Japan’s Mountain Tourism at a Crossroads: Insights from the North Japan Alps

ABSTRACT

This article explores the transition in the mountain tourism landscape of Japan through two instructive case studies from the North Japan Alps. Before Japan’s modernization, mountains were considered sacred places and consequently they were out of bounds for commoners. During the early modernization phase, the mountains and their secluded valleys witnessed drastic changes as they became objects of conquest and, later, places for tourism development. The relative proximity of these mountains to urban centers and their modest elevation helped mass access to these landscapes. Tourism development thrust these landscapes into a dual trajectory: while visitor increase and consequent development resulted in the depletion of natural ecosystems and a trivialization of place, early conservation efforts that later morphed into the national park movement were borne out of this situation. Today, these landscapes are under renewed threat from visitor pressure and global environmental change, but some indications of a heightened ecological consciousness and sense of place can be detected among local tourism stakeholders which can provide insight for more sustainability-oriented tourism development.

KEYWORDS:

• Mountain destinations
• trivialization of place
• landscape transition
• environmental change
• sense of place
• North Japan Alps

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Hakuba sanzan or Three peaks of Hakuba, in Japanese.