Cultural and Leisure Tourism Ratio Analysis
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BRANDINGThe number of inbound tourist arrivals to Japan increased by a massive 31.9 million in 2018 which is clearly indicative of the country’s successful tourism strategy. The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranked 141 Asian countries overall on various areas especially health, hygiene, safety, cultural richness and preservation and corporate travelling and Japan ranked 4 on the list. Japan strongly emphasizes on culture and business as their branding pillars for tourism. [pic 1] [pic 2]Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 CULTURAL AND LEISURE TOURISMOut of the 21 major Japanese heritage sites, Himeji Castle and Ancient Monuments of Kyoto and Nara, are most popular and contribute significantly to the cultural tourism of the country. Major Japanese destinations for cultural and leisure tourism are Mount Fuji and ski resorts such as Niseko in Hokkaido, the cities of Tokyo and Hiroshima, Okinawa, and the hot spring network.As mentioned by Berger (2010:7), the cultural tourist usually focuses on the distinct parts of Japanese culture i.e. visit the cultural hotspots like forts, shrines,  museums, and temples, theatres and musicals, shop and indulge in Japanese cuisine. Most visited tourist cities in Japan are Tokyo and Kyoto. The latter is a site to 15% of Japan’s Cultural buildings and around 37 colleges and 24 museums spread all over city (Bender et al., 2015:292).
Japan’s Four SeasonsJapan’s celebration of its four seasons is one of the country’s distinctive features, making this a significant attraction to the tourists. The Geographical location of the archipelago; caught between the continent of Asia and The Pacific creates dramatic changes in the weather, in such a way that the four seasons have very distinctive characteristics in Japan.WinterEver since the success of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan has only seen an increase in the number of skiers and snowboarders filling popular tourist resorts like Hakuba and Naeba. The Yuki Matsuri snow festival in February is also an important event when many international tourists visit Japan.[pic 3][pic 4]SpringThe highlight of the Japan’s Spring season is Sakura or blooming of the Cherry Blossoms from March to April beginning in southern Kyushu and moving North East. Hanami which literally translates to flower watching is an encouraged hobby during this period. Hanami has become very popular with the international tourists especially tourists from East Asia.[pic 5][pic 6]SuikawariSummerSummers in Japan usually has the least international tourism because of the hot and humid climate. However, domestic tourism is at its peak because of the beach season. The biggest annual Japanese festival, Obon is held in August which draws over a million and half local tourists to Tokyo.