Abstract
In recent years, the number of foreign tourists who visit Japan is increasing. In addition, tourists are visiting not only major cities but also regional areas. It is important for regional areas to cooperate with their neighboring areas because tourist visits are usually cover a wide area. However, the more foreign tourists that come to regional areas, the more problems that occur with regards to uneven distribution. Problems such as the capacity of accommodations and traffic jams occur in the area.
This paper considers the above problems by analyzing situations of uneven distributions faced by various areas on the basis of seasonal accommodations centralization. The area of the case study was “the Chubu Area”, a central area in Japan consisting of nine prefectures.
The results of the case study showed that the more foreign tourists that come to this area, the greater the seasonal ubiquity. One reason for this is assumed to be because the increased rate of foreign people visiting the Chubu Area is for sightseeing. Therefore, sightseeing spots, which have seasonal features, attract visitors in the specific seasons. If this condition continues, foreign tourists may become dissatisfied with their visit to Japan because of overcrowding, so a solution needs to be considered. Some regional areas in Japan may already have overcome the problems by not promoting only the famous sightseeing spots in an area for a specific season. One of the resolutions of both decentralization and continual increases in foreign tourists may be the promotion of business attractions.
JEL Classification:R11, R15, R58
