Inbound Walking Tourism in the Nakasendo: What Motivates Visiting Western Tourists

Abstract

 Inbound walking tourism at the Nakasendo-route post towns of Tsumago-juku and Magome-juku is investigated to clarify the format and the context of the walking tourism experience from the motivation of visiting Western tourists. A questionnaire survey was carried out in a case study on the Nakasendo-route (Kisoji) between Tsumago-juku and Magome-juku. The results of the survey reveal the following. Western tourists visit the Nakasendo route hoping for a “different tourist experience,” not “something found in inbound tourist guidebooks.” They seek “quiet,” “calm,” and an “escape from metropolises (non-urban areas)” as well. Japan's urbanized sightseeing exhausts them, and they seek out the Nakasendo route hoping for a peaceful and quiet communion with nature. They hold in high regard the natural landscape of “mountain ranges,” “forests,” and “rivers and waterfalls,” as well as “rice paddies,” “agricultural scenes,” and a “rural lifestyle,” that may be considered “ordinary” by Japanese people living in agricultural regions. Overall, Western tourists do appreciate an “authentic rural experience,” and the elements of ancient Japanese history and culture that can be seen even in the present day. Moreover, Western tourists who visit the Nakasendo are typically employed in knowledge-based professions, working as lawyers, doctors, researchers, and professors, or in creative professions, working as designers, architects, or IT professionals. As a result, it can be concluded that walking tourism in the Nakasendo appeals to Western tourists who seek an alternative tourist experience of peace amidst nature, which is not available in a city, both because the Nakasendo is not frequented by Western tourists and because it offers something different from a “typical” sightseeing experience.