Nov 17 (the-japan-news.com) - The government plans to actively promote stays at farming villages geared toward foreign tourists. Supportive measures to begin next fiscal year will include sponsoring skilled chefs to hold cooking classes at women’s clubs to enhance local cuisine, and other steps to attract foreigners interested Japanese food and culture.
Tourists lodging with farming families and elsewhere in farming communities will have the opportunity to experience traditional Japanese culture, such as rice planting, while enjoying local dishes and interacting with villagers. Many tourists, especially from Asia, have stayed repeatedly at Japanese farms in recent years.
The government allocated ¥5 billion in the current fiscal year budget to revitalize rural areas by promoting farm stays, and will provide subsidies to about 200 areas nationwide, including Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, which plans to hold experimental sightseeing tours.
In its basic plan for promoting tourism approved by the Cabinet in March, the government aims for 500 areas nationwide to host farm stays by 2020. It will subsidize new projects and measures in a bid to achieve the goal, with about ¥7.5 billion allocated for such undertakings in the budget request for fiscal 2018.
The funding is expected to go toward such projects as cooking classes for local residents hosting foreigners, through which skilled chefs from across Japan will work with villagers to develop local dishes suited to foreign palates. Foreign tourists will also have the opportunity to prepare fruits and vegetables that they picked themselves, with the chefs.
The government hopes to promote such activities by asking foreign tourists to share Japan’s appealing points through social media and other means to reach a worldwide audience.
