“Community Collaboration” by Oh Pei Qi

This picture shows a shrine in Kurokawa Onsen, with nyuto tegata (入湯手形) hung on its sides. After using a nyuto tegata, a wooden passport for hot spring baths, visitors hang them outside the shrine and stamp them with wishes, including for love (恋愛成就), family (家内安全), safe driving (交通安全), and academic success (学業成就). The people of Kurokawa Onsen developed the nyuto tegata 27 years ago, and they have received a great response from the public. Each pass entitles a person to three baths at any inn in Kurokawa, so visitors can try baths even at ryokan where they are not staying. This shares business among all inns by encouraging visitors to go “onsen-hopping”. Tourists pay 1200 yen for each pass, and after subtracting the amount paid to each inn (250 yen for each bath entry) and the manufacturer of the passes (about 100 yen), the remainder contributes to local funds that help build more tourist-friendly facilities.

Besides using the nyuto tegata for entries to hot spring baths and praying for good luck at the shrine, tourists can also use the wooden passes to play table tennis or tegatakkyu (てがたっきゅう), a creative form of table tennis invented by locals and played using the nyuto tegata as a racket. Tourists can enjoy the game with locals and even take part in competitions. Through the process, it can create a sense of camaraderie between people. Locals also told us that they collect donations from players to send to people affected by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. In all, I think the nyuto tegata is a really innovative business idea that helps attract tourists, improve ryokan business, and bring life back to the small hot spring town of Kurokawa. It was due to this that the town was able to revitalize even without the aid of government funding. I think it is an interesting story for us to learn from.