Cultural and Creative Industries – Fall XXXX

Introduction – 5 points

Tourism in Japan is one of the most significant pillars of rural community industrialization and revitalization. The country is rich in culture, natural beauty, and other human-made attraction centers. With such vase offerings, the sector is still experimenting on the best attractions for international tourists. The country is keen on conserving its natural resources to preserve the natural scenery. It also has various activities that tourists can enjoy. Notably, 340 of such activities are receiving government support for popularization by minimizing the tourism tax (Japanese National Tourism Organization, 2018). The Japanese government’s target is attracting 60 million foreign tourists annually (Japanese National Tourism Organization, 2018). This effort is mainly because the local tourism industry has dropped in recent times drastically. The country has extensive heritage, which has made it impossible to keep away foreign tourists, hence, the decision to maximize international tourism revenues. Both the local and national governments drive tourism in Japan, and they seem to focus on the needs of the organizations with the highest revenue collections. Travel agencies, buses, and trains depend on tourism for earnings. Social programs such as healthcare and pension in social security also rely on the earnings in tourism to run.

Source: Statista

The highest earner in tourism in Japan is cultural tourism.  Mostly, this form of tourism is concerned with the culture of a country or a region. Specifically, it entails a people’s lifestyle, their art, history, religion, and other factors that contributed to the shaping of their lifestyle. Culture is significant in tourism due to its positive impact socially and economically (Seaton &Yamamura, 2015). It is the uniqueness of a culture that will attract tourists to an area, thereby improving the economic activity of an area. Cultural tourism, according to Seaton and Yamamura (2015), also aids in image building, historical and cultural heritage preservation, and identity reinforcement. Culture fosters understanding between different groups of people to create harmony.

Literature Review – 5 points

Culture refers to a particular community’s way of life. Mainly, it entails their behaviors, cuisine, beliefs, values, language, religions, and arts, among other things (Gonzalez, 2008). Usually, the people in a community will accept the beliefs that the community holds without questions. The beliefs, values, and other elements are passed down from one generation to the next through imitation and communication. Recent trends in tourism have shifted from scenic beauty tourism to cultural tourism. According to the World Tourism Organization, as Gonzalez (2008) reports, cultural tourism represents a branch of tourism whereby the primary driving force for the trip is the desire to experience and learn about a specific culture in a particular tourism destination. The experience can be intellectual, spiritual, or emotional, and it aids in understanding certain communities better to foster harmony between the different communities. Without culture, it would be difficult to understand why some individuals act the way that they do, and they may be misunderstood (Bryce et al. 2015). Such misunderstandings could go as far as fostering intolerance that can bring unnecessary conflicts or disputes among various groups.

Various scholars have sought to understand cultural tourism better, owing to its rising popularity in recent times. For instance, some scholars have studied the activities that cultural tourists would normally engage in (Litvin et al., 2004). Such activities could include visiting museums and other art centers, sampling the local dishes, learning the local dialect, or experiencing a way of life, such as experiencing the life of the monks in their monastery (Bryce et al., 2015). By so doing, they have created sufficient literature on the cultural activities that one can engage in as a cultural tourist. Other scholars have classified cultural tourists based on their interests during their trip, motivations for the trip, and their experiences. Another class of scholars has dwelt on the economic implications of cultural tourism for a given community (Bryce et al., 2015). When tourists visit a specified destination to experience the culture of the given region, they will, directly and indirectly, boost economic activity in the area, thereby increasing the income earnings for the community residents.

Despite the various forms of literature on cultural tourism, not many studies have focused on the preservation of culture.  The world is increasingly becoming globalized with the internet for enhanced communication, and improved transportation services for increased interactions (Özdemir and Yolal, 2017). People from various regions migrate into other countries, seeking employment, business opportunities, and even education. With such increased interaction and ease of movement, some cultural practices are continuously disappearing. When the people of a community move elsewhere for specific reasons, or when outsiders settle within the community and intermarry, they give birth to offsprings of a different culture (Özdemir & Yolal, 2017). Consequently, they kill the existing culture. Sometimes, it even happens with the tourists, whereby they met their spouses during their tourism experience. It follows that cultural tourism is at risk and requires a reservation. However, the preservation of culture does not mean keeping away the tourists or being chained to a particular location (Özdemir & Yolal, 2017). A gap exists in the literature on how to go about preserving culture without interrupting cultural tourism. There should be further studies about cultural preservation while promoting cultural tourism.

Methodology – 5 points

Research methodology refers to the specific techniques that a researcher employs in identifying, selecting, processing, and analyzing a given topic’s data. The methodology can either apply qualitative or soft data or quantitative or hard data (Walliman, 2017). On the one hand, a researcher can opt to use a natural approach to studying an issue by using qualitative data to induce conclusions and use them to generalize the experience in a defined context. In an inductive analysis, the researcher makes certain observations first. These observations then help in coming up with theories about the study population (Walliman, 2017). Alternatively, the researcher could approach the issue through experimentation and by using quantitative data to test the existing hypothesis. The tests are then employed in making deductions and later generalizations on the topic. The deductive analysis will use existing literature’s theories to introduce various hypotheses, and then the research strategy follows to test the hypothesis.

Qualitative analysis will be a better fit for this project because there has already been a field trip where the researcher observed two different family group tourists and recorded their movements (Walliman, 2017). It would be easy to derive patterns from the recorded field notes to aid in the formation of theories on family group tourists. Accordingly, the sample population for this study was on a group of Chinese tourists who were four friends (object 1) and a family containing a father, mother, and daughter (object 2).

Findings – 10 points

The study data collection was based entirely on observations. The perspective of humans is highly selective, in that different individuals will have varying interpretations of the same object, topic, or scenery. The various interpretations rest on individual interests, backgrounds, and biases. Culture influences what an individual sees. The forms of socialization that a person experiences during the early years of childhood influence his or her perception. Li (2014) concurs with this presumption reiterating that individuals’ values influence their interpretation. Observation aids people to notice patterns that may not be obvious to the subjects in question. Therefore, an interview, for instance, would not have revealed such a pattern. In a way, an observation helps in uncovering information that participants may not reveal in interviews for various reasons.

As per my observation for this particular project, it was evident in both observation objects that age difference and role influenced how the rest of the two groups navigated through the terrain. The father was the leader of the family, and he was the breadwinner. This is seen when the father is always leading the way, and the family follows. For instance, in observation object one, the father led the way as the group climbed the mountain. Additionally, the father is seen to stay behind to pay for the merchandise that everyone had taken from the souvenir shop. He is also seen to pay for everyone’s tickets as they prepare to enter the Kiyomitsudera main building. In observation object two, a lady, who appeared older than the rest of her friends, often was ahead of her friends, and the rest followed her as she descended. Additionally, in one instance, the friends stopped and discussed something. It seemed that the leader, who is the lady, explained a cultural perception about Japanese culture in comparison to Chinese culture. I can conclude that age and role significantly influenced how the groups operated.

It also seems that the family and the group of friends were interested in sightseeing by focusing on some popular monuments such as the Red gate. Several photos were taken in front of various landmarks, and other images were for buildings only. In the first observation object, the group of tourists takes photos in turns at the foot of the mountain. The family group also takes pictures at the Redgate in front of the beautiful plantations. The other tourists also took photographs of their friends in the bell tower using their mobile phones. The Westgate was another area where the parents took photos with their backs towards the mountains.  Other pictures were taken while facing the Westgate, and others were just pictures of buildings. In the second observation object, the father takes a picture of the daughter and the mother in front of the Redgate after they finished descending the stairs.

It would also appear that for a family, the mother takes the lead responsibility in the absence of the father. In the first observation object, the mother led the way after stopping at the ice-cream shop. She decided to enter the souvenir shop with her daughter, and the rest of the group followed the lady leader. For the mother, she led her daughter along the mountain as the father stayed behind to pay for their purchases at the souvenir shop. As for the group, the lady disappeared with her friend, and only the remaining two friends stayed behind. The father stayed in one place, waiting for the mother and daughter to show up. In the second observation object, the mother, father, and daughter are seen to walk together after descending the mountain. For this community, culture allows women to have some level of freedom, even though the father is still the leader and the provider of the family. Moreover, it is evident that men can also play the role of women by looking after children. In the first scenario, the father is left with the daughter when the mother disappears with her friend. In the second scenario, it is not clear, but the father and mother all walk hand in hand with the daughter, which could mean that they can share the duties of raising the child.

Finally, the families seem to be close-knit and are always caring towards each other. For example, in the first observation object, the father and the daughter stopped and waited for the mother to come back after she disappeared with her friend. In the second observation object, the father walked down the mountain and waited for the mother and the daughter to arrive even with their slow pace that was attributed to the kimonos that they were wearing. This showed togetherness in both families.

Conclusion – 5 points

The report discussed cultural tourism. Notably, this report sought to demonstrate that cultural tourism can help people to learn more about their culture. In this project, an observation was the tool for obtaining knowledge on the tourists. After observing two different groups of tourists, I concluded that fathers played the role of leaders and breadwinners in their respective groups. However, the mothers also had opportunities where they could assume leadership. Additionally, fathers could assume the duties of the mother to look after the children, or they can sometimes help in such responsibilities. The families appear to be close-knit and caring towards each other. Finally, the group of friends also showed that age difference played a critical role in how they managed their tour with the leading lady, always guiding the friends down the mountain.

My cultural norms are almost similar to those witnessed in the family groups. Fathers are leaders of the family and breadwinners, but they do not partake in raising children. Mothers can only assume leadership duties in the absence of the father, and families are close-knit as well. My traveling behavior is similar to the families as well. I like to document the places I have been, so I take pictures of all the landmarks that can be recognized.

References

Bryce, D., Curran, R., O’Gorman, K., & Taheri, B. (2015). Visitors’ engagement and authenticity: Japanese heritage consumption. Tourism Management, 46, 571-581.

González, M. V. (2008). Intangible heritage tourism and identity. Tourism Management, 29(4), 807-810.

Japanese National Tourism Organization. (2018). Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.japan.travel/en/uk/trade/statistics/

Li, M. (2014). Cross-cultural tourist research: A meta-analysis. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 38(1), 40-77.

Litvin, S. W., Crotts, J. C., & Hefner, F. L. (2004). Cross‐cultural tourist behaviour: a replication and extension involving Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance dimension. International Journal of Tourism Research, 6(1), 29-37.

Özdemir, C., & Yolal, M. (2017). Cross-cultural tourist behavior: An examination of tourists’ behavior in guided tours. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 17(3), 314-324.

Seaton, P., & Yamamura, T. (2015, January). Japanese popular culture and contents tourism–Introduction. In Japan forum (Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 1-11). UK: Routledge.

Walliman, N. (2017). Research methods: The basics. UK: Routledge.