Eyes to the Forest

World Natural Heritage and the Perspective of Tourism Development in Yaku Island

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to suggest the destination of tourism in Yaku Island, or Yakushima, by considering the bundle of various eyes or gaze to the forests, Yaku-cedar or Yakusugi and other unique natural environment.
After World War II, the forest of Yakushima has been treated under the discussion of ideology dispute whether it should be developed or conserved for the islanders. Especially, from 1950s, large-scale logging using machinery such as chain saws and wire ropes was begun to supply the demand from around the country. The islanders mainly engaged in the logging operations as a worker. The industry was an important source of income for Yakushima people because of the fragile industrial situation in the island. However, at the same time, such operations certainly brought about deterioration of environment, especially damage of Yakusugi whose age was over one thousand years. Therefore, part of islanders, in 1970, established a society to conserve the natural environment of Yakushima whose name was Yakushima wo mamorukai as having conflicted with logging workers.
Historical eyes of the islanders to the forest moved from awe in their traditional belief to environmental conservation or preservation through economic imperative such as subsistence and capitalism. The islanders basically have turned their eyes upon the forest on spectrum of relationship between destructive lumbering and natural conservation. In that process, they had come to require ideal situation satisfying both economic and natural environmental demands in the context of mutual relationship between nature and human beings. Ecotourism has been recognized and expected by certain islanders as one of methods to realize that since 1990s. However, such tourism is only conducted by immigrants and external capitals and thus arouses complaint from indiginous islanders who are not involved with the industry. Simultaneously, the context of tourism makes clear of difference of eyes to the forest between indiginous people and outlanders such as immigrants and tourists.
By analyzing the meanings of various internal and external eyes to the forests and other natural environment through the cultural concepts such as “Kankyobunka-mura, ” “kankobunka or tourism culture, ” and “kankoshizen or tourism nature, ” I provide a basic stand for the development in Yakushima by stressing a new type of tourism which averts tourists' eyes from the ecological environment including Natural Heritage to the Islanders' lifestyle.