The Kamchatka Peninsula in Far-Eastern Russia was an area where foreign tourists were not allowed to enter without any restriction during the days of the former Soviet Union. Its opening up to the world was in 1992. For foreigners Kamchatka is a very fascinating land blessed with rich natural resources such as natural reserves, nature parks including the UNESCO world heritage-listed area, Kamchatka bear, natural salmons and also the exotic land of indigenous culture of the Koryak, Itel’men, Even and so on. At the beginning most tourists would like to try mountaineering, trekking, fishing and hunting, however as regards to experiencing indigenous culture, only folk dancing-shows by indigenous dance ensembles are provided to tourists. Recently, the trend of tourist’s taste to “ experience ” indigenous culture is definitely increasing. To meet such needs small groups of indigenous people have begun to build such “ indigenous settlements ” where tourists can experience their culture. In this paper the author would like to discuss the problems of ethno-tourism in Kamchatka by focusing upon the relations between indigenous culture and foreign tourists from recent investigation.
