Japan’s Towada-Hachimantai National Park Chosen as ‘Tourism Resource’ to Attract High Quality Hotels

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:34 JST, March 25, 2024 

The Environment Ministry has selected Towada-Hachimantai National Park’s Lake Towada area as a model for how to attract high quality hotels to such a region, it announced Monday at an expert panel meeting.

The park that stretches between Aomori and Akita prefectures will be utilized as a tourism resource to attract foreign visitors.

The ministry has aimed to capitalize on Japan’s natural environment as a tourism resource and has worked on the branding of national parks to boost demand from foreigners and wealthy people by offering experiences, both natural and cultural, unique to the areas.

The Lake Towada area has many famous aspects, including the scenic Oirase Gorge which holds a 14-kilometer-long stream with many waterfalls and springs. Making use of vacant lots with dilapidated houses in the region has been difficult, but the ministry wants to use the land to promote the area’s tourism and draw in hotels.

In addition to the Towada-Hachimantai, in August the ministry picked the following parks as candidates: the Chubusangaku National Park’s southern region in Nagano and Gifu prefectures, Daisen-Oki National Park’s Daisen Hiruzen area in Tottori and Okayama prefectures and Yambaru National Park in Okinawa Prefecture.