Kanpo, thoughts on tourisms

When I climbed Kanpo, even though it was a weekday there were 3 other groups of 3 to 4 people each.  All of them have either been there before, or were led by someone who has been there before.  Which seem to confirm my belief that to develop tourism in Iya, mountains are the vital resources.  At least, I do not know much other places in Iya that I would want to visit repeatedly.  Well, I did repeat Chiiori visit before.

But there are problems.  These mountain climbers do not leave any cash behind when they leave Iya.  There are no mechanisms or systems in place for these visitors to pay money to Iya community.  They come with their own cars, and they leave the same day.  Perhaps they stop by at Onsen, but that is about it.  On Sundays, when I would expect most number of visitors come to Iya, even the gas stations are closed (if you plan on visiting Iya on weekends with your own car, make sure your tanks are full).  They don't even leave behind gas money.  Residents in Iya are completely unconcerned about such "trivial" matters.  There is no way tourism can be developed here at this rate. And if it does not lead to monetary profit, protection of rare and threatened species, such as the Fukujuso flowers, would be lacking in motivation and unlikely to happen.

But there are opportunities as well.  As I said, I wanted to walk from the summit of Kanpo to the Ochiai pass, but I had to get back to my car.  There is something very dull about walking back the same way I came.  If there was a business in Iya that would take me to the start of the trekking route of Kanpo, and pick me up later at the Ochiai pass, it would make the whole experience much more enjoyable.  There are at least 3 other courses in Iya that I would want such business.  Plus it would make me feel safer knowing that someone is waiting for me at the end of the walk, because if I do not show up at the pick-up spot in time, they would know something has happened to me and likely to call for help.  If there was a souvenir shop by this, let's say, "taxi service" selling postcards, I'm sure some people would pay for such souvenirs.

The fact that there were only those who has been there before or led by people who has been there suggest that there are demands for guide business, and also indicates that to get new visitors to those mountains guides are important.  Let's say for the Kanpo, a guide can make story for each floral community as he/she climbs the mountain, starting from old-growth trees around shrine, to well kept cedar plantations, abandoned cedar plantations, natural woods in secondary growth, old-growth natural forests, young woods that used to be grasslands, and the field of dwarf bamboos.  Because the main selling point of the Kanpo was the rare flower that grows in certain floral communities, those stories become more meaningful.

But current Iya would rather make concrete walls and roads.  One of the visitors I met was complaining that that concrete road that crosses the trekking route were not there before, and how terrible and ugly it is.  If you consider mountains as Iya's wealth, for attracting tourists for example, then Iya is practically throwing away their own wealth.  How can we change this whole situation?