In March 2011, a devastating earthquake and tsunamis hit the northeast coast of Japan, causing damage to people and property. By focusing on the social relationships between actors during the reconstruction process, this study aims to clarify how these changes have affected the spatial structure of commercial and residential areas. Rikuzentakata City, the study area, was severely damaged by the tsunamis, and temporary housing and stores were established on the higher ground and in the suburbs, causing transient displacement of the residential and commercial areas. However, during the period of long-term recovery from the disaster, the actors, mainly merchants and the local government, demonstrated resilience by using existing social ties or building new strong ones, and managed to rebuild a new intensive commercial area. On the other hand, residential areas were newly built on the higher ground to avoid the tsunami disaster. At present, the commercial area in the raised ground and the residential area on the higher ground are spatially separated, and the regional structure has become different from that before the disaster.

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In this study, we developed a Web-based Geographical information system (WebGIS) for tourism and disaster prevention to support regional and environmental learning, based on the field survey data and a documentary on Benten-jima area in the Lake Hamana region, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The site has potential natural and cultural resources for tourism. The WebGIS is primarily designed to smartphone usage, and also designed for public use based on original geospatial information and open data used for maps and hazard analysis. Especially, WebGIS can provide important information pertaining to hazard mapping and the locations of evacuation facilities for disaster prevention; this technology is important for the analysis of the region, as the study area is prone to tsunamis. Based on the verification experiments at the site and several interviews conducted in the winter of 2020, we conclude that this WebGIS can assist users in learning the characteristics of a specific region and its environment, including the culture, history, and nature of the region. Notably, the system can be used to identify potential tourism resources in a specific region. For example, in our study, WebGIS was used to identify small historical monuments of Haiku and the aquaculture of oysters, seaweed, and other fishery resources in the target region. After continuous improvements based on experimental results and detailed interviews conducted with local core actors and organisations, the proposed WebGIS for Tourism and Disaster Prevention of Benten-jima was released in 2021 at the Websites of the official association for Tourism of Maisaka-town and non-profit organization (NPO) Hamanako Forum, along with launching the system on the official website of the developer’s laboratory (Shizuoka University, Japan).

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This paper examines the impact of sports camps on the demand for accommodations in local cities in Japan. The research method is an analysis of the needs of visiting teams and the specific innovations and support of the government and accommodations. The case study is Abashiri City in eastern Hokkaido, where sports training camps are popular among elite athletes as the main clientele. In the 1980s, Abashiri City was concerned that the number of group travelers would decrease in the near future. In order to attract new demand for accommodations, Abashiri City began a policy of attracting sports training camps in 1988, pioneering this policy in Japan. In the early years, elite athletes in rugby and track and field visited Abashiri. The elite athletes in rugby and track and field demanded different services and support from Abashiri City and the accommodations than general tourists. These included training sites, guest rooms, meals, and transportation. Abashiri City and the accommodations cooperated to provide a high level of flexible services for the elite athletes. This has succeeded in raising the reputation of sports camps in Abashiri City and attracting new camps to the city. Consequently, Abashiri has become a Mecca for sports camps, particularly for elite athletes in rugby and track and field. Based on the above background, the findings of this paper are as follows: First, the sports camps have become repeat visitors to the city, and have increased the demand for accommodations. This has helped to sustain Abashiri’s tourism industry, which targets group travelers. Secondly, Abashiri City and its accommodations were able to create a high level of service to attract sports camps by involving the local community. Accommodations were able to create order-made services, rather than the manualized services that had been offered to group tourists until the 1980s. Previous studies have indicated that sports camps represent a supplemental demand in the management of accomodations in local cities. In contrast, it was an essential demand for accommodation in the Abashiri City.

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