Invitation-only travel? Can we create tourism through community? Visiting Shiriuchi, Hokkaido's oldest hot spring town

Onda's weekly-ish something, 2026 Vol. 2. I went to Hokkaido. This is a long note written with high energy.

The structure of this Hokkaido trip was to base myself in Sapporo and spend three days moving back and forth between a 'conference' and 'fieldwork.' The overarching theme was 'co-different entities' (kyoi-tai).

The keyword that struck me the most at the first day's conference was 'being swept up.' It came up in the context of how to find or notice new things, discussed during a session about creating new value.

Being swept up by something unexpected and finding yourself in a place you never knew existed. Moving because of an encounter. Changing jobs. Starting a new project. There are times when new value emerges from such active 'being swept up,' right?

Question: Have you been swept up by anything lately?

After receiving this question and reflecting for a while, I felt on the first day that I hadn't been letting myself get swept up lately. In other words, I reflected that perhaps I lacked the 'margin' to be swept up. Intentional margin, that is.

Then on the second day, the place I visited (for fieldwork) was Shiriuchi, a town with a population of 3,700 at the southern tip of Hokkaido. It is a region famous for chives. Out of the 3,700 people, 1,000 are said to be engaged in work related to chives.

Among those 1,000, I met the self-proclaimed No. 1 chive creator who harvests the fastest, an oyster farmer who doesn't really like oysters, and a business operator who processes southern Hokkaido cedar. At night, I went to 'Shiriuchi Onsen,' the oldest hot spring in Hokkaido, dating back 800 years. (800 years ago in Hokkaido...?) There is a lot of information, but I'll skip it.

After dinner, it turned into a situation where I would go to the sauna with the director of Shiriuchi Onsen (Matt-san), who had attended to me all day, and the people I met during the day gathered at the Shiriuchi Onsen cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, a gentleman who was staying there was having a meal. He seemed to be a researcher of microorganisms, and I suddenly ended up listening to a discussion about microorganisms for about an hour. What is the definition of a microorganism? Are water fleas microorganisms? Are there good microorganisms? What about viruses?... The questions were endless. Perhaps because of that, or maybe that's why, the professor ended up joining us in the sauna afterward, which was quite a lively development.

After that, we entered the sauna from around 10:00 PM to midnight and had a conversation. What was impressive was that everyone I met during the day had created a new company called 'Shiriuchi Shoji' by themselves. They each invested 300,000 yen as volunteers, and it's a company to think about what they can do for the region, not just for their own children.

It's a region where people with such proactivity and resolve gather, but the reality is harsh: out of a population of 3,700, 100 people pass away every year, and only 10 are born, making it a town with advancing population decline. But the people I met here had power like the Avengers (they really do strength training at the gym), and there were many 'unusual' people—that was my stay in Shiriuchi.

The next day, I woke up at 6:00 AM and drove for 6 hours to Sapporo. On Day 3, I also took the stage for a talk session. The theme was 'A New Form of Travel that Circulates Abundance.'

To summarize the content of the session, first, from the perspective of a travel lover, it is about deciding for yourself, finding things interesting, and making it your own. This is the 'traveler's stance' and the perspective that maximizes the value of the travel side (this was my input).

On the other hand, the perspective of the 'receiving region' is also indispensable for travel. Now that travel has been liberalized and anyone can go anywhere, there are proposals from the region. There are cases where travelers step into local rules and culture without knowing them. It's not that anyone can come, but the importance of the region setting filters.

There is a need for an existence like a 'local coordinator who acts as a guardian' to bundle these things together. The region also wants travel lovers who match the local residents.

Indeed, while the traveler unilaterally evaluates the satisfaction of the trip, the region also has the satisfaction of the receiving side. The total score can be an important evaluation of 'travel' itself. How can we create a form where both the traveler and the region match? Can that be achieved by creating a community?

Also, tourism is not just seen as a main 'industry that generates money,' but there is another aspect to it. There is an effect that by being seen by the eyes of others, self-affirmation (civic pride) toward one's own work and region increases. Besides economic value, tourism can have an important role.

Especially in regions with a population of less than 10,000, rather than forcing tourism into an industry, it might be better to utilize tourism as a place to rediscover one's own 'ordinary' and 'daily value' by interacting with people from outside. That was the kind of session it was.

This time, I visited Hokkaido at the invitation of Akai-san, a key person in Yakumo, Hokkaido, whom I visited last year. I am grateful for being swept up in a good way!

Finally, an announcement.

Well, we also have a program to sweep you up. The new travel school POOLO. Please be swept up by the curiosity of travel lovers. And please sweep us up with your curiosity. We are accepting applications until Tuesday, July 22nd.

Follow me on Twitter too!

Other travel guides

Tomonoura | A journey to explore your own sensibilities through 'lifestyle tourism'
'Walking,' 'dialogue,' and 'questions.' A 2-day, 1-night trip to re-encounter the sensibilities and questions within yourself.

📅 6/27 (Sat) 13:00 - 6/28 (Sun) 15:00
📍 Tomonoura, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture (Meeting/Dismissal: Arisourou, Tomonoura)
💰 Participation fee: 15,000 yen (includes fieldwork and guide fees / accommodation approx. 7,700 yen, meals and transportation are separate)

Fieldwork on 'lifestyle tourism' while walking through the port town. Deepen your own sensibilities and questions through small-group dialogue.

Details & Application 👉 https://michinorionda.github.io/poolo-life/tomonoura/

If you are interested, go to this LINE
https://line.me/ti/g/26_8jTsMBW

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Tabayama | A 2-day, 1-night trip to open up my mode in the smallest village in the Kanto region

📅 7/4 (Sat) 12:00 - 7/5 (Sun) 14:30
📍 Tabayama Village, Kitatsuru District, Yamanashi Prefecture
💰 Participation fee: 10,000 yen (includes program + Day 1 BBQ / accommodation approx. 5,000 yen, meals and transportation are separate)

Village walks and history, visiting a 93-year-old villager's home & agricultural experience, coffee and forest bathing by the river, and dialogue around a bonfire.
A time to open up to nature and people, and regain your own mode.
Details & Application 👉 https://michinorionda.github.io/poolo-life/tanbayama/

If you are interested, go to this LINE
https://line.me/ti/g/V3hCdfvd5Q

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Teshima | A journey to rethink future ways of living on a rich island
A 2-day, 1-night trip to experience the cycle of agriculture and the sea.

📅 7/11 (Sat) - 7/12 (Sun) (Meet at Ieura Port at 13:00)
📍 Teshima, Kagawa Prefecture
💰 Participation fee 15,000 yen (includes farm tour, beach seine fishing, and BBQ / Accommodation approx. 7,000 yen, meals separate)

3D farming tour, beach seine fishing, island walking/cycling, BBQ, and reflection.
Details and application 👉 https://michinorionda.github.io/poolo-life/teshima/

If you are interested, join this LINE group
https://line.me/ti/g/3QEyzCPR8e

Let's travel!