Potential Applicability of Visual Methods with Regional Branding

Focusing on Understanding Subjective Perceptions of Place

Abstract

One of the strategies to tackle with the developing regional problem is regional branding, or on the other hand, place branding. As the importance of distinctive characters of regions continually to attract attention from various disciplines, from regional study to marketing strategies and more, it is reasonable to suggest that effective methods to discover and to manage a place are needed for regional revitalization. This essay will be reviewing the concept of Japan regional branding and the current development towards place branding concept and the focus on exploring residents’ subjective opinions toward a place. By recognizing the need of exploring subjective opinions, this essay will propose a concept model based on visual ethnography for further exploring people’s subjective opinions and for providing a new perspectives and possibilities to regional revitalization.