Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the recognition of national park sites compared with World Heritage sites in Japan among young Japanese. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among university students with interest in leisure sports activities (n = 410) to ascertain their recognition and interest in visiting a World Heritage or national park site. As a result of inquiring about World Heritage sites in Japan, there were answers, mentioning many registered sites, including Mt. Fuji, Yakushima, and so on. However, in the case of national park sites in Japan, they could hardly give the names of any specific sites. Although about 70% of the participants were interested in visiting a World Heritage site, less than half of the participants were interested in national park sites. Even among individuals not interested in the national park sites, about half of them were interested in World Heritage sites. These results suggest that although the places of world heritage are widely known, the national parks are hardly recognized. Furthermore, although most participants are interested in traveling to a World Heritage site, few participants want to travel to a national park. Currently, the Ministry of the Environment is undertaking a reform of the system, aiming to brand Japanese national parks as world-class national parks. This is expected to lead to promotion of interest in national parks in Japan.
