Japanese Traditional Culture

Crafts to serve as a catalyst for inbound tourism - Kagawa Prefecture expands sales channels in the Tokyo metropolitan area

“Sanuki Kagari Temari" on sale at a shop in Haneda Airport (Photo provided by Haneda Future Research Institute)

Kagawa Prefecture is strengthening the expansion of sales channels and information dissemination in the Tokyo metropolitan area for local products, including traditional crafts. Kagawa Prefectural Products Promotion Organization (Takamatsu City), which is made up of prefectural officials, producers, distributors, etc., is working with a craft select shop at Haneda Airport (Ota Ward, Tokyo). They will actively promote products that are popular among inbound tourists, such as Sanuki Kagari Temari, Kagawa Lacquerware, and Marugame Uchiwa Fans.

◇ Strengthening efforts through public-private partnerships

“The biggest challenge is expanding sales channels," says Takuto Matsumoto, who is in charge of developing sales channels at Kagawa Promotion Organization. Kagawa Prefecture has designated 37 items as traditional crafts of the prefecture, including the nationally designated “Kagawa Lacquerware" and “Marugame Fans," but the environment surrounding the craftsmen is tough. In addition to the aging of the craftsmen and the lack of successors, the craftsmen are far from the capital region, which is a major consumer area, and are therefore not well known.

The prefecture established the organization in 2013 to combine public and private know-how and to expand sales channels and strengthen information dissemination. The council members and directors include people from the prefecture, agricultural and fishing organizations, the chamber of commerce, universities, and other organizations.

◇Inbound tourism is the catalyst

In light of the recovery of the Japanese economy from the COVID-19 pandemic and the weakening of the yen, collaboration with select shops in the Tokyo metropolitan area targeting inbound tourists is seen as a catalyst for expanding sales channels. The JAPAN MASTERY COLLECTION (JMC), which opened in December 2011 in Haneda Airport's Terminal 3, has a large selection of Kagawa Prefecture crafts.

According to the passenger terminal usage record of Haneda Airport published by Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd., the number of foreign passengers in fiscal year 2011 was about 10.37 million, a 3.4-fold increase from the previous fiscal year (about 3.07 million), and exceeded the level of fiscal year 2018 (about 8.23 million) before the COVID-19 pandemic. 95% of JMC shoppers are inbound tourists.

◇An increase in tourists is expected

Yoshie Nakamura of the Regional Revitalization Division of Haneda Future Research Institute (Ota Ward, Tokyo), which manages JMC, said of Sanuki Kagari Temari, which features patterns made from colorful silk threads, “It's very popular with foreigners. They seem to feel that it's gorgeous and Japanese." In fact, according to the Sanuki Kagari Temari Preservation Society (Takamatsu City), since JMC began selling it, the number of temari sold has doubled in the five months up to April compared to the same period last year.

Matsumoto smiled with satisfaction as he commented about his collaboration with JMC, “Many inbound tourists are wealthy. Thanks to the weak yen, craft sales are also good." He added, “I want to create a trend where foreigners who learn about Kagawa Prefecture and Takamatsu City through crafts will visit the prefecture and city on their next trip." He also has his eye on the Setouchi Triennale, which will be held on the islands of the Seto Inland Sea in Kagawa and Okayama prefectures in 2025, and hopes for a ripple effect on tourism.

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