Human Tourism

Please refrain from participating in the tour for the purpose of interviewing.

What is Human Tourism?

Human Tourism is…
It is a type of human-oriented community-based tourism which has been popular recent years. Humans in the community are the resource for this tour.

Human tourism aims to enhance communication between tour participants and community people – human resource as staff of NPO for Fukushima disaster reconstruction, farmers, fishermen, medical doctors, teachers, university students, administrative officers, etc. and to visit earthquake and tsunami affected areas.

Approximately 1600 people attended the tour in total from August 2012 to April 2014, and the questionnaire shows 90% of them were satisfied with the tour contents, giving opinions as follows: “I could feel real Fukushima which was not reported through the mass media”, “I will keep supporting Fukushima”, “I knew that Fukushima food was safety”.

Soma and Futaba District Human Tourism Committee was established by members of human tourism supporting organisations in 2013. The committee will promote human tourism by collaborating with tour companies as Fukushima-kotsu Co., Ltd and receiving subsidy from Regional Development Bureau of Soma and Futaba District. Bridge for Fukushima takes a role of secretariat.

Case of Community

Odaka, Minamisoma-city

Ms. Shizuka Kume,

the chairperson of NPO Ukifune no Sato, resident of Odaka
She is a chairperson of NPO Ukifune no Sato and staff of Soma-base, Bridge for Fukushima. She had own shop for house construction materials but the tsunami hit her shop on 11 March 2011. She finally decided to evacuate after hearing blasts at Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant although she had been cleaning her shop.

She now lives temporarily in municipally subsidized rental housing, and work for Soma-base which provides drinking water for families with babies. She also established NPO Ukifune no Sato in XX to provide space with community people who wished to come back home in Odaka someday.

Soma-city

Mr. Nagamasa Takahashi,

Chairperson of NPO Soma Haragama Asaichi Club
He established Senshin Shokuhin, a marine products company in 2007 after 25 years working for another marine products company his relative run. His company’s factory was however hit by tsunami. But short after a while, he established NPO Soma Haragama Asaichi Club and now lives in temporary housing.

He now runs a restaurant, Hotokuan at temporary store area, not only taking role of the chairperson of the NPO. Furthermore, he also revived his marine products factory. He processes fish from inside and outside of the country instead of fish in Maehama where he used to fish, getting support from Odawara-city Kanagawa, Matsumaecho Hokkaido, and Fukauramachi Aomori, and keeps developing new marine products.
He is a key person for Soma-city reconstruction who has been keeping coordinating outsider supporters to Soma-city.

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