Current trends in japanese tourism geography and the post-resort boom era

Abstract

The geography of tourism in Japan substantially began during the 1960's. At that time, tourism development spreading to rural area, was very marked. But, as it was just a speculative boom, tourism study has forced to staguate since then. The so-called ‘Resort Boom’ in the late 1980's, however, stimulated tourism study again, so that it brought about remarkable phenomena not only at a regional scale, but also at a national one. As a natural consequence, this boom subsided because it was also a speculative one. The geography of tourism in Japan today is now adrift just as it was 20 years ago. Now is a turning point, to see whether the geography of tourism in Japan will more towards a stagnation again or not. From a broad point of view, this paper, considering geography of tourism not only as a representation of tourism phenomena but also as a socia science, aims to inquire whether geography of tourism in Japan has any raison d'être the after ‘Resort Boom’. For this purpose, first of all, the author examines the problems and the socio-economic circumstances the in geography of tourism while comparing Angle-American studies with the Japanese ones. The subjects of Angle-American studies on geography of tourism can be generally classified as follows: (a) Tourist recognition of tourist areas and tourism resources, and tourist behavior. (b) Tourist flow analysis. (c) Location of tourism industries. (d) Tourism development. (e) Impacts of tourism on economy, society, culture and natural environment. (f) Evaluation of resources and landscape as tourist attractions. (g) Tourism planning and regulation. One of the features in these studies is that the each subject is divided according to geographical aspects of tourism while keeping in close contact with others. The other is that all the subjects show a strong intent for practical use within the limits of the results. Tourism development in Anglo-America except U.S.A., where soft tourism and political influence are dominant, may affect the strong practical intentions and the scholarly divisions of labor shaping holistic perspectives. As compared with the currents of human geography in Anglo-America, however, almost all the studies consisting of empirical research such as morphology, positivism or behaviorism still remain at the previous level of the 1960's or 1970's. As for the geography of tourism in Japan before ‘Resort Boom’, there are five research divisions as follows: (1) Analyses and descriptions of tourist flow and recreation facilities. (2) Distribution of tourist areas. (3) Locational development and development process of tourism areas. (4) Tourism development as a factor in regional development. (5) Tourism resources analysis. The political framework and regulations on tourism in Japan, unlike Anglo-America, has been, as it were, laissez-faire, and private companies have taken the lead in tourism development. Also, tourism development by private companies and their effects on a region have inevitably caught geographer's attention. The main currents were in (3) and (4) above, and the remaining research divisions were evaluated as subsideries. Compared with Anglo-America, Japanese studies have a good point concentrating on historical perspective, but they could hardly deal with the social and environmental problems because studies on the impacts on natural environment, planning and regulation were very few due to a lack of philosophy and social theory. Until the middle 1980's, the geography of tourism in Japan was generally inactive, and there was little controversy. In the late 1980's, studies on tourism development, its impact and relevant policy have appeared one after another in the context of the ‘Resort Boom’. They however are still an extension of the existing empirical perspectives. © 1994, The Human Geographical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.