Tourism Development in Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System Areas in Japan: Making Stories and Experience-Based Products

Japanese communities associated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) program have tried to develop tourism products that take advantage of their certification as a GIAHS site. As the experience economy is gaining more importance in society, tapping into tourism is a realistic choice for the communities that face aging and declining populations. In this study, we look at how stories (narratives) are attached to agricultural products and culture and identify issues in making experience-based products in GIAHS areas in Japan. We used an inductive approach to analyze qualitative data collected mainly by interviews and observations. For the analysis, we followed the standard analytical techniques, that is, searching for patterns of similarities and differences of transcribed data and refining ideas using diagrams. Field work was conducted in Oita GIAHS, Gifu GIAHS and Shizuoka Chagusaba GIAHS that represent all GIAHS types in Japan. This research shows that the landscape type of GIAHS can develop various souvenirs with different stories extracted from GIAHS certification documents from crafts to foodstuffs. On the other hand, in the farming method type of GIAHS, narratives are confined to a single agricultural product and its production method. Another finding is that two layers of narratives exist in the experience-based products in GIAHS areas. The first layer is created utilizing already known agricultural and cultural traditions in a locality. The second layer is a GIAHS story added to the first layer as a scientific reinterpretation of local agricultural heritage.