Interview Sustainable tourism from Hiroshima and beyond—a global view of Hiroshima’s potential. - Carolin Funck (Germany)

Carolyn Funck standing in front of the library collection.

Our Life, Our Hiroshima is an interview series highlighting individuals involved in various fields of work after relocating to Hiroshima.

With residents from each of the G7 countries—France, US, UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada—the series spotlights each individual’s view of Hiroshima’s lifestyle and charms through the lens of their unique background.

Hiroshima University Professor Carolin Funck is an expert in tourism geography. After 25 years of monitoring Hiroshima as it transforms, how does she characterize its potential as a tourist destination?

Interviewer/writer: Kaoru Nakamichi
Photographer: Kenichi Asano
Editor: Takeshi Maruta (CINRA, Inc.)

Japan and Germany: differing tourism styles

Interviewer: I understand that you are an aikido instructor as well as a university professor.

Carolin: My husband and I run the International Aikido Dōjo Hiroshima. I began studying aikido as a self-defense technique while still in my native Germany. I had always been poor at sports, but I found aikido fascinating once I gave it a try, and that spurred my interest in Japan.

I first travelled here in 1987, soon after I graduated from college. I secured an opportunity to study in Matsuyama Ehime Prefecture through a friend’s connections. After I arrived, I was astonished to discover that aikido was not as widespread here as I had imagined (smile).

During my three years in Matsuyama, I became interested in the differing tourism styles between Japan and Germany. This naturally led to my current specialty of tourism geography, a field which examines tourism activities and the impact of tourism on local communities from the perspective of geography.

Funck taking her opponent's wrist in aikido.

Interviewer: What differences did you find between the two countries?

Carolin: First of all, values surrounding travel and holidays are completely different. Japan’s working population typically has just a few days off in the summer, whereas vacations are a critical component of the European lifestyle. In my childhood, my family always travelled for about three weeks in the summer when I was off from school. Even now, “the next trip” is always a topic of conversation when I meet German friends.

Hiroshima spotlights the best Japan has to offer

Interviewer: What brought you to Hiroshima to live?

Funck saying “I can't imagine living in any other city,”

Carolin: After completing my doctorate at the University of Freiburg, there was an opening to teach geography at Hiroshima University, and I applied. This is my 25th year in Hiroshima, and I like it so much that I simply can’t imagine living in any other place. Hiroshima is described as a microcosm of Japan, and I believe it indeed spotlights the best this country has to offer.

You have the mild climate of the Seto Inland Sea, and the proximity to both the sea and the mountains makes it easy to go swimming and skiing. The airport and bullet train guarantee handy transport. The Saijo area of Higashihiroshima where I live affords the perfect balance of city and countryside. You can live the slow life yet find everything you need for a balanced lifestyle.

When I entertain friends visiting Japan for the first time, we usually set off from Saijo to downtown Hiroshima, then out to Miyajima and Onomichi, after which I offer the choice of sea or mountain. Once they acquire that initial familiarity with Japan, I usually recommend branching out to the places they wish to see.

Hiroshima’s tourism potential from a sustainability perspective

Interviewer: What are Hiroshima’s characteristics as a tourism destination?

Funck standing on the podium to give a lecture

Carolin: I’ve been studying tourism geography for almost 30 years and can share that Hiroshima continues its fascinating transformation. Changes over this past decade are particularly remarkable and parallel the increase in overseas travelers.

Historically, Hiroshima has featured two world-class sightseeing attractions. The first is Miyajima.

It harbors the cultural attraction of Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and offers rich natural tourism. Blessed with a superb view, it was voted among the three most scenic spots in Japan, with inbound tourists flocking to Mt. Misen on the island in recent years. The view from the observatory is stunning, and many visitors stay at inns on the island to enjoy a leisurely climb up the mountain. Western visitors seem ultimately drawn to tourism offering enjoyment of the sea and islands.

Hiroshima’s other tourism attraction is the sightseeing area centered on the Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial Museum. The city is promoting “peace tourism” which includes organized tours of hibaku buildings which survived the atomic blast.

The greatest transformation I have witnessed is the expansion of tourist destinations from the core sights of Miyajima and Peace Memorial Park to areas throughout Hiroshima Prefecture and the Seto Inland Sea region as a whole. I would say Hiroshima has great tourism potential, especially from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the UN in 2015, which are increasingly under the global microscope now.

Interviewer: Are you referring to sustainable tourism?

Funck reading a book in the library collection

Carolin: Absolutely. During the past decade, the tourism resources inherent in Hiroshima and the Seto Inland Sea have gradually been rediscovered.

Cycling is now being advocated for its tourism value. The famous Shimanami Kaido and its byways allow you to carry your bicycle aboard a ferry and enjoy cycling on most of the islands in the Seto Inland Sea. I can hardly wait to see how marine leisure develops in this area.

The Honshu shoreline meanwhile is dotted with historic port towns, with many old buildings refurbished as inns. Depopulation has raised concerns about the disappearance of local communities, but the economic revitalization generated by sustainable tourism can contribute to safeguarding culture and resources which are being lost.

Awareness of the positive and negative impacts of tourism

Interviewer: Does Hiroshima face any challenges regarding tourism?

Carolin: I think further attention should be given to how tourism and related facilities impact the environment not only in Hiroshima, but across Japan as a whole.

In glamping facilities, for instance, air conditioning expends considerable energy, while sewage creates an environmental burden. Many international tourists are concerned about how money spent in communities goes toward environmental protection, highlighting the need for increased awareness. Cultural assets such as townscapes also require deeper consideration.

Tourism inevitably introduces positive and negative impacts on communities. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, over-tourism had already become a social problem in global communities, an issue Japan was beginning to face in Kyoto and Kamakura. This illustrates the need to examine the impact of tourism on communities more thoroughly.

Interviewer: What are your lifelong goals, beyond monitoring tourism in Hiroshima?

Funck staring at her computer in the lab

Carolin: I believe that focusing on lifelong goals is not always useful, as it may cause us to miss serendipitous encounters and opportunities. Moreover, it has become harder to predict what will happen in the world. As the field of tourism is particularly susceptible to rapid change, I teach my students the importance of remaining flexible.

If I had to say, I center my life on a solid inner core, which I learned through long years of practicing aikido, and then allow leeway for new discovery. Perhaps you could describe that as my lifelong goal.

Profile

Carolin Funck
Born in Freiburg in southern Germany, she earned a Doctorate of Science (geography). Now a university educator, she has lived in Matsuyama, Nishinomiya, Kyoto, and Higashihiroshima since arriving in Japan as a student in 1987. Funck wrote her PhD dissertation at the University of Freiburg on tourism development in agricultural and fishing areas of Japan. She has been lecturing on human geography and tourism geography at Hiroshima University’s School of Integrated Arts and Sciences since 1998. She has primarily taught tourism geography to graduate students since the Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences was established in 2006. Her main research areas include sustainable tourism, marine tourism, and inbound tourism in Japan, with a geographical focus on Germany’s Baltic Sea and the Seto Inland Sea.

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