Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine how affective experience changes while walking
on Kumano Kodo. To this end, in May (Study 1) and September and October (Study 2) 2017, two
questionnaire surveys were conducted for Japanese walkers on the Kumano Kodo trail. Based
on the Affect Valuation Theory (Tsai et al., 2006), four types of affect (high-arousal positive, lowarousal
positive, low-arousal negative, high-arousal negative) were measured. Results of Study 1
that focused on affective changes before and after walking on Kumano Kodo revealed that lowarousal
negative affect significantly decreased after walking. Results of Study 2 that focused on the
four phases (five survey points) affective changes during walking on Kumano Kodo identified that
only high-arousal positive affect changed according to the peak model (Clawson & Knetsch, 1966). In
conclusion, this study indicates that affective changes while walking on Kumano Kodo vary not only
in the valence dimension (i.e., positive vs. negative), but also in the arousal dimension (i.e., high- vs.
low-arousal).
