On Saturday, May 30th, a monitor tour titled "Yanagawa Stamp Rally Starting from Hiyoshi Shrine" was held in Yanagawa City, planned and operated by 19 students and faculty members from our university's Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development.
This tour was conducted as part of the "Yanagawa Satellite" initiative, a joint project between Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development and the Yanagawa City Tourism Division, as part of a cross-disciplinary PBL (Project-Based Learning) course called "Special Lecture." Looking ahead to the planned extension of the river cruise route to Nishitetsu Yanagawa Station next summer, last year we proposed to the city the need for an intermediate boarding/disembarking point along the route. This year, we selected Hiyoshi Shrine as a candidate site and considered experiential content that would lead to tourism and consumption after disembarking. As a pilot project, we planned this monitor tour.
On the day of the event, blessed with fine weather, approximately 100 people from both inside and outside Yanagawa, mainly families with young children, participated. They enjoyed a special river cruise on four boats, disembarking at Hiyoshi Shrine. After disembarking at Hiyoshi Shrine, students introduced the lesser-known charms of Yanagawa through a stamp rally designed with the themes of "prayer," "life," and "literature." Participants who collected stamps received coupons redeemable at food trucks set up by local shops, and many purchased sweets, contributing to local consumption. Furthermore, students acted as guides during a walking tour of the town to the Okihata area, carefully explaining literary monuments and other points of interest along the way. The guided tour, which was carefully designed to engage children, was well-received by the participants.
Ai Nakanomori (Nishinihon Junior College Affiliated High School), a second-year student in the Department Department of Tourism at the same faculty, said, "This time, we targeted families with children and planned a tour that even children can enjoy. Yanagawa City is my hometown, but I was able to realize that it has so many attractions, and I was reminded of the importance of looking for tourism resources from an outside perspective." Yuka Ishigami (Kashii High School), a second-year Department of Regional Development reflected on the activity, saying, "I was able to work on the project in collaboration with students from other departments, and I felt a sense of accomplishment because I was able to take responsibility for the role I was given. It was also a valuable experience to be able to consider the needs of an age group different from my own."
Based on the results of this demonstration experiment, the students plan to summarize the attractions of the area around Hiyoshi Shrine as an intermediate boarding/alighting point and use this information to make recommendations to Yanagawa City.
Our university will continue to foster students' social skills and initiative through practical learning in collaboration with the local community, and strive to make further contributions to the local community.
[Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development]
