Hokkaido University Research Profiles

Japanese
Tourism / Community development

Changing the Region through Border Tourism

Nemuro, Soya, Okhotsk

The Boundary Research Unit (UBRJ) established at the Center in 2013 is a unique organization in Japan that leads border studies in Japan and abroad. It is composed of faculty members from the humanities and social sciences and museums at Hokkaido University. Recently, we have been working on the promotion of tourism in border regions.

Content of research

The 12th International Scientific Meeting on Border Regions in Transition was held in Fukuoka and Busan in November 2012. We took a jetfoil from Hakata to Izuhara (Tsushima), and after a bus tour of the famous sites, we headed north to Hitakatsu and from there to Busan. The success of this project attracted attention both at home and abroad, and we started a border tourism project with a regional think tank and related local governments based on the belief that “borders can also be a tourism resource in Japan.” Cross-border tourism between Tsushima and Busan, Wakkanai and Sakhalin, and “border tourism without crossing borders,” involving traveling overland from Nemuro to Wakkanai, have been widely covered by the media. For more information, please visit the following URL: http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/ubrj2/projects/border-tourism/

  • Border tourism logo created by the NPO Center for Border Area Studies

  • Tourists enjoying themselves at the remains of the border marker stone pedestal at the 50th parallel north of Sakhalin (the former Japan-Russia border).

  • Logo of the Boundary Research Unit

  • Itinerary Map of East Hokkaido and Okhotsk Border Tourism

Potential for social implementation

  • ・Consulting on tourism and urban development tailored to the actual conditions of borderlands
  • ・Organizing and publicizing tours in cooperation with travel agencies (e.g., Big Holiday, M-O Tourist, Hokuto Kanko)
  • ・Analysis of questionnaire surveys in local municipalities

Appealing points to industry and local governments

In collaboration with the NPO Border Area Research Center (business and citizens), and in cooperation with the Border Area Research Network JAPAN, border municipalities throughout Japan will support joint research. We will not only promote tourism, but also town revitalization plans.
Reference URL http://src-hokudai-ac.jp/jibsn/ http://borderlands.or.jp/

2022/5/27Released