Destination:<\/span><\/span> Eiheiji Town, Fukui Prefecture (Eiheiji Campus of Fukui Prefectural University),\u00a0 Katsuyama City<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Fukui Prefecture can be considered a representative of the local region. With the Hokuriku Shinkansen line extended to Fukui and Tsuruga on March 16, 2024, it has been a critical issue for the region to show solutions for regional revitalization. While Fukui Prefecture is said to have the highest level of happiness in Japan, it also faces the challenges of a declining birthrate, an aging population, and a shrinking population. Can Fukui Prefecture realize a highly productive and profitable region while still maintaining its characteristics? We visited the core areas of\u00a0 Katsuyama City, which form the distinctive industrial economy of Fukui Prefecture, to look for the seeds of future local and regional development and local revitalization measures. On the final day, students made a presentation on branding measures to enhance the value of the region in a grareco format. Six students belonging to the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics, Fukui Prefectural University, also participated in all programs of this study tour.<\/span><\/p>\n What comes to your mind when you hear Fukui? The Dinosaur Museum? Echizen crabs? Some of you might not be familiar with Fukui at all. Before joining this study trip, I had only a vague image of Fukui. Being a native of Tokyo, my knowledge of Fukui was limited to dinosaurs.<\/p>\n Throughout this study trip, I realized that I could view Fukui from a completely different perspective. Instead of simply visiting tourist attractions, WISH students and I explored Fukui through the lens of regional revitalization. Over the four days of our trip, we visited various places while listening to stories from locals who are actively working to develop the region.<\/p>\n Looking back, three key lessons stood out to me from this study trip.<\/p>\n First, I learned that regional revitalization begins with the feeling of being needed by others. When we spoke with Nishitani-san, a member of the regional revitalization team who moved to Katsuyama from Tokyo as an outsider, I asked what motivates her when she faces difficulties in her work. Her answer was simple but powerful: being appreciated by people in the community.\u00a0I saw how this idea appears in real situations. Echizen-Daibutsu, a large Buddha statue in Katsuyama, has seen fewer visitors in recent years. As fewer tourists come, nearby shops also closed, leading to a negative cycle for the local economy.\u00a0In contrast, the Dinosaur Museum attracted a large number of visitors because of its rarity. This strong appeal increases demand and brings people to the area, which leads to the growth of the local economy. From this comparison, I perceived that successful regional revitalization depends on whether a place can create something that people want to experience.<\/p>\n The second point is that passion alone is not enough. Passion needs to be supported by research and understanding of the local community. During our visit to the Katsuyama DMO, a local company that promotes Katsuyama, I noticed that several successful regional business projects are based on meticulous background research on the region\u2019s culture, history, and needs. This experience reminded me that compelling ideas often come from the combination of passion and research. Action and curiosity are imperative when trying to contribute to a region. On the final day of the program, we presented our own ideas to promote Katsuyama. While preparing for the presentation, I realized that combining research with genuine enthusiasm made our ideas stronger and easier for others to understand.<\/p>\n Lastly, Fukui is much more than dinosaurs. Before the trip, I mainly associated Fukui with dinosaurs. However, visiting the region helped me realize that Fukui has many different attractions and cultural resources. For instance, visiting Eiheiji Temple let me experience the spiritual traditions of the region. The temple provided multilingual explanations for international visitors, which made me think about how local culture can be shared with people from around the world. It was also striking to hear an international insight from my Chinese classmate that she sensed Japanese culture in taking off shoes.\u00a0We also learned about local industries such as thread production in Katsuyama and enjoyed local foods such as soba, sauce-katsudon, and seafood. These experiences showed me that Fukui\u2019s identity is shaped by various elements such as history, food culture, and industry.\u00a0Most importantly, the people we met left a strong impression on me. The locals welcomed us openly. This made me feel connected to the region and helped me understand Fukui beyond just tourist attractions.<\/p>\n To summarize, this study trip helped me understand how regional revitalization works in practice. A strong regional identity requires not only resources but also the need for others.<\/p>\n Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Sugiyama and Associate Professor Kitano of Fukui Prefectural University, their hospitable students, and everyone who supported this program. I am also thankful to the WISH members who participated in this study trip with me. These four days created unforgettable memories for me.<\/p>\n Chihoko Tanaka<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Overview of Activities Destination: Eiheiji Town, Fukui Prefecture (Eiheiji Campus of Fukui Prefectural Univer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[124],"class_list":["post-9438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-en","tag-award-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9447,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9438\/revisions\/9447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/rlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/span>Participants:<\/span><\/span> 15 students<\/span><\/span> (including 1 RA)<\/span>
<\/span>Period:<\/span><\/span> February 26, 2026 (Thursday) to March 1, 2026 (Sunday)<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\nActivity Report<\/h4>\n
Experience Report from participant<\/h4>\n