Considerations on How to Treat Foreign Visitors to Wakayama Castle : On the Basis of the Fieldwork done by Japanese and Chinese Students

In Wakayama city, the increase in inbound tourists in recent years has made it necessary to improve how we treat foreign visitors. In this study, the authors focus on Wakayama Castle to discuss the better ways to attract foreign visitors. The castle is well known not only as a landmark in Wakayama city but also as a historical site. Besides, in 2018, it celebrates the 60th anniversary since the donjon was rebuild in 1957. Therefore, many events have been planned to get much more visitors to the castle. Firstly, we accessed the official websites in Japanese and in Chinese operated by Wakayama Prefectural government or Wakayama city hall, and examined what and how they provide information regarding tourism sites in Wakayama including Wakayama Castle. Secondly, we visited the castle in order to investigate its facilities, signs, use of foreign languages, how to display historical relics in the donjon and so on. Finally, we discussed what they can/should do to attract more foreign visitors from the Japanese and Chinese graduate students’ points of view.