How Has Workcation Evolved in Japan?

: The workcation, wherein people combine work with vacation, is a concept that originated in the United States and Europe with the spread of information and communications technology (ICT). Although it is considered a workstyle for independent people as epitomized by freelancers and the like, in Japan, the term has come to convey something different from its original meaning, taking a unique direction in which some types of training programs are referred to as workcation. How did this change come about? This study, based on surveys of three regions, examines the origin and development of satellite office workcation and learning workcation to ascertain the following. (1) In Japan, people with workcation are assumed to be employees. (2) Therefore, the workcation is heavily influenced by local governments’ intentions (wanting to associate with exchange populations) and companies’ intentions (it is difficult to dispatch employees to outlying areas without a work-related purpose). (3) Therefore, the workcation has evolved into something that aims to enhance creativity, learning, and introspection through close ties with communities.


Introduction
The work/vacation combination known as workcation has attracted considerable attention in Japan in recent years. Workcation 1 is a neologism combining the words "work" and "vacation." This concept came into existence in the early 2010s when major media in the West started using it (Amano, 2018). With the widespread use of ICT since the late 1990s, the barriers between work and vacation/private time have been blurred. Thus, the workcation emerged as a new work style symbolizing the increased blurring of the lines between work time and private time (Pecsek, 2018).
When the term workcation first came into use in the West, it meant "working on holiday," because it was applied to flexible workers who could opt for take a time off relatively freely. Therefore, workcation (in the sense of "working on a holiday") was discussed in the context of the impact it would have on various factors, such as people's productivity, job satisfaction, and stress levels. 2 For example, focusing on the negative impact of working while on vacation, Deci and Ryan (2008) argued that being unable to switch off from work 1 Although the word is usually spelled "workcation" in the West, in Japan, it is sometimes spelled "worcation" (Tanaka & Ishiyama, 2020), while the Workation Alliance Japan and others spell it "workation." 2 Even the West does not have a definition of workcation. For example, according to Pecsek (2018), "Workcation is a hybrid type of tourism when tourists travel for either leisure or dual (business and leisure) motive, and due to the modern technology, they perform both work and leisure activities away from home." would lead to stress and illness. 3 By contrast, Nawijn and Damen (2014) focused on the positive aspects of working during one's time off, thereby contending that workcation reduces the psychological burden of returning to work after a vacation. Combining these two, Pecsek (2018) classifies workcation tourists into four categories and identifies the traits of stress-free workcation tourists who were eligible for workcations. 4 By contrast, things developed quite differently in Japan than in the West. As discussed in this paper, in Japan, the term workcation developed quite differently from that in the West because of the intentions of companies and local governments, differences in the understanding of workcations, and a focus on employed workers.

Method
This study, which aims to identify how workcation programs and policies are developed in Japan, conducted semi-structured interviews of 1-2 hours of the key parties involved in workcation programs and projects in three areas that have employed a proactive approach to workcation: the Kinan area (Wakayama Pref.), Myoko City (Niigata Pref.), and Tottori Prefecture (see the List of Interviews in the Appendix). Each interview comprises a predetermined order of questions related to (1) the background and development of 3 However, this is most likely attributed not to the actual "working on holiday," but rather to tasks (a teleconference, etc.), the timing of which the employee cannot control. In fact, Takahashi, Ohkawa, and Inamizu (2014) identified a strong linear correlation between people's degree of selfdetermination and their job satisfaction. 4 Other articles that could be worth mentioning include Peters and Heusinkveld (2010), which found that a CEO's proactive attitude is critical to telework adoption, Boell, Cecez-Kecmanovic, and Campbell (2016), which is a comprehensive review of the advantages and disadvantages of introducing telework, and Leask (2010), which examines the concerns that vacation destinations have to deal with. workcation, (2) workcation content, (3) future plans, and (4) attitudes and intentions. Follow-up questions regarding the related information were posed when appropriate. In the following section, we describe two cases of initiatives being considered in the three areas that were the subjects of this study.

1) Purpose of Wakayama Prefectural Office
Because of its distance from urban areas and its mountainous introspection.

3) How the case came to be called as Satellite Office Workcation
In the beginning, the case of Company S was not considered an example of workcation. It was termed workcation in around 2017, which was two years after Company S opened its satellite office. The manager of the Wakayama Prefectural Office's information policy unit adopted the word workcation to promote a Western type of workcation that would attract IT companies by conveying to them that their employees "could work while enjoying a vacation and getting refreshed." An official of the Wakayama Prefectural Government explains the background as follows: "Corporate officials would balk if they were asked to set up satellite offices. It is easier to talk about teleworking where employees are surrounded by nature and tourism resources." 7 Therefore, the case of Company S was considered a success story, and the name "Satellite Office Workcation" was coined.

Case 2: Company J's Learning Workcation Program
The development of Case 1 led to Company J's Learning Workcation Program. This initiative was the starting point of a unique development in Japan, where off-site group training is called workcation in numerous host sites (Tanaka & Ishiyama, 2020).

3) The purposes of Myoko City and Tottori Prefectural Offices
Company J's Learning Workcation Program is consistent with local governments' desires. Therefore, it is being adopted by the Myoko City and Tottori Prefectural Offices.
Myoko City in Niigata Prefecture has long been a ski resort; however, few skiers have been visiting in recent years, and even fewer tourists visit in summer than in winter. In around October 2018, the mayor pledged to increase the visitor population through telework. At first, the mayor's orders were primarily concerned with the preparation of facilities, and thus, the city focused on the preparation of coworking spaces and internet environments at lodging facilities to attract people from the Tokyo area. However, the approach gradually considering to support for preparing facilities, aiming for the tourism context. However, as they spoke with company representatives, they realized that companies were not keen on the idea of "working on holiday," and thus, they gradually shifted their approach to supporting programs that would involve local HR and companies. As of October 2020, Tottori was developing a cooperative setup with Company J that was similar to those in the previous two regions.

How Workcation Has Changed in Japan
Thus far, we have described two cases of workcation in three areas of Japan. In all of these areas and cases, the concept of workcation differs from its original meaning of "combining work with vacation." The meaning has evolved into the incorporation of the connotation of "trying to enhance learning, introspection, and creativity 9 through deep connections with the community." In fact, unlike companies that initially set up facilities for employees to do the same work in a resort area that they did in the city, when Company S set up its satellite office, it connected with the community to stimulate employees' introspection and allowed them to engage in social contribution activities. Furthermore, continuous support from the local government (the Shirahama Town Office) to make personal connections contributed significantly to its establishment. We further validated that all three of the local governments had shifted from workcation promotion campaigns that emphasized the tourism context supporting facilities preparation to campaigns that geared to training programs.
The case of Japan Airlines (JAL), which similar to Company S offers a trail-blazing workcation program in Japan, went through a similar evolution. In 2017, JAL had started up a system wherein employees could telework from wherever they were traveling. The initial purpose was to encourage its employees to take their paid vacation days and for them to refresh themselves. 10 As of 2020, however, the company had shifted course toward having employees pursue learning and make local connections. 11 Why did this unique development take place in Japan? First of all,  ). Retrieved from https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO65128270W0A011C2XXA000 12 In the OECD's statistics on self-employment rates by activity for 2017, in Japan, the ratio of self-employed people among workers in service industries were 52.7% for men, at the 13th position among 18 countries, and 82.1% for women, at the 10th place among 15 countries. OECD, Selfemployment rate by activity. https://data.oecd.org/entrepreneur/selfemployment-by-activity.htm in cities usually find it "difficult to send employees to outlying areas without a work-related purpose." Because of these conflicting desires, workcations have evolved into cross-border learning contexts. Therefore, because workcations in Japan started as an approach for both companies and local governments to achieve their goals visa-vis employed workers, the upshot is that the format of the workcation has been altered from its original meaning in the West. With this, workcations have taken on various forms, and thus, the term workcation has taken on a new meaning that rather than combining work and vacation combines work with communication,