“Yamaguchi City Sagi-ryu Kyogen Experience” selected in the Japan Tourism Agency’s subsidy programs: “Development Promotion Project of Regional Tourism Resources into Content for Tourism Demand Dispersion (New Creation Category)”!

The other project which OUGI Inc. has been collaborating with was selected in a subsidy program of the Japan Tourism Agency. The program is called “Development Promotion Project of Regional Tourism Resources into Content for Tourism Demand Dispersion”, and our project is in the New Creation Category. The entity of the applicant organization is General Incorporated Association Yamaguchi Tourism Convention. The project title is “Feel the story of people preserving culture through Sagi-ryu Kyogen experience in Yamaguchi City.”

The overview of “the Development Promotion Project of Regional Tourism Resources into Content for Tourism Demand Dispersion” of the Japan Tourism Agency is explained as follows.

This program aims to promote supplying Tourism contents for inbound tourism demand dispersion. To achieve that goal, it is expected that content contributes to 1) spreading the economic benefits by tourism throughout the country, 2) effectively expanding tourism consumption, and 3) leading to the leveling out of tourism demand by sustained efforts to attract tourists to regional areas. Therefore, this program provides comprehensive support for local governments, DMOs, private-sector businesses, etc. to develop tourism content utilizing diverse local resources, disseminate information, and develop sales channels, etc. Furthermore, this program will provide focused support for high-value tourism content featuring enhanced quality for inbound travelers and tourism content development in the gastronomy sector expected to generate ripple effects for local industries, etc. (*1)

This selected project is led by Yamaguchi City and the General Incorporated Association Yamaguchi Tourism Convention. In the previous year, they participated in the Urgent Countermeasures Project of Tourism Environment Improvement for Foreign Tourists by the Chugoku District Transport Bureau. It was titled the “Promotion Project of ‘scenic spots & Traditional performing arts and folk performing arts’ in the Chugoku Region.” Their participating category was “one of the regions possessing scenic spots and traditional performing arts (candidate site for the demonstration project).” Activities over the past year revealed the potential to attract inbound tourists to Yamaguchi City by utilizing traditional performing arts. This year, they decided to continue the project to develop the contents for sales, by uniting the local’s hope. OUGI takes roles of narrative creation for the offered experience as well as culture promotion and market development on social media to strive to achieve the objective of the Publicly Solicited Project, while collaborating with four entities: Yamaguchi City, General Incorporated Association Yamaguchi Tourism Convention, Yamaguchi Sagi-ryu Kyogen Preservation Society and the Chugoku District Transport Bureau.

Yamaguchi City has cultivated a mind of preserving and inheriting culture. OUGI conceptualises it as “Japanese Stewardship” and creates the narrative for the entire experience. The narrative offers the participants to viscerally grasp the fundamental spirit of cultural preservation by knowing the local area, people and their lifestyles. Through the experience of Yamaguchi Sagi-ryu Kyogen there, which is Prefectural Intangible Cultural Property, the project aims to encourage the participants to play a role in inheriting the culture.

In this project, OUGI set a goal to develop tour contents in practical conditions for sales. In collaboration with the local community, OUGI plans to proceed with developing this tour content and posting about it on social media as well as the implementation of a monitor tour. Through this project, OUGI contributes to developing new sales channels and creating opportunities for people to experience authentic Japanese culture and the Japanese spirit, deeply rooted in everyday life.

（*1）
The website of the Japan Tourism Agency “Development Promotion Project of Regional Tourism Resources into Content for Tourism Demand Dispersion” (in Japanese)
https://juyobunsan.go.jp/