Globally, Smartcity is not considered an empirical experiment or theory as Japanese society always talks about it as a purely huge industry. The tourism industry is positioned as a very important sub-industry in that industrial system, and its efforts are progressing all over the world. From around 2008, various advanced technologies and IT systems called the City OS (operation system) have already been introduced into Smartcity all over the world. In Japan, discussions on the City OS have finally progressed in the last 1-2 years, but the gap between Japan and the world for 10 years is so large. The City OS in the EU has progressed and it is combined with digital twin technology for a digital nurse. In this proposal, I will focus on the mechanism called digital nurse, which was considered in collaboration with a EU team. The technology support for Smartcity in the EU is the most advanced from Smartcity, industry, and tourism. As a sub-industry of the latest international Smartcity, the expansion of the tourism industry by applying cutting-edge technology in the world is described in this paper.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics of the contents of posts on SNSs by foreign visitors to Japan regarding their trips and the difference in the contents of posts depending on the region from which they are from, age group, and gender. Targeting foreign visitors aged 15 years or older who visited Kanazawa City in Ishikawa prefecture and wrote posts on SNSs, a questionnaire survey was carried out. The questionnaire items related to the contents of posts are the same as the questionnaire survey by Japan Travel and Tourism Association for Japanese people who travelled to Japan and wrote posts on SNSs. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statics 25 on the responses. The results indicate that the range of topics in posts by foreign visitors is more than double those in posts by Japanese tourists, that the contents of posts by foreign visitors can be classified into three groups, that the contents and the number of types of posts depend on the region where they are from, and that the number of posts on member of a party depend on gender. SNSs are considered to play an important role in determining the destination of travel. The results in this study provide important suggestions for tourism strategy planning using SNSs.

View full abstract

This study determines the impact of recipients' Japan-visit experience on the hierarchy of effects for Japanese confectionery brands. Many Chinese tourists purchase confectioneries as travel souvenirs for gift giving. This study focuses on recipients’ brand attitudes regarding the received travel souvenir. Attitudes comprise of three components: cognitive, affective, and conative. The hierarchy of effects concept is developed to explain the relative impact of the three components. The study focuses on the learning hierarchy process, low involvement hierarchy process, and dissonance-attribution hierarchy process, develops three sequential models to clarify brand character related to the attitudes, and tests ten brands. The results show that the regional souvenir brands are associated with the dissonance-attribution hierarchy process, and affected by the recipients’ Japan-visit Experience, with their visiting frequency making a positive impact.

View full abstract

The physical accessibility status of Angkor Wat temple was quantitatively measured. In comparison with the standard of Japanese law, physical barriers which existed in stairs, toilets and fences in the main visiting route were identified. Further, examining possible improvements that could be implemented considering the perspective of cultural property protection, specially selected visitation routes could be constructed for visitors for tourism and for visitors for worship were suggested.

View full abstract

These days, one of the main targets of the tourism industry in rural areas in Japan is to increase the number of tourists from foreign countries. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to provide foreign tourists with “language service.” In this study, in order to understand the state of language service, Komatsu Airport and Toyama Airport in the Hokuriku region are taken up as examples, English guidebooks available at those local airports are metrically analyzed metrically, compared with guidebooks at international airports in Japan and overseas. In short, frequency characteristics of character- and word-appearance are investigated using a program written in C++. These characteristics are approximated by an exponential function. Furthermore, the percentage of Japanese junior high school required vocabulary and American basic vocabulary is calculated to obtain the difficulty-level of each material. As a result, it was clearly shown that English tourist guidebooks available at local airports in Japan have a similar tendency to English literary writings in character-appearance, and the difficulty-level for them is low.

View full abstract

This study proposes a plan for Suzaka in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, to revitalize tourism by promoting citizens’ health using open data. The proposal connects and promotes regional resources through digital transformation tools and technologies that leverage open data to engage, educate, and empower residents and visitors alike. At its foundation are actions, applications, initiatives, and policies that have been proven to stimulate health self-efficacy, bolster tourism, and invigorate regional resources through the synergy effect of collaboration.

View full abstract

As an alternative to live tourism, the pandemic crisis has given rise to virtual tourism. Virtual tourism content can vary from viewing scenery in still images (photo), moving images (video), or in 3D, to experiencing virtual reality travel. This study investigated Japanese and foreign tourist perceptions of Japanese photo and video sceneries. A questionnaire focused on five different scenery categories (traditional, floral, sea views, ocean waves, and fauna) was conducted on 112 subjects (87 Japanese and 25 foreigners). The questionnaire asked participants to view the photo and video sceneries and give their impressions using 10 paired adjectives and a 7-point semantic differential scale. It was found that the Japanese participants gave a greater number of positive responses for the video sceneries than for the photo sceneries in all categories, and except for fauna, the foreign participants gave a greater number of positive responses to the photo sceneries in all categories. This study highlighted the perceptual differences between Japanese and non-Japanese tourists (Asian tourists in particular) toward Japanese photo and video sceneries. These study results could be used as a reference to create targeted virtual tourism content.

View full abstract

In Japan, people infected with the new corona-virus were recognized for the first time in January 2020, the number of infected people increased, and a state of emergency was issued in April. Event-holding was limited and business hours were also shortened due to the state, and restaurant opening hours were also restricted at the same time. Economic activity was greatly affected focusing on the service industry. This infectious disease pandemic is a kind of disaster and tourism related companies, including transportation and restaurants, are being mostly affected. The number of foreign tourists visiting Japan (inbound tourists) decreased drastically after the outbreak of the infectious disease and domestic tourists were also on the decline. The following measures are required to turn the economy around as soon as possible as a game change, namely: deregulating overseas travel, participation in an event, and eating out for vaccinated persons while avoiding the risk of infection. In this paper, the decrease of inbound tourists and economic conditions due to the COVID-19 pqandemic are verified, and a travel process combined with PCR tests for vaccinated persons is proposed to relax overseas travel regulations.

View full abstract

This paper aims at discussing outbound tourism demand during Japan’s economic boom period. Although inbound tourism is generally regarded as significant in present-day Japan, outbound tourism was mainstream from the 1970s to the 1990s as a means of balancing international trade. This situation was also convenient for travel agencies, since many Japanese took the opportunity to travel overseas. Demographical analysis results show that male travelers dominated in 1971, while the number of female and younger travelers increased by 1989. This paper also applied a regression model to demonstrate tourism demand and found that the distance friction increased in 1989. This result was influenced by tourists’ preference for Asia-Pacific regions as opposed to European destinations. In terms of price competitiveness, many tourists were likely to visit more expensive countries, a finding that contradicts general theory. In this paper, it was concluded that at this time, many tourists demanded luxury goods and services with respect to overseas trips. Moreover, the economic situation, such as the increased cost of living in Japan, influenced the results.

View full abstract

In European countries, interests in the bicycle resurged since 1970s for as a clean, light, sustainable and humane means of personal transport. In this paper, we overviewed the measures taken by Luxembourg, one of the founding nations of the EU, in terms of cycling promotion. The country has been heavily dependent on personal vehicle for transportation, causing various economic and ecological problems. To address the issues, the government has been implementing policies for modal shift from private vehicles to public transport and soft mobility such as walking and cycling. The policy packages to promote cycling encompass multiple pillars, such as cycle sharing system, cycle path construction and purchase subsidies. One notable program is Vëlosummer, which aims to support domestic hospitality sectors through cycle tourism.

View full abstract