Kyoto Prefectural Government has worked with private sector developers within the prefecture to create a range of downloadable apps which take marketing the region and tourism strategy into the digital age. ATR Creative, located in Kansai Science City, in Seika Town to the south of the prefecture, has jointly developed a range of tourist apps for visitors to Japan’s ancient capital and cultural focal point. Kansai Science City stands in the Keihanna Hills at the border of Kyoto, Osaka and Nara Prefectures, and was jointly planned by the three prefectures as a centre of excellence in culture, science, and research in the Kansai region (Central Japan).
ATR Creative (Japanese only) has worked with local governments all over Japan to create apps highlighting local points of interest and sightseeing, as part of a trend for local government in Japan to focus on regional character as part of a tourism strategy to stimulate growth for the local economy. The “Kyoto Chizu-burari” (unplanned/strolling map) was created in collaboration with Kyoto Prefecture Tourism Office, and has guides to not only the ancient capital itself, but also from Tango in the north of the prefecture on the coast, down to Yamashiro in the south, with illustrated historical guides and maps of spots not found in guidebooks, with local knowledge on the best sightseeing spots and local tea and related culture, of which Kyoto is reputably still the capital of Japan. The app aims to give visitors access to the real Kyoto known best by local people, while giving an immersive interactive experience of the Heian Period (794 to 1185 AD) when Kyoto was the imperial capital.
The area of Jinbocho, Chiyoda-ku, (ward) in Tokyo also has a local authority ‘map app’ in which shopping is the focus along with historical guides brought vividly to life through using a smart phone. Jinbocho, notable for its many second hand and antique bookshops, has its notable stores mapped out in an easy to use downloadable app, using stylish ‘Edo’ era style maps evocative of the period when Tokyo became one of the largest cities in the world and home to a growing and flourishing urban culture centred on the notion of a “floating world”
As well as mapping out the locations of all the best known book stores, the app also has maps loaded with the sites of ‘B-gourmet’ restaurants, in fitting with the current popularity of delicious but cheap local dishes. It is especially popular with students looking for bargains in the local bookshops and value meals at local restaurants serving “B-gourmet” cuisine which has seen a boom in recent years throughout Japan, with different regions and towns serving delicious but cheap dishes particular to the area. There is currently abundance of articles and guide books being published, as well as TV programmes touring Japan’s localities looking for the best local ramen (noodle soup), or yakitori grilled meat, typical B-gourmet dishes.
Local government such as the wards of Tokyo, Cities of Osaka, Yokohama and Kobe, as well as more rural areas are using apps as PR tools and for marketing the best their regions have to offer, via cheap and easily downloadable software that is fun to use and highlights the best the area has to offer.
