REGIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT STAGES OF THE HOT-SPRING RESORTS IN THE TOKYO TOURIST REGION

Abstract

Modern tourism in Japan is characterized by the mass, various and widespread tourist movement. As a phenomenon, mass tourist movement appears particularly in relation to the remarkable growth of metropolitan areas, and most resorts surrounding metropolitan areas have developed greatly. First, the resorts with over 100, 000 visitors each year were identified. Then, according to the tourist market the resorts were classified into three main types, (i) metropolitan type, (ii) intermediate type and (iii) local type. Finally, the area of the metropolitan area and the intermediate type resorts serving the Tokyo tourist market was designated as the Tokyo tourist region and an attempt was made to explain the regional differentiation of the development stages by considering only the external factors affecting these resorts. The indices for the regional differentiation are based on changes in the number of bathing tourists (in 1939 and 1965), the accommodation capacity (in 1933 and 1963) and the worker rate from service industry (in 1950 and 1965). The results of this analysis are as follows: (1) In 1939, before the Second World War, the number of bathing tourists at each hot-spring resort in the Hakone-Izu area is nearly similar to the Kitakanto area, mainly Tochigi and Gunma Prefecture. Hakone-Izu Area……Hakone (510, 000), Atami (470, 000), Ito (360, 000), Yugawara (300, 000), Izunagaoka (250, 000). Kitakanto Area……Nikkoyumoto (460, 000), Kusatsu (320, 000), Ikaho (240, 000), Shiobara (210, 000). The above each hot-spring resort is more than 200, 000 bathing tourist. Also, the accommondation capacities in 1933 were similar. (2) By 1965, both bathing tourists and accommodation capacities were centralized remarkably in the hot-spring resorts in the Hakone-Izu area ; on the other hand, the wellknown hot-spring resorts (the traditional hot-spring resort) before the Second World War in the Kitakanto area were characterized by stagnation. However, Kinugawa and Minakami, non-traditional resorts established since the beginning of the Showa period, in Kitakanto have rapidly developed, and now Kinugawa is the largest hot-spring resort in Kitakanto area. The number of bathing tourists at each hot-spring resorts in 1965 is as follows : Hakone-Izu Area……Atami (5, 330, 000), Hakone (2, 550, 000), Ito (2, 050, 000), Yugawara (1, 390, 000), Izunagaoka (1, 140, 000), Shuzenji (620, 000), Shimoda (510, 000), Atagawa (500, 000). Kitakanto Area……Kinugawa (1, 320, 000), Ikaho (810, 000), Shiobara (740, 000), Minakami (730, 000), Kusatsu (690, 000), Nasu (680, 000). The above each hot-spring resort is more than 500, 000 bathing tourist. (3) The differentiation of the worker rate from service industry corresponds to the number of bathing tourists and the accommodation capacity. Hakone hot-spring resort indicated 60.6 % and Atami of 51.8% in 1965. (4) In addition, the next five development stages of the hot-spring resorts made cleared by the synthetic analysis of (1), (2) and (3). I. health-spa stage, II. recreation resort stage, III. recreation and tourist resort stage, IV, tourist resort stage, and V. tourist city stage. (5) The external factor which has resulted in the regional differentiation of the development stages of the hot-spring resorts is accessibility, through train and road traffic convenience between the hot-spring resorts and the Tokyo metropolitan area. The accessibility indices(=arrival time (minute)×traveling expenses (yen)/1, 000) of the Hakone and Atami spas are low, respectively 34 and 35. In comparison, traffic conditions in the Kitakanto area are unfavorable (Kinugawa-70, Ikaho-85, Shiobara-121 and Kusatsu-149).