Adventure Travel Doesn't Need 'Muscle'

Don't narrow the possibilities of Japanese tourism!

When you hear 'Adventure Travel (AT)',what comes to mind?

Riding a mountain bike down a steep cliff. Rafting through raging rivers. Or trekking along harsh mountain paths for days on end... If that's what you're thinking, you're missing out on a lot.

And,if those involved in tourism think that way,it is synonymous with narrowing the possibilities of Japanese tourism yourself.

My client, the Tsuruga Group, is promoting this 'Adventure Travel' company-wide.
That's why I am also interested in it and have been researching and planning for adventure travel.

In doing so, I have a great concern that the current Japanese tourism industry is too focused on activities. It's such a waste...

The protagonist of 'adventure' is the 'brain', not muscle

The essence of adventure travel, as currently defined globally, is by no means 'physical thrill' itself.

Among the elements put forward by the ATTA (Adventure Travel Trade Association), along with 'nature' and 'activity', there is 'cross-cultural experience',and the true purpose beyond that is considered to be'transformation'.

In other words, 'something within you has been rewritten' after the trip ends.

This is the true nature of adventure.

If that is the case, then raising your heart rate is not the only form of adventure.

I am convinced that'experiences that stir intellectual curiosity' are the ultimate adventure for mature adults.

Why is 'using the body' so prominent?

The reality is that the vast majority of AT events currently on the market are sports-oriented.

The providers prepare 'easy-to-understand activities', and the participants expect to 'move their bodies'.

However, the biggest harm caused by this bias is the 'exclusion of the senior demographic'.

The demographic that has accumulated life experience, possesses deep knowledge, and should naturally be seeking 'intellectual stimulation' the most, is being left out of the adventure circle because they think, 'It has nothing to do with me because I lack physical strength.'
For not only seniors but also those who prefer to quietly deepen their thoughts,high physical exertion can become a 'barrier' rather than 'enjoyment'.
This is a huge negative for the tourism and travel industry.

A proposal for 'intellectual adventure'

What I think is that we should propose a new form of travel called 'Intellectual Adventure' more often.

For example, if we think about Hokkaido, we can imagine a journey like this.

• A Literary Adventure:

Follow the lonely footsteps of Takuboku Ishikawa in the winds of Hakodate and Kushiro, and trace the ideals and conflicts Takeo Arishima held at his farm in Niseko, along with the scent of the earth itself.
Engage in fieldwork where you read and interpret the scenes of the foggy city depicted in Yasuko Harada's 'Elegy' or the raw human patterns woven by Shino Sakuragi, all while placing yourself within the actual landscapes.
It is an experience where the stories within the printed pages rise up to become your own flesh and blood.

• An Artistic Adventure:

A journey to install within yourself—through dialogue with experts—the 'quiet philosophy' that world-renowned artists like Isamu Noguchi and Nissho Kanda poured into the vast nature of Hokkaido, as well as the spirituality deep within the Ainu patterns passed down in the land of Akan.
It is an intellectual transformation that changes how you perceive this land itself from the creator's perspective, rather than just appreciating 'works of art'.

• A Historical Adventure:

Instead of tracing a chronology of development, directly touch the 'memories of life' of the nameless people who lived diligently in its shadows, and the 'ways of coexistence' of the Ainu, cultivated over thousands of years.
Learn the philosophy of our predecessors who faced harsh cold, and update your own modern values.
It is a dialogue with the souls sleeping in the land, and a 'pioneering of the spirit' that cultivates your own inner self.

For instance, when you look at the sunset from the Nusamai Bridge in Kushiro, the color of that sunset looks completely different if you know the footsteps of Takuboku or the stories of Yasuko Harada compared to just thinking 'it's beautiful'.
This is the true thrill of an intellectual adventure.
'By looking through the filter of knowledge, the scenery changes into something on an entirely different dimension'—this experience lies dormant in countless places throughout Hokkaido.

While these do not involve intense physical exercise, your brain will undoubtedly enter an 'adventure state'.
The pleasant sense of fatigue remains not in your muscles, but as traces of thought from encountering unknown concepts.

Let's make the future of tourism more 'intellectual'.

I believe we need to rethink the word 'adventure' more freely and more deeply.

Those who are good at moving their bodies should cut through the wind and break a sweat.
However, those who love the pursuit of knowledge should set out on an adventure of walking through stories and deepening their thoughts.

Both are, without a doubt, 'journeys' to update yourself.

Japan's rich nature and multi-layered culture.
If we combine these, Japan should be able to become a one-of-a-kind'sacred site for intellectual adventure'in the world.

To you who think, 'I'm too old for adventures.'
Your adventure may have only just begun.
Because there is no retirement age for an adventure of the mind.