What is Rekishikaido?
What is Rekishikaido?
While the Rekishi Kaido passes through scenes of eternal relevance in the history of Japan, it is also a new route which enables people to experience at first hand the charms of Japan’s history and culture. In the eight prefectures of the Kansai region we are working to prepare an environment which optimizes Japan’s historical and cultural resources so that in future the region will be known and loved as a wellspring of information.
Rekishi Kaido Route
The routes in the Rekishi Kaido project consist of one main route and eight theme routes. The main route allows people to make a tour of historic areas, tracing the footsteps of past eras in chronological order. The theme routes are associated with specific themes based on their respective local histories.
Goals of the Rekishi Kaido
The Kansai region, Japan’s second largest economy after Tokyo, includes a number of historic cities such as Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Kobe, and more than half of Japan’s national treasures. In this sense, the region lives up to its name as the ‘treasure of historical and culture resources.’
The objective of the Rekishi Kaido project is to take full advantage of these rich cultural resources and promote the ‘three goals’, “Creating a Base for Transmitting Information on Japanese Culture”, “Creating a New Leisure Area”, and “Enhancing the Quality of Local Communities through Maximum Utilization of Their Cultural Heritages “ through a consistent plan with the cooperation of the several historic cities in the region.
Creating a base for transmitting information on Japanese culture
With the cooperation of areas throughout the region, we are organizing events which bring people into direct contact with history and culture, including concerts in temples and shrines and walks through historically rich landscape. We are also using all available media to promote the delights of Japan’s unique history and traditions both of the Japanese and to people all over the world.
Creating a new leisure area
Our aim is to create a gigantic theme park with scenes both from long ago and the present day. The park will be convenient and pleasant and visitors will have a wonderful journey, full of intellectual excitement. The park will also be fun to visit, with old-fashioned type buses and museums and monuments as symbols of the new area.
Enhancing the quality of local communities through maximum utilization of their cultural heritages
By preserving the old streets and precious natural scenery and effective use of existing features we hope to achieve an atmosphere which blends in with the spirit of the Rekishi Kaido. Most important of all, we aim to create relaxed, spacious surroundings in harmony with the daily lives of the people who live in the area.