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Home > Japanese Society and Culture > No. 7 (2025)

 

Japanese Society and Culture

Keywords

Railway heritage, Railway, Rail fan, Tourism resources

Received Date

10-15-2024

Revised Date

11-14-2024

Accepted Date

11-15-2024

Publication Date

3-28-2025

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the utilization of railway heritage for tourism, using the example of Blue Train Taragi in Taragi Town, Kumamoto Prefecture. Railway fans are individuals who hold an interest and curiosity in the components necessary for railway operations, including vehicles, tracks, structures, and stations. The experiences of railway fans, who often venture beyond their daily surroundings, can be considered as part of tourist activities. To utilize railway heritage that no longer serves as a transportation service as a tourism resource, it is crucial to create content that allows visitors to experience how it was used as a transportation service. Blue Train Taragi is an experiential railway heritage that utilizes the passenger cars from the operation of the sleeper express Hayabusa. Its user base is diverse, including not only railway enthusiasts but also business travelers. Moreover, it also contributed to creating opportunities to use facilities such as restaurants near Taragi Station. In Taragi Town, the Blue Train was utilized as a tourism resource, promoting tourism development.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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