Japaaan.orgPromote interesting but unknown places in Japan

Kick-off meeting, Jan-09, 2008

Agenda

• Introduction of Japaaan.org (Yuki)

• Introduction of each other

• Discussion (w/ foods and drinks)

Introduction of Japaaan.org

What is this meeting for?

• To get to know each other

• To share (and reshape) the concept

• To discuss what to do to get things going

• To discuss first outing

What is Japaaan.org?

• A community to discover and share undiscovered areas in Japan, and to promote them to travelers from overseas

• Ideally, focus on promoting 1~3 areas

“Undiscovered” areas?

• Areas not mentioned in guide books such as Lonely Planet

• Areas not good at market themselves to overseas markets

therefore, few travelers visit

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

Tokyo

Osaka

Hok

kaido

Chiba

Aich

iKy

oto

Kana

gawa

Fuku

oka

Naga

saki

Hyo

goSh

izuok

aYa

man

ashi

Kumam

oto

Oita

Naga

noOkina

waHiro

shim

aGifu

Miyag

iIshika

waFu

kush

ima

Wak

ayam

aTo

yama

Toch

igi

Shiga

Iwate

Niga

taKa

gosh

ima

Ibarak

iOka

yama

Saita

ma

Miyazak

iMie

Aomori

Nara

Gunm

aEh

ime

Yamag

uchi

Akita

Saga

Kaga

waYa

mag

ata

Toku

shim

aFu

kui

Kouc

hiSh

iman

eTo

ttori

“Undiscovered” prefectures# of stays (accumulated) by foreign travelers by prefecture

Jan-Sep, 2007, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation

Undiscovered prefectures?

Even around Tokyo,have you ever visited...• 7 islands of Izu (Izu-Shichito)?

• Nishi-izu?

• Okutama?

• Katsunuma?

• Chichibu?

Promote them?

•More travelers are coming to Japan

• Only words of mouth make sense and difference in Web2.0 era

Yokoso! Japan

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

2003 2004 2005 2006

# of inbound travelers to JapanJan-Sep, 2007, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation

Targeted at 10 million/year by 2015

(mil)

Example: Niseko•Australians discovered Niseko

Aussie skiers spark land boom in Niseko - Japan Times

...According to the Kutchan town office, the number of Australian visitors jumped from 214 in fiscal 2001 to 7,696 in 2005...

...In the past, overseas skiers tended to avoid Japan, believing it too expensive and too difficult because of the language barrier....

...Since the boom accelerated in 2003, 40 condominium complexes and 20 foreigner-owned houses have been built here, including 30 in 2006 alone....

Example: Kappabashi• Travelers discovered Kappabashi

Kappabashi-dori - Wikipedia...Kappabashi-dori, also known just as Kappabashi or Kitchen Town, is a street in Tokyo between Ueno and Asakusa which is almost entirely populated with shops supplying the restaurant trade. These shops sell everything from mass-produced crockery, restaurant furniture, ovens and decorations, through to esoteric items such as the plastic display food (sampuru) found outside Japanese restaurants.The street is also an off-beat tourist destination...

Why narrow areas?

• Let others take care of covering entire nation (e.g. japan-guide.com, snowjapan.com etc)

• Let us focus on creating serious impacts on the areas we pick

How do we promote?•Visit and get to know the area

• Post tons of blogs, photos, and videos

• Help local Ryokans and shops to get ready for foreigners

• Co-work with travel agencies for special deals

Why we do this?

•Many chances to wander around Japan

• Japan is not just Tokyo and Kyoto

• Must be FUN!

Things I like to do•Weekend outings (w/ residents)

• Weekday outings (w/ travelers)

• Blog/photo/video contests

• A web site dedicated to the picked area

• many others...