We Came Up With a Tour to Interact with the People of Oshima! Hiokoshi, a Planning Camp for the Monitor Tour Was Held!
What kind of people do we want visiting and what kind of experiences should they have in order to realize Oshima's brand concept of "a repeat-worthy island"? The Izu Oshima Mirai Project is planning a people-oriented, learning and communication tour to interact with the wide variety of people in Oshima and learn from them. We believe the tour will connect us with people who will be continuously involved with Oshima with love and nurture a deep relationship, so we will foster this tour throughout the year.
(PR photo of the planning camp)
As the first part of our efforts, we held a planning camp from November 5th to 6th, 2022, called Hiokoshi (which means "fire-starting"), to have people from outside the island experience Oshima and plan the tour. The participants consisted of a facilitation expert who lives outside the island, working adults and students involved in community planning, seven people from Oshima, and the members of the Izu Oshima Mirai Project. We named the camp Hiokoshi in the hope that by having people from outside the island and islanders who are highly interested in community planning interact, it would spark a kind of fire.
(Experiencing the Ura-sabaku Desert of Mt. Mihara, the symbol of Oshima)
(Takabayashi Shoten liquor store with an attached bar in the Habuminato district)
After getting acquainted with one another with self-introductions, the participants went on field work to Mt. Mihara, which is a symbol of Oshima, and Habuminato, which has an old and beautiful streetscape. They experienced the landscape with the black volcanic ash unique to Oshima at the Ura-sabaku Desert of Mt. Mihara. In the Habuminato district, they visited Takabayashi Shoten liquor store, which has a bar (where you can drink what you buy), and other places, and enjoyed interacting with islanders taking on new challenges such as opening an inn or reviving a store with no successor. These interactions with the islanders gave the participants the sentiment of "wanting to go again and participate in these activities." It convinced us anew that conducting a people-oriented tour was meaningful.
(Presentations of the tour plan in two separate groups)
On the second day, the participants were divided into two groups to plan the tour of Oshima. They planned their tours that included interaction with people and learning in about two hours, and each group presented their tour. They were able to finish their presentations complete with slogans and visuals even with a limited time, an outcome made possible because the participants were people who think about community planning on a regular basis.
(Group photo of the participants)
It was a huge gain that each of the camp participants were able to learn from interacting with the Oshima islanders and said they wanted to come again. That said, how to harness the ideas that emerged this time in the monitor tour and activities from next year onward will be a challenge. Going forward, the members will discuss further, aiming to create an even better tour.
Details on the activities and presentations at the camp\ are introduced as well on the Tokyo To Ritoku website, an online medium hosted by the project members, so please visit.
https://ritoku.tokyo/news/hiokoshi_report/
