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Eco tourism could enable Kyoto to breathe |
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Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan. It contains nearly 20 percent of Japan's national treasures. Kyoto brings alive the traditional aspects of its history – rock gardens, temples, bustling narrow streets, Geisha women dressed in traditional kimono, local artisans hand making toys and gifts, traditional wooden built restaurants serving local delicacies and cafes.
All this seems to be “stereotypical” scene for Kyoto. Kyoto is also known for the 1997, United Nations conference that agreed the levels of greenhouse gas emission reductions, and perhaps the international visitors expect that Kyoto is leaders. Alas, it is not the case. Instead visitors are greeted with clogged roads – whether this is from tour buses, cars, bicycles but also the amount of visitors. It is unfortunate that the visitors are then shuffled from temples, rock gardens and even the Toei Uzumasa Eigamura, popularly known as Kyoto Studio Park. Then showed the door to the souvenir shops which are full of mass produced items (mostly produced not in Japan) and then loaded back onto their buses and off to their Western style hotels. This maybe fine for the short trip visitor to Kyoto, though the true essence and experience of visiting Kyoto is not truly shown or exhibited. Kyoto can indeed be a leader in eco-tourism. With many traditional shops – whether it is furoshiki designers, Japanese delicacies (cakes, biscuits (savoury and sweet), tea or beans), wooden craft as well as pottery items. Not forgetting the history of Kyoto, various small shops in the back streets of central Kyoto. Research has been undertaken by Professor Muneta from the Kyoto Prefectural University who is an expert on tourism. Professor Muneta’s research showed that people that were interested in eco-tourism were aged between 35 and 64 years old. Eco-tourists generally travel between one and two weeks, spend the same amount of money as regular tourists. Yet what differentiates these two groups is they prefer more outdoor type activities and conscious of natural products. Kyoto though also has issues with the food. Kyoto is re known for high class dining. Though unless the food is prepared well – using fresh, natural ingredients, the culinary experience of Kyoto can be exquisite. With the amount of visitors, Kyoto needs to meet the demands of mass – therefore traditional style restaurants which appear “traditional” often use preserved, frozen fish, meat and vegetables which result in poor taste. Unless you book ahead – up to four months in advance, your high dining experience may not be met. All is not dire, with various leading Restauranteurs, Nakahigashi Hisao, focuses on using only local, natural ingredients which are slow food. A number of local Kyoto-ites are now recognising the need for better restaurants – those especially which have a key focus on “truly natural”, organic and produced locally. Many of the traditional houses were torn down (over 10,000) – whether it due to damaged suffered during the Kyoto earthquake in the early 1990’s or more so for the desire of modern buildings. With the support of an American Alex Kerr who is the chairman of Iori Co, many of the remaining Kyoto town houses are being bought, restored and are renting them out to international tourists who seek a more traditional environment. Kyoto is also a destination of travel for Japanese, especially school children, which are tours that are generally for short periods of time, though tend to be quite large. It seems that all is not lost with Kyoto and with ongoing support from local Kyotoites as well as the Government Kyoto could indeed be a leading eco-tourist town. Though before they become more eco conscious, the trends of quality and authenticity of the food needs to be considered, the mass produced gifts as well as the amount of traffic which physically enters Kyoto need to be looked at. As there is a growing concern of the strong YEN, the weak pound, dollar (US and Australia), many business in Kyoto may seem reluctant to choose the step of becoming greener as they fear this will loose visitors. Perhaps Kyoto needs to look at the new capital city, Tokyo. Tokyo shuts off various streets and suburban areas so no cars enter at specific times and days. At the same time reduce the amount of tourist access to some areas. Kyoto indeed can lead – not just by the 1997 United Nations Agreement, also through leading how to become a focused Eco-Tourism City. |
