Abstract
The objective of this paper is to explore, through the case study of Harie Village in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, how the village succeeded in creating an attractive community space without adopting conventional tourism methods.
Particular interest is given at the contradicting claim villagers make that the village is not a tourist destination whilst they proactively engage in tourism. It can be said that this claim symbolizes the difficulty to involve the whole community in promoting tourism.
After analyzing the case, there were below findings. In the first place, tourism in Harie Village did not start as a local revitalization program. A voluntary group started activities to protect the villagers' daily life from the sudden increase of tourists to the village. However, many villagers focused on the group's tourist service aspects and had an understanding that they were promoting tourism. In other words, there was a difference between the two parties’ understandings. The voluntary group had the purpose of protecting the villagers' daily lives, but the villagers thought that the voluntary group was trying to change the community into a tourist destination.
However, the voluntary group did not necessarily regard the difference in understanding the other villagers as something negative. The voluntary group has been making adjustments in carrying out tourism so that it does not compromise the daily life of villagers who are opposed to tourism. This understanding, as a result, prevented the village from becoming a typical touristic community.
