On November 4, 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) named the first five rural areas to receive the ministry’s “Savor Japan” certification for their excellent regional initiatives to promote the attractiveness of the regions by combining their local resources including foods, the agricultural industry and local scenery. The first five regions accredited in the governmental program launched in 2016 are Tokachi in Hokkaido, Ichinoseki and Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture, Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture, Maze in Gifu Prefecture, and Nishi-Awa in Tokushima Prefecture.
The five regions were chosen for having high potential to stimulate the tourism in Japan using their rich natural environment and food culture. An original embrem has been created to help them deliver their messages effectively to potential international travelers. MAFF thinks that the program will boost travellers to Japan’s farm villages and improve the income of agricultural, fishing and mountain villages.
The Japanese government aims at doubling the number of the visitors to Japan to 20 million in 2020, but currently, most of the inbound trousits go to big cities like Tokyo and Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area. So drawing their attentions also to the farming communities is one of the big agendas for Japan.
MAFF sees the Savor Japan program will drive the move. Through the program, Japan is telling the world that there are some officially-recognized tourist destinations where people can enjoy local foods, the agriculture, forestry and fishery industries in the area that produce those foods, as well as local scenery, traditional events and hot springs.
In 2016, 44 candidates from 28 prefectures submitted their 5-year plans and schemes that were developed by dedicated functioning bodies consisting of regional governments, agricultural cooperatives, tourist associations, restaurants and other local entities.