1. From Pilgrimage to Package:
The Evolution of the Japanese Tourism Industry
Dr Roger March
rogerstgmarch@gmail.com

2. Overview
¢ Pre-Tokugawa
¢ Tokugawa Era (1603-1867)
¢ Modern Era (1867-1945)
¢ Post-WWII (1945 à)
¢ Birth of Outbound Industry

3. Pre-Tokugawa:
Travel Before 1600
¢ Arrival of Buddhism sparks
religious travel in 7th/8th C.
¢ Heian Era (794-1185)
l Round trip from Kyoto to Mt Koya
took one month, over 600k with
1000 people, incl. guards &
porters
¢ Azuchi-Motoyama Era
(1568-1602) Undated: Bridge over Nishiki River in
l Poor quality roads & sekisho Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
system hamper travel

4. Tokugawa Era 1603-1867
Severe Travel Restrictions
¢ Sankin kotai
¢ Sekisho (600 check stations)
¢ Few bridges
¢ 1635:Japanese are forbidden to
travel abroad or to return from
abroad
¢ 1638: Construction of boats over
100seki banned 1863: Ashinoyu Hot Springs, Hakone
¢ 1639: Japan begins 215-year
period of self-imposed isolation
from the rest of the world

5. The View in 1691
“There are incredibly so many
people travelling on the main roads
in this country, and in several
seasons roads are flooded with the
people just as in the big cities of
Europe. ...
“[T]here are at least two reasons
why so many people travelling in
this country. Firstly, because of the
big population of this country, and
secondly because of the people's
fondness for travelling compared
with the peoples of other
countries.”
Dr. Engelbert Kaempfer Undated: The old Tsukimi Teahouse at
Dutch doctor in Nagasaki office of
Dutch East India Company Suwa Shinto Shrine, Nagasaki.

6. Pilgrimage in
Japanese Travel

7. Three Types of Pilgrimage
¢ honzon (specific gods or
Buddhist images) junrei
(pilgrimage), for solely
religious purposes
¢ soshi junrei, a pilgrimage to
visit temples founded or
occupied by particular sect in
order to worship founders
(soshi) e.g., Shikoku 88
sacred places
¢ meiseki junrei pilgrimage to
visit famous places (meiseki)
e.g., 7 great temples of Nara

8. Okagemairi
(Pilgrimage of gratitude)
1718
¢ Around 2.25 million
Japanese visit Ise Shrine
(8% of total population).
Early Meiji: Family being entertained
by street entertainer.
1830
¢ Up to 5 million Japanese
visit Ise Shrine (18% of
population).
¢ Last great mass
pilgrimage of Tokugawa
Era.
Undated: Pilgrim family of three with
hats, bags, canes and sandals on their
feet. Shrine in background.

9. Pilgrimages for the masses
Sir Rutherford Alcock, Britain's
first official representative in
Japan, informed Japanese
officials he intended a pilgrimage
to Mount Fuji.
“It is not consistent with the dignity
of a Daimio, or even an officer of
any rank, to make the pilgrimage -
perhaps because too many of the
greasy mob must unavoidably
come in close contact with them“.
(Ishimori, 1985, p.185)

10. Modern era begins 1867à
Domestic Factors
¢ Influx of foreigners into the country: diplomats, sailors, merchants,
adventurers - and tourists.
¢ By 1870, the world's four largest steamship companies had offices
in Yokohama
¢ Kihin-Kai (The Welcome Society of Japan) established in 1893
¢ Minami Shinsuke establishes travel business arranging religious
travel to Takanoyama and Ise Shrine in 1905
International Factors
¢ Suez Canal opens in 1869
¢ Trans-American railway line completed
¢ Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days" published in 1873

11. Footnote on JTB, the world’s
biggest travel agent
¢ Established in 1912 as Japan Tsûrisuto Byûro to service the
inbound market
¢ In May 1941 ‘JTB’ changes to Toa Travel Company (Tôa
Ryokosha). ‘Toa’ refers to Greater Asia region under Japanese
control.
¢ In July government bans all companies other than 'JTB' from
operating travel businesses. It becomes the government's travel
agent arranging
l the transport for new army recruits
l troop transfers and evacuations.
¢ In 1943, the company's name was changed to Nihon Kôtsu Kôsha
(Japan Transport Corporation). The frivolous word 'travel' (ryokô)
was replaced with 'transport' (kôtsu).
¢ Reverted to Japan Travel Bureau two days after Douglas
MacArthur arrived in Japan
¢ JTB was the Japanese government's sole designated company
arranging for the repatriation of Japanese soldiers to Japan after
the war

12. Culture & Travel
through History
¢ Oshogatsu (New Year)
¢ Obon (Mid-summer
¢ Shugaku ryoko (school
excursion)
¢ Shinkon Ryoko
(honeymoon)
¢ Shokuba ryoko (company
trip)
1889: Japan’s first western-style
hotel, Fujiya Hotel in Hakone.

13. 1945 à Olympic Games
Domestic travel: To Raise Japanese spirits?
¢ 1946 saw birth of National Athletic Meet (Kokumin Taiiku
Taikai)
¢ Group travel to Ise Shrine stimulated domestic travel
¢ Travel agents’ main business was selling railway travel, so
most were tied to railway companies
Overseas Travel: Slow to escape shadow of WWII
¢ Japanese athletes attended First Asian Games in New Delhi
in 1951.
¢ In 1952, participated in the Oslo Winter Olympics and the
Helsinki Summer Olympics.
¢ In 1954, Japan Air Lines began its first overseas flight with
service to San Francisco.
¢ Only 25,000 Japanese travelled abroad in 1956.

14. Japan Uses Olympics to
Liberalise Outbound Travel
On April 1, 1964, all restrictions
on Japanese overseas travel
were removed.
128,000 travelled abroad. It’s
population was 97.8M.
The first package was "Push
Button", a 19-day, 7-country
European tour by Swissair in July
1964.
The country's first home-grown
overseas package was released
in April 1965, also was a 16-day
European trip.