40 years since meeting Gyeongju Hotel School

of Korea Tourism Organization

Top page of “learn more about hotspring”

1. 40 years since meeting Gyeongju Hotel School of Korea Tourism Organization

I obtained an English version of a Japanese tourist guidebook and checked the contents. 2002 and 2005 editions of DK Publishers (London, UK). Besides, it is a guidebook of the American version of a used book. I also got a local tourist information book. This is a travel guide book focusing on Kyoto and Osaka.

We are in an age where not only Japanese people but people all over the world are aware of highly rated tourist destinations, in other words, tourist destinations with many stars. I myself was a Japanese language teacher at Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea, and have experienced the wonders of Korea's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. When I was in my senior year of college, I took my first trip abroad to South Korea and was invited to a hotel in Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Silla. Gyeongju has a public hotel school run by the Korea Tourism Organization, and its graduates worked as staff at five-star hotels in the surrounding area. I became friends with one of the hotel staff, and was formally introduced to the professors, staff, and students of the Gyeongju Hotel School of the Korea Tourism Organization, and participated in a Japanese class. In addition, Professor Park Young-deok and Kim Do-ryong, who was a student of Professor Park and a staff member of Kolon Hotel, showed us around the world-famous tourist spots of the ancient capital of Silla with all his heart. Professor Park also had a relationship with my father, and was born in 1926, the same year as the Tiger, and we became classmates in Korea and Japan. Kindo Ryu wanted to study abroad in Japan, but he passed away without being able to do so. A very talented female student wanted to study in Japan, so when my father was on a business trip to Seoul, he went to Gyeongju to meet Professor Park and the students. As a guarantor, she skipped language school and entered a hotel vocational school. After two years of her graduation, she joined Lotte Hotel, where she served as the secretary of Lotte Hotel's president.

In this way, I had a deep relationship with Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Silla, South Korea. The plan was to stay two nights when I first visited, but I moved to a youth hostel and ended up staying eight nights. Even so, Gyeongju is full of international tourism resources so that time is not enough. After 40 years, there are many UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Cheonmachong, Bulguksa Temple, Seokguram Grotto, National Museum, etc.

However, the reason why I like Gyeongju is because as a university student, I started out by talking with the students of the Korea Tourism Organization Gyeongju Hotel School in Japanese and Korean while they were studying. I was in a situation where I could not graduate if I failed the foreign language Korean credits at university. The hotel school students were also desperately learning English and Japanese. In it, they promised, "Let's maintain friendship and compete with each other so that Korea and Japan can become world-class tourist destinations in the future."

A five-star hotel, of course. My father, who was on a business trip to Seoul, and I had dinner at such a wonderful place. After I finished graduate school in Japanese Language Education, I went to a five-star hotel bar in Seoul and was able to learn a lot from people of high social status in Korea.

However, since it was also the country I used to live in, I often visited shops in familiar markets, and when I went to Gyeongju, I visited shops with which I had known for decades. It was a place for the common people, and it was an inn, a restaurant, and a souvenir shop that the Korean common people used in their daily lives.

I have been to China once. I have been to Taiwan five times. Both of them have experienced both shops for ordinary people and high-end, world-renowned tourist destinations and tourist facilities. He also interacted with the local people by coming into contact with common people's shops and tourist attractions.

When Japanese tourists travel to the western United States, it is common to think of visiting the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Anaheim Disneyland. You may even stop in Hawaii on your way home. This western US travel destination is in different states: Arizona, Nevada, and California. There is only one state in California, which is actually larger than Japan. Of course, it is common for Americans themselves to make excursions to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Anaheim Disneyland due to the custom of taking long summer vacations in Europe and the United States.

The trend toward DMO (Destination Management/Marketing Organization) is growing in Japan. If you look into it, you'll find different interpretations. Some say ``creation of tourist destinations through public-private cooperation,'' while others say ``wide-area tourism cooperation.'' I am in a position to take the interpretation of "wide-area tourism cooperation," but I feel that an important perspective is missing.

It's only recently that I noticed that.

2. Hare and Ke

In Japanese, there is an expression such as "Hare no Ba". It is a scene where she wears formal clothes and has her hair neatly arranged at a barber shop. Graduation ceremony for students. Coming-of-age ceremony when you become an adult. wedding. important event. Ceremony. On the other hand, casual clothes are called ``ke''. Local people eat together with their grandparents, parents and grandchildren at a family restaurant. Ride local trains for daily shopping or appointments with friends. Do not wear formal attire at this time. Of course, I wear my favorite clothes to match the joy of going out, but when it's not a formal event, I wear casual clothes.

When you check in at a first-class hotel or prestigious ryokan, the staff welcomes you in formal attire, whether it's a suit or a formal kimono. On the other hand, at family-run hot spring inns, the owner who comes in a jumper is often welcomed at the Japanese-style front desk called chouba. "I was just repairing the outside of the building" is common. The word for ``hare'' is ``ke''. Suppose we traveled to Italy and saw the Trevi Fountain, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum, and the Roman Aqueduct. Each of them is a first-class tourism resource. However, even if a group tour tours each area and sees the sights, if no one interacts with Italian residents on a daily basis, it can be said that the tourism will be cut off from the usual appearance of Italian people.

"Safety is the first priority when traveling abroad." There would be no objection to this. Saying that he wanted to see the daily life of Italians, he knocked on the door of a stranger's house and said, "I'm traveling abroad from Japan, so I want you to show me the kitchen and dining room of your house. We can have a meal together." If you say something like, "I want you to let me do it," it will become an incident. It may be possible only when visiting the host family of a young person studying abroad in a few years, and when the international student brings his parents to say hello.

In other words, tourism resources exist by canceling the formal "hare", tourism plans are assembled, and corresponding compensation is generated. However, the formal ``hare'' was formed on the accumulation of people's daily lives for a long time, and the casual ``ke'' is the basis. No matter how splendid ancient ruins and tourism resources are, they were built on the productive activities of the common people of that era. Cheonmachong in Gyeongju, South Korea, Colosseum in Rome, and Tiger Hill in Suzhou, China.

3. Interacting with young people from around the world at a Kyomachiya guesthouse

　On January 8, three years ago. I wanted to confirm the stage of the song "Onna Hitori" written by Rokusuke Ei, so I went on a trip to Kyoto after an interval of nearly 20 years. I also wanted to confirm the setting of Yasunari Kawabata's "Ancient Capital".

10 minutes after checking into the guest house, I was taking pictures with young people from all over the world. I gave him a poster of Izu that I made myself, and explained the background in simple English. They listened to the song "Onna Hitori" and "Ue o Muite Arukou". Then he asked me, "It's good hot water."

―――Why did you give me the Izu poster?

In response to the question, I explained Yasunari Kawabata's trilogy. They are "The Dancing Girl of Izu", "Snow Country" and "Ancient Capital". Actually, this guesthouse is located in Shimonishijin, one of the main settings of "Koto", Muromachi Gofuku-dori, Nishijin, and Kitayama Sugi Village. Everyone was surprised when I explained it in English. I briefly explained the life of Dr. Yasunari Kawabata. Even when he became a student at the first high school, he still suffered from loneliness. That he lost his family one after another in his childhood. Yasunari Kawabata left Komaba, Tokyo on October 30, 1918 with the money received after his grandfather's mountain was sold. And he caught up with the gei troupe at Amagi Pass. He took a liking to a 13-year-old dancer named Kaoru, and spent three nights at Yugano Onsen experiencing emotional exchanges as if he were a member of the family. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Yasunari Kawabata recovered his health by staying at a hot spring inn as if he were living in Izu for about 10 years. He became the first Japanese to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The symbol that he overcame the difficulties is "Amagi Pass".

4. 100% support for Izu

At that time, I had information dissemination on the homepages of "Izu" and "Gunma Prefecture Hot Springs" in 16 languages. The foreigners at the guesthouse read both. And 100% of them said they want to go to Izu. Foreigners who are in the shower culture usually pay attention to tourism resources such as ancient cities that are properly backed by culture and history. In any country, the ancient capital is a place where you can feel nostalgia, and it is also a place where the genes of the country and people react sensitively.

Yesterday, I visited the head office of Izu Hakone Railway, one of the local private railway lines in Izu, to say hello. Then we ate shabu-shabu at a family restaurant. It was a meal at a seat where you can see Mt. Fuji.

This is where I realized my mistake. For 3 years and 10 months, I had been under the impression that Izu was recognized as a tourist "hare" that rivaled Kyoto's because young people from all over the world were impressed by the guesthouses in Kyoto. The young people who use guesthouses are accustomed to traveling the world and have found literature and music to be an integral part of everyday life, the casual ``ke''.

5. "hare" formal and "ke" casual. And "Central" and "Regional"

In linguistics, there is a concept called "dialect perimeter theory". New languages are born and derived from big cities and capitals that are centers of administration and power. The old form of the word is relegated to the periphery. At this time, the center has a monoculture orientation and tries to make every nook and cranny of the provinces follow it. This is clear from the history of the destruction of Baekje by the Silla samurai and the history of China's formation of a unified nation.

The pressure of this monoculture economy has created a landscape where the same signboards of chain stores, fast food restaurants, and family restaurants stand side by side even in rural areas. Professor Noboru Miura, a critic and keen analyst of social phenomena, named this “Fast Fudoka”.

"I would like to analyze the future." In an attempt to extend consumption activities in big cities to rural areas, the same restaurant signboards began to line up in every city. The individuality of the urban landscape seems to have disappeared. I will call this "capital pressure". One is that the form of consumption that exists in large cities such as the capital has spread to rural areas as a “symbol of longing”. Second, by opening a large number of stores with the same monoculture with enormous capital power, the inefficient local management style has been weakened. Capital, whose etymology is derived from the word “head,” has the characteristic of having a single menu developed by the product development staff at the head office. The same applies to convenience stores. If there were only privately owned shopping districts, there would be no shops open late at night. Until about 50 years ago, Japan was such a society. Due to the 311 Great East Japan Earthquake, the global spread of the new virus covid-19, and the energy shock caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many 24-hour restaurants in the restaurant industry have disappeared. were numerous.

Even if the food service industry is capital, that is, shipping in large cities, and has the same form due to huge capital strength, and uniform menus are realized at the discretion of the development staff at the head office, in reality, users in large cities and rural areas There is a big difference in appearance.

Now, I am in a family restaurant in the former Shuzenji-cho, Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. My hometown is a residential area in Nakano Ward, Tokyo. No fields, no forests. Kusatsu Town, Gunma Prefecture, is currently registered as a resident card, and is home to the famous Kusatsu Onsen. However, it is land at an altitude of 1200m in the mountains, and it takes 1 hour and 10 minutes by private car to reach the nearest family restaurant, whether it is a store in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture, a store in Shinshu Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, or a store in Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture. The store in Shinshu Nakano will not be accessible after November 10th, as snow will fall on the way and the roads will freeze.

　Shuzenji, Izu City. It is a tourist destination said to be the oldest hot spring resort in Izu with Shuzenji Onsen. There is a feature common to several family restaurants in Izu City and neighboring Izunokuni City. This feature is not found in my favorite store in Nakano Ward, Tokyo.

―――I often encounter scenes where three generations eat together.

That's what it means. Former Shuzenji-cho, where there is land, and it is often seen that three generations live in a small house for children on the land of their parents' house, and the soup does not get cold. Grandparents watch their grandchildren grow up and eat at family restaurants. Is it universally common for grandparents to be kind to their grandchildren? Western restaurant culture is originally a place of “hare”. There is a dress code, and in principle children are not allowed. But Japan is a family restaurant, a place where families share meals. No tip required. Even if the children make some noise, the surroundings watch over them warmly. If you don't like the appearance of such a child, all you have to do is reserve a private dining room at a five-star hotel with an expensive price.

Due to the global spread of the new virus covid-19, private cars are becoming more common in Japanese society. This is because there is less contact with other people. However, students go to school by public transportation, and elderly people who cannot drive their own cars use trains, buses, and taxis that are supported by local governments.

6. Rural spread of metropolitan civilization

From the rural point of view, the big city was a dream place. There are high-rise buildings, prestigious department stores, headquarters of large companies, and many branded stores. A lot of trains are operated and are convenient. As Japanese society entered a high-consumption society, ``capital pressure'' spread to rural areas so that the consumption behavior of big cities could also be achieved in rural areas.

As mentioned above, the forms of consumption are different. The breath of life can be felt more in local consumption. There are too many people in big cities, and I don't have time to remember each person's face or name.

If you stay at a hot spring resort and have a meal at a local family restaurant after checking out, you will likely encounter a meal scene of three generations of local families. If you have a little chat with the family sitting next to you, you may be able to learn the history of the hidden hot spring resort. If you take a local train back home, the locals may appreciate your visit. Such opportunities are overwhelmingly local.

Due to "capital pressure", you can eat at almost the same price with the same menu at any store. However, the location of each store is different. At the Shabuha Santo Moon Kakitagawa store, Mt. Fuji was a distant view, but it was beautiful. At the Gusto Fujiyoshida store, Mt. The scenery of Yoshihama, which is a popular spot for swimming and surfing, is the best. Underneath the terrace seats at Denny's Morito Kaigan is the sea. "Sukiya" in Shimoda City, Izu faces the sea. Has the Japanese food and beverage industry made efforts to set up cameras in such stores and post them on the internet so that people around the world can check them with their smartphones?

In fact, if all staff in the food and beverage industry were men, hospitality would decline. It is precisely because the consideration and kindness of women is at the heart of customer service that meals are soothing.

I assert that sharing information with neighboring municipalities, or sharing information with neighboring prefectures because of the boom in DMO, that is, wide-area cooperation in tourism, is too childish to be discussed. A trip across the state like the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Anaheim Disneyland is a world trip.

When Dr. Yasunari Kawabata explained that he was the first Japanese to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, it would be meaningless information globally if the list of winners around the world was not known. As of summer 2019, there are 114 winners, 25 of whom are English authors and 15 of whom are French authors.

There are reports that the Izu Peninsula is the 9th place in Japan to be recognized as a "Global Geopark", but there are 127 "Global Geoparks" in 35 countries around the world. Data as of summer 2019. If we were to present information to travelers from around the world, saying, "Please come to Izu because it is a world-certified geopark," people from 34 countries would respond, "We also have many geoparks world-certified in our country. How would you react if someone said you should? "No, I won't go to your country for global geopark certification, but I want you to come to Izu" is a childish attitude to provide information. All consumer goods are exposed to international competition. If there is a company that manufactures electronic equipment without checking the product trends of other companies in the same industry, it will probably go bankrupt. Without properly learning this information, classifying similar types, and building a three-dimensional explanatory power with 118 geoparks around the world (excluding Japan), it will not spread to the world.

7. Acknowledgments

"Regional areas have their own values and merits." I find it unfortunate that the DMO is limited to sharing information with neighboring lands. I was greatly inspired by the research results of my predecessors, such as Shigeru Ishiba's "Regional Revitalization Theory." I can't help but feel unfounded concern that Japan has not returned to the system of 300 clans at the end of the Edo period. We have graduated from the belief that our tourism products will sell like the ``samurai business method,'' and present values that can be used even in the competition among international tourist destinations. I believe that it is an urgent task to grasp the

Fast food restaurants and family restaurants in big cities used to be a dream of local residents. There are no fast food restaurants or family restaurants in Kusatsu-machi, Gunma Prefecture, where I have my resident card. Yubatake is the only izakaya chain called Uomin affiliated with Monte Rosa. However, drinking and eating by the window of the store and seeing the lit up Yubatake up close is also a fun place for me to eat.

In March 2002, after seven years of studying at a Japanese university, I finally obtained a master's degree in Japanese language education. After staying in Seoul, I went to report to professors at a university in Busan. When I was heading to Busan on the overnight express Mugunghwa, I saw a passenger sitting on the floor drinking Korean soju. When I spoke to him in Korean, the man said that his business was not going well because of the Asian currency crisis and the collapse of the South Korean economy in 1997. He told me that his whole family would move to America. "My country is South Korea. I don't want to leave South Korea," he cried. He recommended my shochu. My older boyfriend and I drank Korean soju while sitting on the floor of the night train. South Korea, which experienced national economic bankruptcy, achieved economic growth by specializing in growing fields and achieving economic recovery. According to a survey conducted by a UN (United Nations)-related organization, South Korea ranked second in the world for its digital environment. Denmark is number one. As a citizen of a neighboring country, I applaud you for overcoming the economic crisis and achieving economic growth.

Lastly, we received a one-on-one lecture on cultural theory in Korean from Minister of State Lee Min-young, who was the first Minister of Culture during the Roh Tae-woo administration. With that experience in mind, I hope that foreign tourists who visit Japan will deepen their understanding and affection for their own culture, and create an opportunity to create a world of mutual cultural respect.