Encounters” and ‘exchanges’ determine one’s impression of a town, as I learned on my round-Japan trip

-First of all, why did you decide to do business in “Nachikatsuura Town” instead of your hometown “Shingu City”?

In my mind, I look at “Kumano” as an “area,” so I could have chosen either “Shingu” or “Katsuura”. From the tourists’ point of view, they would probably look at it from the “area” of “Kumano,” not “because it is in Shingu” or “because it is in Katsuura”.　 As to why we chose Katsuura, it is because of its strong tourist content. There are hot springs, tuna, and a World Heritage site. In fact, in terms of lodging, the tourism data released by Wakayama Prefecture at the time showed that Katsuura had seven times more lodging guests than Shingu, so I thought to myself, “Of course, it’s Katsuura!”　 In addition, the number of inbound tourists was increasing steadily, but there were not many guesthouses in Katsuura at that time. Although the number of tourists staying in Katsuura was seven times that of Shingu, I felt that the target group of guesthouses was not well-developed. So we decided to go for it.

-What made you decide to open a guesthouse in this area?

When I came back to my hometown, I wanted to “spread the charm of Kumano to the world.”　 When I thought about what I could do to spread the charm of Kumano to the world, I realized that it would be better to have visitors become fans of the area and spread the word around, saying, “Kumano was great!” I thought it would be faster to have the visitors become fans of the area and spread the word around. I traveled around Japan before coming back to my hometown, and I was often asked, “Where was your favorite place?” I was often asked, “Where was good? I would reply, “This place was great!” The “here” I would say was not a tourist attraction at all. I would say, “I had a great time at the inn where I stayed that day, and I had a great time meeting people and interacting with them.
That’s why I like the town.”　 So, I think that the encounters and interactions in a town leave a strong impression on people. I thought, “I like this town because of the encounters and interactions I had. I thought that a guesthouse was exactly the kind of place to have people say, “I like this town because of the encounters and interactions. So I thought that a guesthouse was needed in this area, and I decided to start a guesthouse.

-I heard that you went on a trip around Japan wearing haori hakama, which led to the idea of opening a guesthouse. Can you tell us about that trip?

Yes, I did. I consider haori hakama as a communication tool. When you travel in kimono, “something” happens that doesn’t happen on ordinary trips. For example, when you are suddenly asked in an elevator, “Why are you wearing haori hakama?” I said, “I’m traveling dressed like this,” and he said, “Good luck!”　 Such a small word or communication usually does not happen in an elevator. There are so many things that happen that wouldn’t happen if you were traveling normally. I thought that was interesting.

I was on the road for about six months, and people used to ask me, “Where are you from?” I would say “Kumano,” but no one knew where I was from. Where is that? 　 I was shocked to learn that Kumano is not known by people all over Japan. I like this area and the people who live here because Kumano is my hometown, and I am proud of this area, and I want everyone to know about it. “Come here, everyone!” is the root of my desire to “spread the charm of Kumano to the world“.

Once I left Nachikatsuura Town, I realized the charm of my hometown.

-You went to college in Tokyo, right? How was life in Tokyo?

I lived in Kanagawa for two years and in Tokyo for two years! It was a lot of fun!
I felt that just living here (in my hometown) didn’t give me a broad perspective. I had only known this area until I was in high school. I thought, “I didn’t realize how many interesting people existed here! I didn’t know what I could do!”
I met all kinds of people because I was in Tokyo. It was fun and good, but at the same time, I felt that my hometown was a great place, and my love for Kumano grew stronger day by day. So I never thought of living in Tokyo forever. I had thought from that time on that I would come back someday.

Until I left high school, I hated the fact that my hometown was in the countryside, and I wanted to live in the city as soon as possible. I thought it was uninteresting because my hometown was in the countryside, and I had a strong desire to get out as soon as possible,
But once I got out, I realized that my hometown was a great place with rich nature and food.

ーWhat made you decide to make a U-turn?

I had always wanted to do something about this declining area, but I had a goal of starting a business while I was still in my 20s. I wanted to start a business while I was still in my 20s. So, when I thought, “Where should I start a business? I thought that I could start a business in another area without me, and I also wanted to expand the appeal of Kumano. So I decided to come back and start a business while I was in my 20s.
By the way, I started my business when I was just barely in my 20s, and I will turn 30 in two weeks. (laughs).

“Machi Inn Project” is a project designed to make people feel the charm of the town.

ーYou are involved in a variety of activities, but do you have any future plans, or is there anything you would like to do in the future?

We originally started with the idea that a guesthouse was necessary to spread the charms of this area, so we want to do more than just guesthouses. I want to “spread the charm of Kumano to the world,” so I would like to continue to do something that fits that description, in other words, activities to spread the charm of Kumano to the world and other things related to that. One of the things I’m thinking about right now is the “Machi-Yado Project,” in which the entire town is considered to be a hotel. This concept originated in Italy, where it is called “alberco di fuzzo” in Italian, or “decentralized hotel in town” in Japanese. By treating the entire town as a hotel, restaurants in town can be considered hotel dining rooms, and day-trip hot springs in town can be considered hotel baths. The actual inn basically provides a place to sleep and a reception desk. It acts as a gateway to the town, and the rest of the guests are asked to go out into the town. I believe that by having guests tour the entire town in this way, money will fall into the community as a whole, and the local economy will be revitalized.

If the entire town is considered a hotel, then the rooms for guests are also located in the town, and we are currently increasing the number of rooms in the town. Our vision for the future is to make WhyKumano the check-in point, and to create rooms by utilizing vacant houses and stores in the town. By doing so, we will be able to address local issues such as the increase in vacant houses and stores in the town, and the town as a whole will become more interesting. Nachikatsuura is a compact town, so most of what you need for daily life is within walking distance. Nanki-Katsuura has the largest catch of fresh tuna in Japan and the largest number of hot springs in Wakayama, so all we need is a place to sleep, and the rest of the town will satisfy us to the fullest. We only need to provide a place to sleep, and the rest of the town can be enjoyed to the fullest. That is what we would like to do.

-What do you like about Katsuura?

What I think about living in this area is that I like the “people” of this area. In our concept of a town-dispersed hotel, we want our guests to make a round trip around the town. I hope they will meet and interact with the people of the town. You can’t meet the people of the town if you spend your time at the hotel, so I would be happy if we could get the guests to go out more and more, meet the people of the town, and interact with the local people so that they become fans of this area, saying, “This is a nice town.”

To know someone’s daily life is to travel. To know how they live is to discover the charm of a town.

-What does “travel” mean to you, Mr. Goro?

I fell in love with traveling when I was a university student and traveled to 26 countries during my school years. Through that experience, I realized that traveling for me means “to visit someone’s daily life.” For example, for people living in Katsuura, tuna and hot springs are part of their daily life, and they feel this is normal. But for people outside the area, tuna and hot springs are not normal for many people. In other words, they are extraordinary to someone else. What is extraordinary for me is ordinary for someone else. So I thought that traveling is to visit someone’s daily life.

In the everyday life of this region, there are times when tourists say, “What’s this?” in the daily life of this area. For example, in Katsuura, there is an unattended tuna market in town, but it is an everyday thing for people in this area. Tourists also say, “I’ve never heard of unmanned tuna vending machines!” And, they say, “That’s interesting!”
I think the guesthouse function is necessary for the town as a place where such information can be obtained.

-Lastly, is there anything else you would like people to know?

I don’t think this area can be conveyed just by coming here once.
Once you come here, you will encounter new attractions.
The next time you come back, you will discover something new, and you will come back again! And so on. I think it’s a repetition of that. But this area is inaccessible from anywhere (it is said to be the furthest from Tokyo), so people may not come here anymore if they just want to see the tourist attractions. If people get to know more about the daily life of this area, I think they will discover something that appeals to them. I think they will find something that appeals to them and become fans of the area, and they will come not just once, but two or three times in the future, or even once a year. So I hope that people will see it not only from the perspective of tourism, but also from the perspective of local life and daily life.

Also, personally, I would like people to come here without knowing anything about the area. I am confident that people who say, “I did a lot of research but didn’t know what to expect, so I came here without making any plans,” will become fans of the area after I give them my recommendations. LOL!

-Thank you very much! I look forward to hearing more about your future plans, Goro!