The government has begun promoting garden tourism in earnest, hoping to foster new tourism resources to rebuild an industry hard hit particularly in rural areas following the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Garden tourism is an effort to create attractive tourist routes by linking multiple gardens, botanical gardens and other locations. This type of tourism is long-established in Europe and the United States as a means to attract tourists to rural areas.
On Oct. 17, the government will register two such routes to promote garden tourism through exchanges among the locations. One of them is named Sesshu Kairo, a route comprising nine locations in Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures related to Sesshu, a zen monk and prominent ink brush artist in the Muromachi period (1336-1573). The other is the Mushashino Garden Kiko, a route covering 20 green-rich locations in Tokyo.
Under the registration system, which was established last year, a panel consisting mainly of tourism-related officials and university professors studies candidate locations submitted by local government councils or facility managers. Recommendations are judged on whether the locations reflect local natural climate or history, and whether they are expected to contribute to the revitalization of local communities, among other possibilities.
The registration is decided upon by the director general of the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry's City Bureau following deliberations. Eight locations have been registered nationwide.
Partly because this year marks 600th anniversary of the birth of Sesshu, tours to Joeiji Sesshutei in Yamaguchi City or Manpukuji temple garden in Masuda, Shimane Prefecture, both believed to have been designed by Sesshu, are said to have been highly evaluated.
The Fuji Hakone Izu tourism program for visiting Imperial family-related gardens, registered last year, comprises the Numazu Imperial Villa Memorial Park in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, built for Emperor Taisho's recuperation, and the Kanagawa prefectural Onshi-Hakone Park in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, which was a summer resort for the Imperial family, among other locations.
A tour organized by a local travel agency to visit these locations is said to have especially attracted the attention of Imperial family fans.
The government hopes to boost tourism revenues in various parts of the country by encouraging the active use of garden tourism in line with its Go To Travel tourism promotion program. The government will strengthen support for events and public relation activities using social networking services, and introduce tourist routes on the ministry's website for tourists from both in and outside Japan.
Since Japan's garden culture attracts lots of attention abroad, a senior government official said garden tourism is expected to help increase foreign visitors after the virus outbreak subsides.
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