the historical development of japanese tourism
Post on 21-Jun-2015
1.011 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
From Pilgrimage to Package: The Evolution of the Japanese Tourism Industry
Dr Roger March
rogerstgmarch@gmail.com
Overview
¢ Pre-Tokugawa
¢ Tokugawa Era (1603-1867)
¢ Modern Era (1867-1945)
¢ Post-WWII (1945 à)
¢ Birth of Outbound Industry
Pre-Tokugawa: Travel Before 1600 ¢ Arrival of Buddhism sparks
religious travel in 7th/8th C.
¢ Heian Era (794-1185) l Round trip from Kyoto to Mt Koya
took one month, over 600k with 1000 people, incl. guards & porters
¢ Azuchi-Motoyama Era (1568-1602) l Poor quality roads & sekisho
system hamper travel
Undated: Bridge over Nishiki River in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Tokugawa Era 1603-1867
Severe Travel Restrictions ¢ Sankin kotai ¢ Sekisho (600 check stations) ¢ Few bridges ¢ 1635:Japanese are forbidden to
travel abroad or to return from abroad
¢ 1638: Construction of boats over 100seki banned
¢ 1639: Japan begins 215-year period of self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world
1863: Ashinoyu Hot Springs, Hakone
The View in 1691
“There are incredibly so many people travelling on the main roads
in this country, and in several seasons roads are flooded with the
people just as in the big cities of Europe. ...
“[T]here are at least two reasons why so many people travelling in
this country. Firstly, because of the big population of this country, and secondly because of the people's fondness for travelling compared
with the peoples of other countries.”
Dr. Engelbert Kaempfer
Dutch doctor in Nagasaki office of Dutch East India Company
Undated: The old Tsukimi Teahouse at Suwa Shinto Shrine, Nagasaki.
Pilgrimage in Japanese Travel
Three Types of Pilgrimage
¢ honzon (specific gods or Buddhist images) junrei (pilgrimage), for solely religious purposes
¢ soshi junrei, a pilgrimage to visit temples founded or occupied by particular sect in order to worship founders (soshi) e.g., Shikoku 88 sacred places
¢ meiseki junrei pilgrimage to visit famous places (meiseki) e.g., 7 great temples of Nara
Okagemairi (Pilgrimage of gratitude)
1718 ¢ Around 2.25 million
Japanese visit Ise Shrine (8% of total population).
1830 ¢ Up to 5 million Japanese
visit Ise Shrine (18% of population).
¢ Last great mass pilgrimage of Tokugawa Era.
Undated: Pilgrim family of three with hats, bags, canes and sandals on their
feet. Shrine in background.
Early Meiji: Family being entertained by street entertainer.
Pilgrimages for the masses Sir Rutherford Alcock, Britain's first official representative in Japan, informed Japanese officials he intended a pilgrimage to Mount Fuji. “It is not consistent with the dignity of a Daimio, or even an officer of any rank, to make the pilgrimage - perhaps because too many of the greasy mob must unavoidably come in close contact with them“.
(Ishimori, 1985, p.185)
Modern era begins 1867à
Domestic Factors ¢ Influx of foreigners into the country: diplomats, sailors, merchants,
adventurers - and tourists. ¢ By 1870, the world's four largest steamship companies had offices
in Yokohama ¢ Kihin-Kai (The Welcome Society of Japan) established in 1893 ¢ Minami Shinsuke establishes travel business arranging religious
travel to Takanoyama and Ise Shrine in 1905 International Factors ¢ Suez Canal opens in 1869 ¢ Trans-American railway line completed ¢ Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days" published in 1873
Footnote on JTB, the world’s biggest travel agent ¢ Established in 1912 as Japan Tsûrisuto Byûro to service the
inbound market ¢ In May 1941 ‘JTB’ changes to Toa Travel Company (Tôa
Ryokosha). ‘Toa’ refers to Greater Asia region under Japanese control.
¢ In July government bans all companies other than 'JTB' from operating travel businesses. It becomes the government's travel agent arranging l the transport for new army recruits l troop transfers and evacuations.
¢ In 1943, the company's name was changed to Nihon Kôtsu Kôsha (Japan Transport Corporation). The frivolous word 'travel' (ryokô) was replaced with 'transport' (kôtsu).
¢ Reverted to Japan Travel Bureau two days after Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan
¢ JTB was the Japanese government's sole designated company arranging for the repatriation of Japanese soldiers to Japan after the war
Culture & Travel through History
¢ Oshogatsu (New Year)
¢ Obon (Mid-summer
¢ Shugaku ryoko (school excursion)
¢ Shinkon Ryoko (honeymoon)
¢ Shokuba ryoko (company trip)
1889: Japan’s first western-style hotel, Fujiya Hotel in Hakone.
1945 à Olympic Games
Domestic travel: To Raise Japanese spirits? ¢ 1946 saw birth of National Athletic Meet (Kokumin Taiiku
Taikai) ¢ Group travel to Ise Shrine stimulated domestic travel ¢ Travel agents’ main business was selling railway travel, so
most were tied to railway companies Overseas Travel: Slow to escape shadow of WWII ¢ Japanese athletes attended First Asian Games in New Delhi
in 1951. ¢ In 1952, participated in the Oslo Winter Olympics and the
Helsinki Summer Olympics. ¢ In 1954, Japan Air Lines began its first overseas flight with
service to San Francisco. ¢ Only 25,000 Japanese travelled abroad in 1956.
Japan Uses Olympics to Liberalise Outbound Travel On April 1, 1964, all restrictions on Japanese overseas travel
were removed.
128,000 travelled abroad. It’s population was 97.8M.
The first package was "Push Button", a 19-day, 7-country
European tour by Swissair in July 1964.
The country's first home-grown
overseas package was released in April 1965, also was a 16-day
European trip.
top related