神戸大学英語エッセイコンテスト氏名（漢字）田中香子氏名（ローマ字） Tanaka Kyoko 所属学部国際文化学部応募エッセイ学年 2年学籍番号電子メールアドレスタイトル（英語） How can Kobe University Contribute More to Kobe and Kansai? - Contribution to Tourism Industry in Hyogo ◇エッセイの作成にあたっては，フォントは Century，サイズは 12 ポイントを使用してください。末尾の（）内に語数を数えて記入してください。 In Hyogo prefecture, more and more places are suffering from depopulation nowadays. In particular, one-fourth of the gross prefectural area are specified as underpopulated area. It is caused by the decrease in population, which is coming from the lack of local jobs. I believe tourism industry will be the key to a solution of this problem. And Kobe University can help tourism industry by creating a new system contributes to the development of local tourism. If students and local people can work together for using local facilities effectively as much as they can in order to make it more attractive for tourists, more regular jobs will be provided, and lots of new people will visit and live there. Hyogo contains big cities, residential suburbs, agricultural zone, farming area, and separated islands. It is said that Hyogo is “Japan in microcosm” on account of its wide range of weather, geography, and cultural climates. Hyogo also has social problems just like Japan, for example, a problem of decentralization of population. So I want to consider a solution to this problem in any aspect of Kobe University’s contribution to the local area, especially in Hyogo. First, I refer to the current situation in Hyogo prefecture. The prefectural capital of Hyogo is Kobe, and the development of Hyogo is strongly connected to the prosperity of Kobe Port. The history of the port goes back to the 8th century when it was constructed at first. In the 19th century, it became an entrance of European culture. A lot of foreign people have visited and introduced their culture to Japan via Kobe, so Kobe became active, cross-cultural area. And now, it is one of the main five international ports in Japan. Therefore, Kobe has developed more 神戸大学英語エッセイコンテスト応募エッセイ and more as a central place of Hyogo. But I do not feel that we can say every place in Hyogo has developed as well. Yabu city, Awaji city, Sayou town, Kami town, and Shinonsen town are categorized as an underpopulated area in Hyogo prefecture, and four city/town of these five are located in the north and west part in Hyogo. I cannot even say every place in Kobe is an urban area. Also in Kobe city, North ward and West ward account for more than half of the area in Kobe, are regarded as rural areas. So I think we have to consider how to activate these areas. In my opinion, the two reasons for the problem. First is the lack of effort to make it catchier and second is the lack of a number of jobs. I think employment is an essential point to ameliorate this condition. Especially, the number of regular employees is important. Even if manufacturing industries are invited to the underpopulated area, almost every provided job is part-time job. Such temporary job does not lead people to live there. So, we have to try to attract companies which provide long-term jobs. I think sightseeing would provide the trigger for it. Because some place which is easy to visit and see for strangers is the place very lively and comfortable to live for everyone. Tourism industry contains not only travel agencies or hotels but also local restaurants, public transportations, manufacturing companies and so on. And it can make the best of local advantages since sightseeing has several genres. For example, eco-tourism, green tourism, health tourism, industrial tourism and so forth. There is a big future of traveling as it is often said that the biggest industry in the 21th century will be the tourism industry. When the industries which are related to sightseeing strengthened, there are many new full-time jobs for local people. Then many people choose to live in such underpopulated area, it make there a more active place, and it leads to the activeness that attract tourist. So, there a virtuous circle between tourism and employment. Secondly, I want to say the solution by cooperation with university students. According to a survey by the Japan National Tourism Organization, 90.8 percent of foreign travelers are using the internet during their trip in Japan. So, the quantity and quality of information and reviews online are very important to invite additional tourist. Nevertheless, in the underpopulated area, we seldom find suitable information online. For example, Sayo town is famous in the field of sunflower and Monkey Park. However, there is no official website and not enough material written in English. We cannot figure out how to get there and what we can expect there, so this situation is spoiling the possibility of these valuable tourism resources. In other words, there is a lack of perspectives of younger 神戸大学英語エッセイコンテスト応募エッセイ generations and foreigners. Then, how can Kobe University contribute more to Hyogo? I do not think such rural area can be an attractive area without any support. My idea is creating new partnerships with local area in Hyogo and sending domestic and international students there. By sending Kobe University’s students to the underpopulated area regularly and improve the quality of sightseeing based on their opinion and senses. Because I think the power of the younger generation is necessary, especially university students who are very sensitive to the sense of ‘Kawaii’ and ‘Kakkoii’, which are important points to attract travelers. Kobe University has eleven faculties, about sixteen thousand students, and over one thousand international students. This is top class size in Japanese national universities. It means that there are many people who have various kinds of perspective to think about the solution in order to help the underpopulated area to be more attractive for travelers. For instance, students who are studying nursing might consider ways how to reduce physical barriers which prevent elderly from traveling freely. Students from intercultural studies might try to remove the language barrier for foreigners. As I wrote before, online media has a big influence towards to travelers, so students studying IT can help in that field. Furthermore, the idea of international students would be very useful. This system contributes not only to local but also to Kobe University. Because it provides students with opportunity to practice their studies. The main problem of Kobe University is that students rarely recognize relations between the local area and there. This indifference is a big issue, but I think the foundation of this system will break down it. There are lots of interesting place and culture to see or experience. The underpopulated area is actually suffering from the lack of population, but I do not think it means that the rural area is not popular or not interesting. Needs for Japanese rural experience and its beautiful landscape are much bigger than we expect. Travelers can see ‘real Japan’ there, not in cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka. In that respect, Hyogo has many possibilities to be more alluring, and Kobe University students can contribute to its development based on a new system provided by the university. Reference Hyogo Municipal Development Corporation. (2013). Prefecture Survey 2013; conditions in underpopulated area. 神戸大学英語エッセイコンテスト応募エッセイ Retrieved from <http://www.sichouyouran.jp/document/list/24.html>. Japan National tourism Organization. (2012, March). Survey about foreign tourists who used TIC in 2012. Retrieved from <https://www.jnto.go.jp/jpn/reference/tourism_data/pdf/tic_report_2012.pdf>. （1146 words） ◇提出の際には，もう一度エッセイを確認し，以下の各欄に○印を入れてください。 ○ タイトルを記入しました。 ○ 規程の語数を守っています（1,000～1,200 語程度） ○ 規程の文字のフォント，サイズを守っています。 ○ このエッセイは，自身のオリジナルです。