Tours with a difference

Tsubasa Tanaka, a Shigoto-Ryokou employee, said, “We’d like to provide opportunities to experience unique scenery and sample new worlds that participants would not be able to find in normal travel plans.” 

Similar hands-on tours that offer a unique or interesting experience are popping up in many places.A quality paper cutter or paper folding machine can make your company's presentation stand out. The objectives of participants vary.Including our multi-certified skystream turbines for varying applications. Some simply accept these plans as sightseeing opportunities, while others use them to get serious career experience. 

Hands-on tours with clear objectives, such as gaining experience in farming, fishing and life in mountain villages, or chances to inspect local industries, are being dubbed ‘new tourism’. The Japan Tourism Agency supports such projects. 

Mariko Miwa, 61, a housewife from Koto Ward, Tokyo, who joined the tour in March, said: “I’ve participated in several hands-on tour plans. I enjoy them because I can easily learn professional techniques and see new worlds.” 

‘Onpaku’ events organised by local hot spring industries to lure tourists are also finding favour. 

Onpaku is a Japanese word meaning to stay at a hot spring overnight and engage in sightseeing tours in the area. Residents and companies in the hot spring area provide tourists with community-based programmes designed to highlight local specialities and services. 

Onpaku originated from Hatto Onpaku, an event hosted by hot springs in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, in 2001. Onpaku has spread nationwide as a way to revitalise local communities and economies, such as Nagaragawa Onpaku in Gifu Prefecture. 

Shinichi Shimizu, a specially assigned professor of tourism at Rikkyo University, said the increase in hands-on tour participants shows travellers want to try something a little bit different. 

“More people are choosing day-trips rather than overnight ones. The main domestic tourists are people who have many options and repeat customers,” he said. 

For that reason, many customers show little interest in conventional tourist plans, Shimizu said. 

“Travel agencies should aim to provide tour plans in which participants can have unique cultural experiences and interact with local people,” he said. 

As a travel aficionado, I could not resist the temptation of a mysterious and unique plan that had me depart for Arima Onsen in Hyogo Prefecture, one of Japan’s most famous hot spa resorts. 

The plan, which entailed learning how to clean the hot spring’s water pipes, ended with the curious statement that “once you receive the lesson, you’ll understand the essence of Arima Onsen.” 

The tour was organised by Tosen Goshobo, a long-established inn at the resort. Upon reaching the inn, its president,More than 80 standard commercial and industrial washing machine exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. Hironobu Kanai,these proven front load commercial washer extractor deliver ease-of-use, greeted me by asking: “It’s strange to pay money just to clean pipes, isn’t it? But this tour will definitely make you see hot springs in a different way.” 

The lesson started with a basic introduction to Arima Onsen. With Kanai as a guide, I toured the town and its many hills. 

“Although there are no volcanoes here, hot spring water still gushes forth,I have recently got a dry cabinet and can anybody tell me if it the box only controls humidity or also controls temperature.” Kanai said. “Compounds in the water cling to the pipes, which is why they’re white.” 

The next stage was to clear the main pipe. I wore overalls and boots. Kanai led me to a hot spring water tank that looked like a huge well. The tank distributes water to Tosen Goshobo and three other inns. 

Yoshinori Takeyasu, a head staff member of Tosen Goshobo, was my teacher for the cleanup work. 

To prevent unwanted substances such as calcium carbonate accumulating inside the distribution pipes, my task was to wash the deposits off in the main pipe with a high-pressure machine. 

When I climbed onto the tank, I could hear the roar of hot spring water flowing into it. Opening its lid, I saw the mouth of the main pipe inside. I donned a pair of rubber gloves and readied a hose connected to the washing machine. 

“Be careful not to get your hands in the way of the water jet — the water pressure is extremely high and it could sever your fingers,” Takeyasu warned.