Last Updated: Feb 9, 2024

Aichi’s Industry Tourism

One of Many Reasons to Visit

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium

Have you ever heard of “industrial tourism?”

Yeah, I didn’t think so… Truth be told, I hadn’t encountered the term either until recently when I was invited by the government to go check out Aichi Prefecture’s budding scene. According to Wikipedia, industrial tourism refers to an approach to selecting travel destinations that includes industrial sites peculiar to the location. The concept is by no means new and includes possibilities such as wine tours in France or visits with cheese makers in the Netherlands.

But why Aichi Prefecture though? Well, as it turns out, the central regions of Japan have long been hotbeds of industry for hundreds of years. Sitting halfway between Tokyo to the east (then called Edo) and Kyoto and Osaka to the west, Aichi Prefecture in particular was perfectly positioned to profit from trade with both locations. Today, these industrial roots are still very tangible all throughout the central regions of Japan and woven within its unique culture.

While by no means an exhaustive list, what follows is a mere taste of what’s on the menu. Do note however that industrial tourism in Aichi Prefecture (and Japan on the whole) is still a very new industry inasmuch as it pertains to foreign guests…