In Japan, tourism has become marketing issues of great interest in recent years. The expansion of inbound tourism continues and the Olympic Games are imminent. Tourism has gained widespread public attention beyond specific issues of the industry. However, tourism is an industry with many contradictions and conflicts. This issue features articles that explore these aspects and discuss how various players can mediate contradictions and conflicts in tourism marketing.

In this study, the role of platform interaction was considered. I focused on the problems that could co-exist between local life and economic platforms and lead to European, American and Australian tourists. The tourists from Europe, the United States and Australia are interested in Japan’s unique landscape, history and culture. Therefore, it was considered from the viewpoint of the role of platform interaction, and the existence of the “activator” in the tourism platform that lives with the regional platform.

Drawing from a case study on Californian cuisine, this paper examined how regions without any well-known cultural heritage can develop slow foods that cater to practitioners of slow travel. The case study’s findings revealed that both the high quality of the cuisine and the story associated with its development have been responsible for making Californian cuisine an iconic American slow food. The results suggest that the story associated with Californian cuisine enhances the experiences of slow tourists by satisfying their desires to distance themselves from the modern world full of “impurity, the virtual, the spun and the mass-produced,” to understand American culture, and to practice ethical consumption. For marketers of Japanese tourism, the findings imply that creating a well-framed, effective story of slow food requires profound, accurate knowledge of local food and local culture, as well as attention to the fact that slow tourists, unlike entirely self-interested consumers, value ethical consumption.

Who and what comprise the tourism business ecosystem for the Japanese tourism market in Hawaii? To answer this question, this paper focused on the behavior of an international tour operator (JTB Hawaii) and conducted a case study from the viewpoint of tourism management. We examined the process by which JTB Hawaii established their share of the Japanese tourism market by building various tourism-related businesses and supporting local communities, while simultaneously adapting to the changing times. This study suggests that JTB Hawaii’s actions included: (1) a bi-directional process that co-created economic and social values, (2) expansion to become a core tourism business for the entire region, and (3) implementation of survival measures as a private company by creating a public service organization.

This study considers the factors motivating travel in domestic medical tourism. Although many studies have focused on international medical tourism, few have investigated domestic medical tourism. Recently, the market for domestic medical tourism has increased. This paper discusses the integration of medical and wellness services in Kanazawa city. Clinic patients travel from around the country. The factors affecting patients’ motives for travel can be divided in two categories (push-pull factors). The push factors include the patients’ high health consciousness, high literacy for health-related services, and the availability of information. On the other hand, the pull factors include the attractiveness of the destination for sightseeing, accessibility (e.g., opening of the super expressway or highways), the healthplex of medical and wellness services, and the hospitality of the service providers. These push-pull factors influence the consumer’s motives for travel. In this case, service quality involves building trust between the medical providers and the consumers. Hence, it is reasonable to consider that trust is a controlling influence on the perceived quality of wellness services because it promotes consumers’ health-related behaviors.

Customers play an increasingly critical role in companies’ value creation activities. Customer co-creation activities can take place across the entire value chain, in both service delivery and the recovery process after a service failure. Co-Creation in Service Recovery is recognized as a cost-efficient recovery strategy that restores customer satisfaction and enhances customers’ intention toward future co-creation. This paper presents the relevant prior research and future issues based on a review of the Co-Creation in Service Recovery literature. Previous investigations have focused on the following two trends: (1) the effects of Co-Creation in Service Recovery and specific situations in which Co-Creation in Service Recovery is not useful, and (2) the antecedents of Co-Creation in Service Recovery (e.g., why customers are willing to participate in the co-creation of service recovery).

This article examines the understanding and significance of cultural branding of Holt, which is evaluated as a bridge between CCT and brand strategies. This task is performed while focusing on problem consciousness, perspective to brands and academic area on which to rely. The model is positioned as the interpretivism which deals with transcendent concepts for culture and brand, and its construction process complements traditional positivism and can be considered to provide strategic flexibility and practicality. It is also showed strong brands are more likely to be criticized by communities, so brand is not of the absolute property, but rather the ideal state of the brand that meets the managerial goal, constrained by environment and having a dynamic property.

Postponement of decision making in manufacturing and product planning has been adopted in many industries. In particular, apparel firms are trying to absorb demand uncertainty and inventory risk through additional manufacturing and planning throughout the season. Despite such efforts, the inventory volume is increasing in the Japanese apparel industry. This paper examines the impacts of postponed manufacturing and planning on inventory performance based on the analysis of survey data collected from Japanese apparel firms (wholesalers). The findings indicate that postponed manufacturing reduces the amount of inventory, however, postponed planning increases it when apparel firms externalize their retail function. Apparel firms that adopt postponed planning need to consider the controllability of retail function and the ability to maintain the decision-making accuracy of additional production at a high level.

Japan saw remarkable growth in the number of international tourists in the 2010s. In Kinosaki, a hot springs town in Toyooka, Hyogo prefecture, the number of international tourists increased 36 times in a span of 5 years. This case will look at Nishimuraya, a ryokan (traditional Japanese-style inn) in Kinosaki with more than 100 years of history, and its efforts to welcome international tourists. With the aim of providing the same experience for Japanese and international customers, Nishimuraya has attempted to become multilingual, as well as recruiting and training staff fluent in English. Moreover, as the preferences of international tourists change from tangible to intangible, Nishimuraya is trying to come up with new experiences to offer. Based on interviews of managing director Keiichiro Ikegami and global marketing chief Colin Fukai, this case shows how Nishimuraya differentiates itself while maintaining the spirit of “coexistence and mutual prosperity” that has long prevailed in Kinosaki.

The outstanding ability of the Daikin Industries Ltd. to develop new products has helped it to overcome successive crises. The company recently set out to shift from a product-oriented to a customer-oriented approach, and it has derived substantial benefits from the change. One example is what the company calls AaaS – the Air-conditioning facility subscription service. This involves the constant supply of fresh air, ranging from the installation of an air-conditioning facility to the provision of operational plans, maintenance or after-sales service for a monthly fee. The company, as part of its focus on potential consumer needs, redirects its attention from the traditional “selling-materials policy” to a “selling-experience policy”. The aim of AaaS is not just to benefit users by optimizing air-conditioning, but also to save them money. With the heightened commoditization in recent years, it has become challenging for companies to sustain their competitive advantage simply through the quality or functionality of their products. The AaaS case of the Daikin suggests that companies can provide users with new values without changing the lineup of products by shifting from product-oriented to customer-oriented service.