Country footpaths bring communities together throughout Japan

TOKYO —

Local residents are turning agricultural and ranch roads in the countryside into footpaths for travelers, making maps and posting signs about the region.

No large-scale public works are required to build footpaths selected by local residents, and if maps are made, the areas with the paths can be quickly transformed into tourist spots.

‘‘We would like to let people know that there are dairy farmers feeding animals with domestically made grass,’’ said Yasumichi Ito, who built the Nemuro footpath with his colleagues.

Ito and other dairy farmers have opened part of their ranches so that visitors can get a close look at cattle eating grass they have grown. Visitors can walk freely, and there are some who relax on a hill for hours.

The route of the path also includes abandoned tracks of the now-defunct Japan National Railways, the predecessor of the group of Japan Railways companies, allowing visitors to feel the history of development in Hokkaido. Visitors have increased eight times in the last 10 years.

Footpaths originated in Britain. People unhappy with community roads being divided up by private land insisted on being able to pass freely.

In Japan, almost all roads are publicly built, and it is relatively easy to build footpaths as long as it is understood that strangers may enter.

Unlike mountaineering and hiking, footpath walkers do not aim at reaching summits or visiting tourist spots. They merely walk at their own pace.

Footpaths are most popular in Hokkaido. According to Isao Ogawa, a professor at Rakuno Gakuen University, there are about 100 footpaths in some 30 cities, towns and villages. If you walk, you seem to develop an affinity toward the places you visit.

Ogawa said, ‘‘I have never heard of such problems like littering. There are also cases where cities, towns and villages that fought like cats and dogs are cooperating with each other thanks to footpaths.’‘

In Tokyo’s suburb of Machida, there is the Tama Kyuryo Footpath. On a mountain behind a newly built residential area, there is a gorge where fireflies live. There is also a historical road where members of the Shinsen-gumi, a group of samurai warriors in Kyoto led by Kondo Isami and active before the Meiji Restoration, walked.

Yukiko Kamiya, secretary general of the nonprofit organization Midorinoyubi-Footpath, said, ‘‘We have built the footpath to keep mountainous scenes alive and to promote dialogue among new and old residents.’‘

There are a total of 25 courses, and the organization’s members have borrowed materials from the municipal government to produce signs and maintain the path. As many as 20,000 copies of guidebooks have been sold, becoming a bestseller for books on communities.

‘‘I am enjoying meeting various people through the footpath,’’ said a beaming Shigekazu Kobayashi, a 78-year-old farmer who is trying to protect traditional agriculture.

› Login to comment

8 Comments

The758 at 12:23 PM JST - 5th November

The route of the path also includes abandoned tracks of the now-defunct Japan National Railways

I've heard that these are especially popular. I'd love to go on one myself
Foxie at 12:50 PM JST - 5th November

These footpaths are a very good idea but try and walk one. The maps are confusing and not adequate, at least in my city. There are not enough signs to point you in the right direction.
Yelnats at 02:19 PM JST - 5th November

and there are some who relax on a hill for hours.

Who want to sit for hours with cow dung smell and flies? I guess one would have to be really inebriated.
OgieDoggie at 02:24 PM JST - 5th November

I really like the idea because it should get people out of their homes away from the TV and get some exercise. The only problem is you will need the police to patrol these paths because of the growing number of crazies with knives in Japan. Then again you will have to have patrols to make sure that the police ARE patrolling the paths and not just taking naps under trees.
JHansen at 12:35 AM JST - 6th November

This sounds like a great idea. It can get people out and about, healthy and connect them to the countryside. I would love to go on a long hike on such paths.
KitsuneYoukai at 01:15 AM JST - 6th November

These maps; does anyone know if they are also in English or just Japanese?
GW at 10:32 AM JST - 6th November

people who are afraid of a little cow patty shud just stay home those are the types that wud probably leave litter behind as well, wudnt want you passing through my back yard here
JeffLee at 07:33 AM JST - 7th November

This is a welcome development. However, how come such progressive moves in Japan are always the work of small, independent groups, and not the authorities.