, and in recent years green tourism has been developing for the purpose of improving tourism quality with increasing attention from levels such as administration, practitioners, tourists and local residents. Taking the on-site experience and exchange activities between cities and farming, forestry and fishing villages in Okinawa as research examples, the authors examine green tourism development trends from the perspective of prefectural administration, city, town and village administration levels as well as those of practitioners; and examine the present state of green tourism development by taking Higashi Village as a case study; pointing out areas in need of improvement. The research shows the following results. Firstly, because the rapid increase in practitioner numbers correlates with growing green tourism needs, administrative guidance and facility improvement is slow. Secondly, from the case study of Higashi Village, it is found that in carrying out green tourism activities, mainly agricultural experience and farm village home-stays, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry plays a key role, and green tourism development aims are consciously considered. Moreover, appropriate green tourism exchange facility maintenance, deregulation of the Hotel Business Law and Fire Regulations are also necessary. Keywords: tourism; green tourism; green tourism practitioner; Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Higashi Village; Okinawa 1. Preface and local cultures of farming, forestry, and fishing 1.1 Research Background and Purpose villages; to effectively abide by local and national land E ff o r t s h a v e b e e n m a d e t o d e v e l o p t o u r i s m i n use plans and regulations; and to achieve excellent Okinawa prefecture, with the Okinawa Promotion Plan communication among people. Moreover, it is hoped and Japanese Resort Law as their basis. Tourism is that GT activities can be considered as an opportunity one of Okinawa's leading industries; however, tourism to develop villages, and should be based on a regional quality is a well known issue. There has been an consensus of local needs and requirements. excessive increase in environmental problems as side This study, focusing on the points mentioned above, effects of large scale development in various industries. aims to clarify the GT development trends in Okinawa, To u r i s t n e e d s a n d r e c r e a t i o n a l p r e f e r e n c e s h a v e the current state of GT in Okinawa according to its changed as well, shifting from those of conventional practitioners by taking Higashi Village as a case study mass tourism to focus on activities related to relaxation which has implemented successful GT approaches, and and stress relief, on-site experience, and cultural to identify major problems, so as to understand future exchange. GT development possibilities in Okinawa. This should Thus, increasing attention has been paid to Green be based on a total understanding of the evolving To u r i s m ( h e n c e f o r t h G T ) r e c e n t l y. T h e g o a l s o f trends of its administration and practitioners' . GT development are to successfully integrate and 1.2 Previous Research balance the key components of GT, which are the use Previous studies related to GT have been carried and preservation of regional natural resources, local out in the fields of sociology, urban planning and rural 1) ecosystems, and impacts on these from tourists and planning. In the urban planning field, there is GT 2) local people; to maintain the original natural characters research which focuses on population fluidity and 3) maintenance in the target region, and research which chooses to pinpoint the needs of city resident's leisure *Contact Author: Xiaojing Song, Master Student, Graduate activities and demand for GT. In the rural planning 4 ) School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, field, recently there has been research on green 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan tourism that includes discussions on regional network Tel: +81-98-895-8901 Fax: +81-98-895-8901 forming or landscape management systems through e-mail: xj77songjp@yahoo.co.jp GT planning, which has touched upon GT experience ( Received August 30, 2006 ; accepted February 20, 2007 ) Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering/May 2007/55 49 contents or activity management. However, research on the actual state of GT activity development, and specifically on GT administration and practitioner practice, including examination of problems among them is rare; also Okinawa has never been taken as a research subject. 1.3 Research Methods T h i s r e s e a r c h b e g a n w i t h a s u m m a r i z a t i o n o f GT concepts gathered from previous studies and documentaries and then took the on-site GT experience and exchange activities between cities and farming, forestry and fishing villages as research subjects. Through documentary study and interviews with a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s , t h e G T d e v e l o p m e n t t r e n d s i n Okinawa are organized on three levels. Lastly Higashi Village's GT development is set as the research area, data are collected from on-site discussion forums, and activity "Agri. Network Arime" is examined. Finally, through all the studies the actual state of GT development and its problems in Okinawa are described and defined. 2. Definition of Green Tourism and Research Object Fig.1. Concept Chart of Green Tourism 2.1 Definition of Green Tourism The definition of GT in Japan is as defined publicly the establishment of various local GT development by The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries . committees, and GT activity facility maintenance. 5) Moreover, in Okinawa there is also a definition : "GT According to the data gathered from discussion is the on-site experience taken in farming, forestry and f o r u m s w i t h t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s , t h e s u g g e s t e d fishing villages (henceforth FFFV). Accommodation possible research subjects and desired improvements in is usually in local houses of the FFFV. Also, in a wider Okinawa are: sense, Blue Tourism and Forest Tourism are included The setting up of professional staff in GT". ·Guidance and assistance to villages in progressing 2.2 Research Object with GT development According to the definition of GT, (as mentioned ·Coordination with tourism policy and regional above), this study takes the on-site experience and promotion policy exchange activities between cities and FFFV regions ·Establishment of regional information networks as its research object. In Fig.1., the horizontal axis and public space creation for information exchange represents natural and cultural aspects of GT, and ·Regional promotion the vertical axis represents different durations for Meanwhile, seen from GT development procedures experiences, while the broken line represents activity in Okinawa, residents (practitioner) leadership is items related to GT. Detailed activity items are shown very strong. So it is necessary that requests from within range A in the GT concept chart (Fig.1.). practitioners should be well grasped and relevant measures be taken accordingly. 3. Present GT Development Trends in Okinawa 3.2 GT Development Trends at City, Town and 3.1 GT Development Trends at the Prefectural Village Administration Level and Areas Desiring A d m i n i s t r a t i o n L e v e l a n d A r e a s D e s i r i n g Improvement Improvement Ta b l e 2 . s u m m a r i z e s t h e G T d e v e l o p m e n t G T d e v e l o p m e n t t r e n d s a t t h e p r e f e c t u r a l approaches carried out autonomously, such as Higashi administration level, which can be seen from Table 1., Village, Ie Village and Motobu Town. take the establishment of the GT Research Committee H i g a s h i Vi l l a g e i s t h e e a r l i e s t t o a d o p t G T (henceforth GTRC) in 1996 as its beginning, and up approaches in Okinawa, having a GTRC centered nd until the creation of "The 2 Exchange and Promotion w i t h i n t h e C h a m b e r o f C o m m e r c e a n d I n d u s t r y, Plan between Cities and Villages" in 2005, it had 11 (henceforth CCI) and various research topics have projects in progress focusing on three themes - GT been carried out actively and positively. For this development organization building, staff training and reason it is to be the survey ground for clarification facility maintenance. These themes include activity of GT approaches and future development subjects in leader's training through training courses, support for Okinawa. 50 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Takayuki Ikeda Table 1. GT Development Trends at the Prefectural Administration Level While in Ie Village, because acknowledgement practitioners are distributed in various places over a towards this village has risen rapidly, and also because wide area, which is shown in Fig.2., GT is carried out it has abundant natural resources and is well equipped by emphasizing activities with on-site agricultural for standard tourism, GT development in this region experience as their focus. See from Fig.2., Higashi can be highly anticipated. Village has the most practitioners - 36 persons. M o t o b u To w n i s f a m o u s f o r m a n d a r i n o r a n g e cultivation, and it has been moving full scale with the 4. Actual State of GT in Higashi Village promotion of general information facilities to improve Higashi Village has the only GTRC in Okinawa, local tourism. Also, due to the nearby large-scale and positive approaches have been made with the sightseeing facilities like the Ocean Expo Aquarium, cooperation of the administration, CCI and research m e t h o d s t o a t t r a c t m o r e t o u r i s t s t o b o t h o f t h e s e group members. facilities should be considered. 4.1 Development of GT Approaches in Higashi 3.3 GT Practitioners' Movement in Okinawa Village As for GT practitioners in Okinawa , practitioner As shown in Table 3., in Higashi Village, on-site numbers and practices differ by location. Though GT agricultural activities have been carried out even Table 2. GT Development Trends at the City, Town and Village Administration Level Village Activity organizer Approaches Points for Improvement name Higashi CCI, Tourism Planning ・C e n t e r e d w i t h C C I , H i g a s h i Vi l l a g e G T R C , ・H i g h e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r H i g a s h i Village Division carried out agricultural experience activities and Village to develop into an exchange- farm village home-stays for students on school type farm village. excursions and became the model for other regions. Ie Tourism Commerce ・Began conducting farm-stay projects in 2003 ・Staff training for farmers due to Village and Industry Division, ・1,600 tourists in 2004, 4,100 in 2005 different activity contents. Tourism Association ・Requested assistance from prefecture for facility ・Strengthen cooperation with other maintenance, and has a special zone setting. fields. Motobu Motobu Industry ・I n 2 0 0 0 , s e t u p E x c h a n g e a n d P r o m o t i o n ・Create leisure space Town Promotion Division Association between City and Village Areas– began ・I m p r o v e t h e c u r r e n t s y s t e m f o r management measurements by introducing the city attracting tourists with better facility and village exchange project. maintenance, encourage cooperation among each village and among local ・Introduction of regional cooperation system at the prefectural level and initiation of workshops. residents. JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Takayuki Ikeda 51 committee members. It has carried out a series of on- site agricultural activities and farm village home-stays mainly for students on school excursions. CCI also holds exchange-oriented meetings with Ie Village and holds opinion exchange meetings and tourism forums mainly for persons related to GT practice in Okinawa. CCI coordinates participant numbers and schedule and works on the organization of workshops and tourism forums for staff training. 4.2 On-Site Discussion Forums on Higashi Village and Present GT Practices To clarify GT practice conditions after gathering data on Higashi Village's GT approach, on-site discussion forums have been conducted on 10 GTRC member farms, with the actual farmers as subjects. The contents have been illustrated in Table 4. Here are the most prominent findings from the farmers: There are committee members who are carrying o u t G T e x c h a n g e a c t i v i t i e s a l s o t h r o u g h t h e i r individual farms. ・ There are committee members whose aims are to form an exchange-type farm village. ・ Activities for beautifying the village are initiated with the attention and interests of tourists and local Fig.2. GT Practitioners' Movement in Okinawa residents in mind. earlier than those done at the prefectural level, which It is widely acknowledged that village promotion, started in 1990. In 1996 Higashi Village's GT practices landscape and environmental protection are important. b e g a n , a n d i n t h e s a m e y e a r t h e O k i n a w a G T R C E x i s t i n g p r o b l e m s a n d s u b j e c t s n e e d i n g was founded. In 2004, the Okinawa GTRC changed improvement: into the Higashi Village GTRC, belonging to CCI. (1) It is important and necessary that young people The CCI, working as the main office of the Higashi take part in the GTRC. Village GTRC, maintains close cooperation with the (2) Endeavors to attract new tourists are desired. Table 3. Development of GT Approaches in Higashi Village 52 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Takayuki Ikeda (3) Deregulation of the Hotel Business Law with level with administration backing is essential for a review of Building Standards and Fire Regulation success. should be considered according to the growth of 4.3 Activity "Agri. Network Arime" GT activities. Deregulation of the Hotel Business Through on-site discussion forums and interviews, Law concerning GT activities mainly focuses on G T a c t i v i t y i n H i g a s h i Vi l l a g e – a c t i v i t y o f t h e the standards of sanitation. With the development professional farmhouse group "Agri. Network Arime" of modern society, the standards of modern hotels, is examined. especially concerning kitchen and toilet facilities, are (1) Activity Situations of a very high standard, which the normal country Table 5. "Agri. Network Arime" Activity f a r m h o u s e c a n n o t m e e t , a n d i t i s e a s y t o c a u s e Start Year 1996 s a n i t a t i o n p r o b l e m s . A s t o F i r e R e g u l a t i o n , o l d Place Un-used farmland inside “land improving district” of farmhouses are usually made of wood, which more Higashi Village easily catches fire, compared to modern hotel building Pur- ・Enjoy the pleasure of growing crops. materials. But to hold GT activity the country-like poses ・Activate the exchange activity between city consumers environment is very necessary, therefore deregulation and farmers in order to develop agriculture. of the Hotel Business Law is required by practitioners. ・Form an information exchange network. (4) Current facilities for exchange-type activities ・Resolve the problem of depopulation. could be improved. GT activities are mainly related to Con- ・Organize participants to plant crops. nature and are old fashioned, so the exchange facilities tents ・Enroll Research Committee members. for GT activities are usually rather primitive, referring ・Set up of individual citizen farm (free offer), carrying out exchange activity among citizens – in 2004, 40 groups to farmhouses or farm gardens for people to experience of citizen farms were formed. agricultural life etc. The current exchange facilities Others ・In 2004, were recognized of "Hometown best 100 are mainly private farmhouses which cannot meet the recognition business" of the Prefecture by Exchange increasing needs for GT activity. So what we mean by Division. improvement and maintenance of exchange facilities Feed- ・Feelings have been challenged by such activities. is that certain public places should be supplied where backs ・Stress reduction is a side-benefit. participants can experience agricultural life together, ・Through information exchange, networking among such as making dishes and food or tourist souvenirs participants has been strengthened. out of the plants they plant by themselves. But this ・Participants really enjoy themselves. kind of public space should still maintain the style as ・Some participants even choose to relocate to place farmhouse, which is essential to GT. where they participated in GT activities as visitors. (5) Efforts solely operating on the local level are ・Practitioners must bear certain economic burdens to insufficient; a coordinated effort on the prefectural attract tourists. Table 4. Present Conditions of GT Practice in Higashi Village and Possible Improvements Research item Actual conditions Problems Constitution of ・Thirty five farm families who were born in Higashi village are members. ・The aging character of the members GTRC ・Most of the members are over 50. calls for the acquisition of some new, youthful staff. GTRC Activities GT experience research program: half-day course, one-day course ・Better approaches are expected, e.g. ・Persons who attend the activity are mainly students on school excursions. free offers and the support of exchange ・Activity contents are mainly harvesting, fertilizing and planting of activities. pineapples and oranges. ・There are members who are actively carrying out all kinds of exchange activities through their individual farms. Purpose of GT ・Large income expectations. ・Set clear aim for GTRC. Practice ・There are members whose main purpose is to form exchange-type farm ・Improve the over-all practicing level of villages through use of regional resources. members. Cooperation ・CCI coordinates the participant numbers and schedule and also works on ・To attract tourists, deregulation of the Between CCI and the organization of workshops and tourism forums for staff training. Hotel Business Law could be realized the Administration ・Administration coordinates deregulation of the Hotel Business Law and t h r o u g h c o o p e r a t i o n a m o n g G T R C insurance requirements. members, the CCI and administration. Real-Life Influence ・Monthly income rises by approximately 100,000 Yen. ・Set financial support system for house of GT Practice ・Attention is given to local villages and exchanges with local residents are redecoration and repair for village home- more active. stay activity hosts. ・Activities for beautifying the village are initiated with the attention and ・I m p r o v e d i r e c t s u p p o r t s y s t e m t o interests of local residents and tourists in mind. practitioners. ・Increased opportunities for outsiders to discover the charm and character of local villages. Influence from ・Tourist numbers increase with the recognition of Higashi Village. ・Due to increasing GT practice needs, Higashi Village ・Farm villages receive more chances to develop, which helps with their facility maintenance and improvement Through GT promotion. should be given special attention. Practice ・Compared to resort-type sightseeing developments, which drastically alter natural environments, GT practice helps with landscape and environmental protection. JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Takayuki Ikeda 53 In recent years, due to the growing boom in family be set up. To realize all of these aims, cooperation vegetable gardens, tourists and local citizen's needs for between administration and practitioners should be on-site agricultural experience have been increasing. strengthened. Various people such as salaried workers, housewives, 6) Finally, we suggest that the following subjects students on school excursions, and retirees participate are important for future research. Exchange between in activities. We have outlined the detailed activity urban areas and farming, forestry, and fishing villages situation in Table 5. are expected to advance further while considering (2) Existing Problems the above-mentioned conditions. Although the GT Through examination, we found that to attract more approaches in Higashi Village have been explored tourists, the practitioners must bear certain economic here, investigation in other practice regions both in burdens, while the establishment of a GT development and outside of Okinawa, and comparative research system and methods to directly support practitioners is regarding participant aims and evaluations should not necessary. be overlooked. 5. Conclusion Acknowledgment T h r o u g h t h i s r e s e a r c h , w e h a v e c l a r i f i e d t h e This paper is based on the joint research of Mr. 6) following points: Ikeda and Mr. Nakachi . The authors have produced 1) GT development trends in Okinawa started with this paper based on a re-analysis and amendment of the the establishment of GTRC in 1996, which held regular original. Here the authors would like to express their activities for staff training and facilities improvement. sincere appreciation for Mr. Nakachi's research. The GT developed more actively through various approaches such as local resource exploration at the Endnotes 1. The "practitioner" here refers to those who actively practice green city, town, and village levels and improvements of the tourism, and are taken as the research objective as written in 2.2. overall GT support system. 2. According to the report (1992) of the GT Research Committee 2) GT practitioners have various GT approaches in of The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "GT the northern regions and isolated islands of Okinawa. is a leisure activity that involves staying on-site in natural Meanwhile, the number of practitioners is increasing. e n v i r o n m e n t s s u c h a s f a r m i n g , m o u n t a i n o u s , a n d f i s h i n g villages and enjoying on-site experience, cultural exchange and It is fully appreciated that the understanding of actual communication with people." GT development conditions and existing problems is 3. Autonomously refers to the city, town and village level which of great importance. carries out GT activities in the local region while cooperating with 3 ) H o w e v e r , b e c a u s e t h e r a p i d i n c r e a s e i n individual practitioners, such as working out GT development policies, enforcing support measures and establishing research practitioner numbers directly correlates to growing committees, etc. G T n e e d s , a d m i n i s t r a t i v e g u i d a n c e a n d f a c i l i t y 4. "GT practitioner in Okinawa" here refers to persons who have improvements are sluggish and inefficient when it completed the GT training course held by Okinawa prefecture; comes to dealing with regional GT practice problems. p e r s o n s w h o a r e t a k i n g t h e t r a i n i n g c o u r s e h e l d b y v i l l a g e Also GT approaches, contents, and cooperation with activation associations and working on agricultural improvement at present; persons who are working in GT related fields in the administration differ greatly in each respective which the activities have been acknowledged by the prefecture; region. So it is necessary to create opportunities for and persons who are carrying out the research object activities information exchange or improvement workshops for prescribed in 2.2. (Moreover, the region that became Nanjo advanced regions and the less developed regions alike, City (Sashiki-cho, Chinen-son, Tamagusuku-son, and Ozato- in order to raise the overall quality of the GT practice. son) and Yaese Town (Kochinda-cho and Gushikami-son) by the consolidation of municipalities on January 1, 2006 is shown in the 4) From the case study of Higashi Village, we found figure using the original district name at the investigation stage. that CCI plays a key role in carrying out GT activities, In addition, the practitioner's movement illustration charts of each and functions as the bridge between administration and isolated island are omitted here.) practitioners; through citizens' agricultural experiences 5. The Hotel Business Law is the law to attempt to appropriate the a n d f a r m v i l l a g e h o m e - s t a y s , e x c h a n g e i s w e l l management of hotel business, inn business, and lodging house business, etc. It causes practice restriction problems when farm facilitated between local farmers and visitors; regional village-stay and farmhouse home-stay is carried out using the GT r e s o u r c e a p p l i c a t i o n , e n v i r o n m e n t a l p r o t e c t i o n , approach. (In Japan, advanced examples can be seen in Ansinin agricultural promotion, and preventing depopulation of Town of Oita Prefecture: Deregulation of the Hotel Business rural areas are consciously and openly accepted as the Law has been achieved by an original method "Membership Farm Village-Stay" through the practitioners' requests to the main aims of GT development. administration.) 5 ) T h e r e f o r e t h e r e a r e p r o b l e m s i n n e e d o f s o l u t i o n s . T h e i m p r o v e m e n t a n d m a i n t e n a n c e o f exchange facilities is very important. To attract more tourists, deregulation of the Hotel Business Law is necessary, while a review of Building Standards and Fire Regulations, and special example zones should 54 JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Takayuki Ikeda Saitou, Yukihiko and others. (2002) Research on green tourism References planning including landscape management system – taking the 1) Yamazaki, Mitushiro. Current situation and problems of green example of Otoriyama Village, Takamori, Nagano. Vol. 4 Journal tourism promotion. Regular meeting report of the Agricultural of Rural Planning Association Japan. Technological Institute. Tamura, Eisuke and others. (2002) Management of sustainable 2) Takahashi, Shin'ya and others. (1998) Empirical research on the g r e e n t o u r i s m a c t i v i t y. 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Master thesis, Graduate School of University of the Yuda County, Iwate. Vol. 2 Journal of Rural Planning Association Ryukyus. Japan. JAABE vol.6 no.1 May 2007 Takayuki Ikeda 55
Journal
Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
– Taylor & Francis
Published: May 1, 2007
Keywords: tourism; green tourism; green tourism practitioner; Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Higashi Village; Okinawa
