Cultural landscapes with particular regional characteristics where agriculture- and forestry related traditions are still being practiced are important elements of regional planning. Recently, international tourism promotion services have started to show an increased demand for sightseeing services that take place in regions in which traditional industries and other cultural elements are rooted. Using Visitor Employed Photography, this study was conducted in the middle reaches of the Oi River Basin in Shizuoka Prefecture, a region dominated by tea plantations. It was investigated which kinds of landscapes Chinese and Japanese visitors respectively considered as particularly appealing. The result of the comparative investigation showed that the Chinese visitors mainly appreciated geographical natural features such as the forests, rivers and mountains, while the Japanese treated elements such as forests only as background and most appreciated sights that had to do with the tea plantation industry.
