Community Based Tourism in Japan

At Tourcrafters Japan, we are passionate about community based tourism and it is our touchstone.

We wish to introduce travellers to the communities and people in Japan we love so well, with a goal of creating an interchange between people that benefits all. Visitors learn more about Japanese culture in an active interactive way by talking to local people and hearing their stories and seeing their way of life. Perhaps that conversation is over a meal, during a cooking class, while visiting a local farm, or seeing a local temple or shrine. It takes place in the geographical and socio-cultural environment of the community. We feel this offers visitors an opportunity to learn more about the culture than they would through an anecdote delivered at a museum. Culture is brought to life.

For the communities, we offer local people a chance to tell their own stories with pride, share the traditions they seek to preserve and maintain, and in a respectful setting. It is empowering. We offer local people the opportunity to enjoy exposure to a world outside their region and global diversity for many who may have limited means to travel. The local wisdom and experience offers lessons to learn for urban and international visitors about our interaction with the earth and our lives. Community based tourism also offers opportunities for an income for local women and older people that may have few other economic opportunities available to them. We work in collaboration with local communities to bring the benefits of tourism to them. Your travel yen ends up in the hands of those who most stand to benefit from it. Community based tourism also allows communities to diversify their income in what may otherwise be precarious agricultural settings. Young people are not forced to leave their community to make a living.

Local people have an opportunity to showcase their handicrafts, their food culture, and local produce by making these available to visitors. In using local accommodations, whether they are family run inns, or homestays and farmstays, local people open their lives to visitors with a sense of welcome. Some local handicrafts are under threat, as the artisan and craftspeople engaging in them advance into their senior years. Without interest from visitors, there is a real risk of these crafts disappearing as young people do not apprentice to learn them. By developing interest in these crafts, an incentive is created to further maintain them and pass them along the generations.

In addition to being passionate about community based tourism, we wish to build our own community. A community of travelers that seek authenticity, face to face interaction, active rather than passive travel, tourism with a spirit of social good and emphasis on sustainability.

Won’t you join us?