Abstract
1 Ryukyu Islands and Hokkaido
Ryukyu Islands and Hokkaido have a similarity that they were both colonized by Japan in nineteenth century: Kingdom of Ryukyu was destroyed in 1879, and "Ezo(Ainu) Land" was colonized in 1869 by Meiji Government. Although the indigenousness of Ryukyu Islanders is different from that of the Ainu, indigenous people in Hokkaido, they have clearly an identity of "Shimanchu" which differs them from the people living in main islands of Japan ("Yamatonchu").
2 Perspectives from indigenous ecotourism
In Hokkaido, the Ainu ecotourism was launched in 2005 in Shiretoko which was nominated as World Natural Heritage area in 2005. It aimed a legal participation of Ainu to the management plan the Shiretoko World Heritage area, cultural heritage through ecotourism, creation of new jobs for the Ainu youth, and the right recovery of the Ainu, especially the right of natural resources use (Ono, 2006). The model was Maori eco-tour in Aotearoa (New Zealand) which empowered the Maori people since 1990's.
The purpose of the indigenous ecotourism is to change the vector in the tourism: form "to be seen, and to be told" towards "to see and to tell". The indigenous people become a subject of the tour while they were an object of ordinary tours. Through the indigenous eco-tour, they create a new relation between non-indigenous people "to see and tell each other equally", by sending their own messages from their culture and on the situation where they are now. This change also aims to reset the direction of "regard" and capital flow which have been always from center to marginal.
Here I would like to define the "ecotourism" as a local or community-based tourism, in which the benefits will be returned to the community as much as possible, aiming the historical and cultural heritage of the area, and the conservation of nature to realize the sustainable tourism.
3 Significance and problems of "Onna-son Ecotourism Research Union" in Okinawa
This union was established in 2000 by a grass-rooted network organized by Mrs. Misako NAKANISHI, environmental activist living in Onna-son (village), mid- west of Okinawa Island. She began her eco-friendly movement in 1980's especially for water conservation in Okinawa. After creating a soap factory reproduced from waste oil at home in 1994, she also began a nature protection movement of the Yakata tidal flat spreading just in front of her home. During a struggle against the development stress in Okinawa, she reached a thought that it is necessary to show the people the importance of not only ecological but also economical values of the wetlands to protect them from the development. If it is shown by ecotourism, it will be more persuasive. This was why she established "Onna-son Ecotourism Research Union".
"Obaa (Old women)" culture is one of the characteristics of Okinawa culture. Although the members of Union are not always old, they are mainly women. Therefore the viewpoint of the eco-tour created the Onna-son Ecotourism Research Union is much more feminine than other eco-tours mostly created by men. It will be important to compare the feminine view and masculine one in eco-tour. The effect of eco-tour for the environmental conservation and the cultural heritage in Onna-son which was aimed by the Union from the beginning will be also discussed in the presentation.
