HSI Report: Multiculturalcoexistence in tourist
destinations
University News | July 23, 2018

Ramon Serrat of Barcelona University discussing the course topics on the first day.

The number of tourists traveling across borders is ever expanding andexpected to reach 1.8 billion people per year by 2030. “Some areas areoverwhelmed by tourists and the local populace do not want to havemore. That’s how powerful tourism is,” says Associate Professor
Yusuke Ishiguro of Hokkaido University.
As part of the Hokkaido Summer Institute (HSI), Ishiguro organized
the course “Multicultural coexistence in tourist destinations” to discuss
inbound tourism and its influence on local culture or itself. He wasjoined by three other experts, Associate Professor Yohei Fujino andAssistant Professor Svetlana Paichadze of Hokkaido University, andRamon Serrat of Barcelona University to teach the five-day course held
between July 4th and 8th, which was attended by eight students fromChina, Taiwan, Guatemala, Ecuador and Japan.

Yusuke Ishiguro (left) giving an introduction to the course on the first day and Svetlana
Paichadze (right) lecturing on the history of Sakhalin on the second day.

On the second day, Fujino talked about how “national identity” isexpressed differently at museums in Taiwan; The Armed ForceMuseum emphasizes Chinese identity and the unification of thecountry while The Green Island Human Rights Cultural Park
represents Taiwanese identity and focuses on political prisoners during
the White Terror. “People in Taiwan choose which museum to go basedon their political stance,” said Fujino. Paichadze then briefly
introduced the complex history of Sakhalin island, or Karafuto inJapanese, where populations of Ainu and other indigenous people,Japanese, Korean, and Russian people coexisted as a result of WWII.
Paichadze also mentioned how museums in Sapporo and Sakhalin
depict history differently.

Yohei Fujino answering questions after his lecture on the second day.

Drawing from political scientist Benedict Anderson’s theory, Fujino
said “Government uses ‘Census, Maps, and Museums’ to shapenational identity and form the image of the nation.” Serrat added,“Generally speaking, after WWII, museums in Europe have provided
unbiased facts so that visitors can think for themselves.” They also
discussed how an increase in foreign tourists can influence themanagement and exhibitions of local museums.
On the following day, Serrat lectured on the strong relationshipbetween tourism and culture, and how to manage the possible conflicts
arising from the presence of high numbers of visitors in inhabited andoften fragile cultural sites.
Afterwards, students took a field trip to Niseko, one of the most
multicultural areas in Japan, to learn firsthand the benefits andchallenges of multicultural coexistence at tourist destinations.

Mr. Seiichi Sode, who runs a farming corporation “Farmtopia” in Niseko area, explains
how they work with foreign trainees and employees to contribute to the local economy.

Liu Xiaotong, who studies tourism at Nankai University in China, said
“Tourism involves a lot of different angles such as sociology,
economics, culture and people, and that’s why I became interested instudying it. I enjoyed this course and learned the importance ofunderstanding tourism in an international and multicultural context.”
This summer, the Hokkaido Summer Institute (HSI) is running morethan 100 courses in diverse disciplines. Visit HSI’s website for more
information.
Written by Naoki Namba