Young Minds Take on the Future of Tourism in Japan at CEC's First Ever Kyoto Symposium

What is CEC?

Kyoto is a beautiful area that is a dream destination for travelers from across the world. But as a place known for its traditions, it can be easy to fall back on traditional approaches to tourism, too. Hiroko Chino believes that this needs to change in order to tackle some of Kyoto’s problems of overtourism, andcreate more meaningful tourism within Kyoto. So, she set up CEC with the goal of introducing a different side of Kyoto to the world.

The organization is made up of both international and Japanese university students from different backgrounds. The students, known as “ambassadors,” create tours and come up with unique solutions to Kyoto’s present-day issues in groups or as individuals based on their experiences in the region.

The students bring a new perspective to Kyoto’s tourism industry. They may be experiencing Kyoto for the first time themselves, or they may be well acquainted with the area, but they do not have the same set of ideas of what a Kyoto tour “should” be by traditional standards.

The Problems CEC Hopes to Solve

CEC has noted a number of different issues with Kyoto’s tourism sector as a whole. These are the topics they hope to address:

• - Stimulate the local economy
• - Use of unique venues
• - Cultural exchange between local residents and overseas tourists
• - Development of human resources
• - Employment of overseas students within Japan

They aim to tackle these by creating new tour guides from the pool of students, holding events and symposiums, providing vocational support, and introducing the students to interested businesses.

CEC’s First Symposium: A Competition for Innovation

In order to put the students’ ideas to the test, CEC held their first ever symposium this year on January 13.

The symposium was composed of two parts: The pitch presentations of each entrant and tourism presentations given by experts in the field.

The pitch presentations were judged by a panel of experts from The Japan Times, Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, Community Bank, Kyoto City Kyocera Museum, Hiiragiya, Komaruya, and Matcha. Awards were given to each participant at the end of the event based on the judges’ feedback.

Event Report

After an introduction from Hiroko Chino and warm words from the Kyoto Prefectural Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki, the participants were invited to the stage to make their pitches.

Each pitch tackled a different issue facing Kyoto’s tourism in a unique way, with the students coming up with original tours and innovative ideas to make the proposed experience beneficial to the tour participants and Kyoto itself.

Here, we’ll take a look at an overview of each group’s pitch.

Gastro Adventure (by Team Foodful)

First was a food-focussed experience by Foodful’s young COO, Mitsuru Sakuno. With the idea of tackling the problem of an aging population, the proposed experience was aimed at residents rather than overseas tourists. The idea involved two projects for children: A gyoza workshop and a curry workshop. The workshops would have the children learn about the ingredients going into their food before making and eating it, with the hopes of inspiring the next generation of workers.

With Mizu (By Team Ecorudo Kyodai)

Next, tackling the problem of littering and microplastic waste was “With Mizu”. Kyoto sits on a natural water table, leading to a long history of having delicious water and famous “water spots.” The proposed tour would show participants (domestic and overseas) around historic and modern cultural spots of Kyoto, as well as some of these water spots to fill up their reusable bottles, instead of buying disposable ones.

Feel History with a Special Tour in Miyazushi (by Team Kyokan)

With the aim of tackling the problem of a decreasing population, the Kyokan team proposed a restaurant and monitor tour project in Miyazushi. Among residents, the area is known for its seafood and Amanohashidate, so the group proposed different historical and traditional locations people might not know, as well as a restaurant serving Tongue Stew rather than seafood. They would work with local businesses to support the local economy.

A Holiday in Ine (by Team Udon-shika)

The next group wanted to focus on helping the local economy of Ine whilst also helping alleviate the weight of overtourism on central Kyoto. Ine is a coastal area far from the center with relatively few tourists. The proposed tour would involve a workshop using local produce and seafood followed by a tour of the “funaya” coastal houses to foster communication between travelers and local residents while contributing to Ine’s economy.

Let's Go to Minami's Place (by Team Nishijin Shizuko)

Taking their project name from the Nishijin silk craft, this group chose to tackle the issue of the decreasing number of craftsmen. The proposed experience would have participants trying out the hand-dyeing art for themselves using a stencil in the home of silk dyer Mr. Minami. During the drying time, there would be an “obanzai” lunch to try local food. The experience allows guests to interact with local residents for an authentic experience, while also coming away with a tangible memento.

Become a Maizuru Kamizaki Fan! A Full Tour Around the Sea (by Team Fukuchiyama University)

The next group chose to tackle a number of issues facing Maizuru, such as the decreasing population and the lack of knowledge about the location as anything other than a summer vacation spot. To do so, they proposed a tour that would run once in summer and once in winter, hoping for participants to attend both. Summer would include a SUP activity and sea talk. Winter would include a food workshop and cultural exchange about hometowns. After both, there would be a trip to Yuragawa Tekkyo, a bridge similar to that of Spirited Away.

Kyoto Sento Hunting Tour (by Member Akira Setoguchi)

The final presenter chose to focus on Kyoto’s sento (public bath) culture. He noted that in the last 50 years, the number of sento in Kyoto had decreased by two thirds. To reignite interest he proposed a tour of seven sento, which could also be customized as needed. This was accompanied by the idea of a “sento of the day”. The tours would be aimed at residents and exchange students or overseas students.

After each of the presentations, the panel of experts gave their feedback and asked a few questions encouraging the presenters to go into more depth on their ideas.

Presentations from Guest Speakers

Presentation by MATCHA CEO, Yu Aoki

After the CEC members’ presentations, a selection of four tourism experts took to the stage to present their ideas on the topic of “Connecting the Inner and Outer Perspectives of Kyoto to its Future.”

The presenters included the those from (President of CIC Japan), Ido Tutnauer (creator of the Doshisha Innovation Community), Yu Aoki (CEO of MATCHA), and Yoshikuni Shirai (Editor-in-Chief at The Japan Times Sustainable Japan Magazine).

The presenters talked about their projects and experiences in Kyoto, the links between culture, authenticity, and tourism, as well as the current problems facing the region brought on by overtourism.

Prizes Given to the Presenters

Finally, the CEC members were awarded with prizes across the seven categories. The prizes included both a trophy and a physical prize offered by CEC partners.

The prizes included jako (dried fish) from Takimono Ebisu and an original novelty item from West Japan Railway Company for all participants. The winners of the Uniqueness Award, Time Travel Award, Most Innovative Award, and CEC Award were rewarded with items from Lithon, an experience at Myoshin-ji Temple, and a stay at Node Hotel and ACE Hotel.

The winners were as follows:

• - Encouragement Award: Udon-shika
• - Environmental and Sustainability Award: Ecorudo Kyodai
• - Kyoto Attraction Discovery Award: Kyokan
• - Uniqueness Award: Fukuchiyama University
• - Time Travel Award: Akira Setoguchi
• - Most Innovative Award: Foodful
• - CEC Award: Nishijin Shizuko

Submission Conditions, Judging Criteria, and Awards of the Competition

What’s Next?

CEC’s first symposium brought together young minds with fresh ideas and tourism experts with years of experience. The success of the event is a testament to the hard work of Chino and the CEC members, but what is next for the organization?

In terms of the immediate future, from March 2024, CEC will begin work placement activities to introduce the members to relevant businesses.

Looking ahead, this symposium was centered around the topic of tourism, but at the core of CEC is tourism, culture, and economy. While they were not able to talk at length about all three during this one event, they will continue to work on these topics to figure out new ways to help contribute towards their solutions via their regular meetups and events.

Get in Touch with CEC

Hiroko Chino, Founder of CEC in Kyoto

This symposium hopes to be the first of many, with the next planned for the same time next year.

This symposium was organized, operated, sponsored, and promoted by CEC ambassadors. If you are interested in getting in touch with CEC, whether that’s as a business or you would like to join the organization itself, they would be delighted to hear from you. You can get in touch via their contact form.

You can watch this year’s full symposium here.

Picture courtesy of Cultural Edu-tourism Council (CEC)