Learning Spaces

The town of Minami-Oguni has been squarely on the tourist map of Kumamoto (and Japan) for the past few decades because of the success of the hot springs resort of Kurokawa. It draws over a million visitors per year and frequently appears at or near the top of “best of” lists for tourist destinations.

However, there is more going on in Minami-Oguni than hot springs. Cafes and restaurants (including a number of soba shops on “soba road”) have sprouted all over the town, and there are a handful of natural sites worth visiting (like Oshidoishi).

But one of the most exciting developments for me is the increase in farm stays. Most residents in Minami-Oguni’s tiny hamlets do some farming, but this has not provided sufficient income for decades, so most earn more secure incomes elsewhere (farming, teaching). Recently, some have begun trying to supplement their incomes by allowing people to stay in their homes, and in some cases, help with agricultural tasks. By remodeling a few rooms and having an internet presence, families can offer urban residents a unique experience that people in the past may have experienced by visiting their grandparent’s house. These days, fewer people have grandparents living in such areas, so they turn to entrepreneurs like those here.

We were able to experience the incredible hospitality of two families who hosted us for two nights (20-21 May). Our main host was the Kumagai family, who operate Saconue no Kaeru. The food was mostly locally-sourced and homemade, and completely vegetarian. We were treated to a walking of the village, which included a tour of a lumberyard and wood-processing factory, a stop by a shrine, and a chance to feed some dairy cows.

Learning how to grow shiitake mushrooms by not "scaring" them.

Shrine

Descending from the shrine

Feeding Oguni Jersey cows

Tour of wood-processing facility: turning Oguni-sugi into building materials

Date of visit: May 20-22, 2012

Date of photos: May 21, 2012

There is an irony inherent in most nature tourism. In order for tourists to access and enjoy natural destinations, one must build infrastructure that eats into the very nature to be enjoyed. Nowhere was this more obvious on our field study than at Mt. Aso, where a ropeway, road, and walking path have all been constructed so that thousands of people can reach the top each day. Many other mountains in Japan, like Fuji or even the nearby Kuju, have only walking paths. On Mt. Aso, the walking path is a wide swath of pavement. At the top, tourists mill around and take photographs in a large space paved over. And at the bottom, huge parking lots have been cut into the valleys to accommodate buses.

Infrastructure built to accommodate tourists observing the volcano at Mt. Aso

Safety shelter at Mt. Aso

Parking at Mt. Aso

Parking lot at Kusa Senri

The same situation exists at a smaller destination: Nabegataki, a small waterfall that became famous several years ago from a bottled tea commercial. In the years since, locals have been forced to accommodate increasing numbers of visitors. They have built a new parking lot, next to the existing, small gravel lot. They have also built a staircase to the bottom of the hill to replace the previously steep and slippery path. Now the adventure to reach the waterfall is gone, although the area is much safer and accessible to more people.