[HCG34-P07] Development of Web Portal to Support for Remote Island
Keywords:Support for Remote Island, Web Portal, Digital Map, Social Media, Twitter
According to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in 2015, Japan is composed of 6,852 islands including Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyusyu and Okinawa islands. Among the islands, excluding these large-scale islands, the numbers of remote islands which are manned and unmanned are respectively 418 and 6,430. Approximately 420 thousand people, equivalent to approximately 1.4% of total Japanese population, live in the manned remote islands. Nevertheless, the remote islands play an important role in the protection and increase of the profits for Japan and Japanese people in terms of its territory and the exclusive economic zones, the use of marine resources, the succession of a variety of cultures, the preservation of nature environments, etc.
However, the population of the islands has been continually in the decrease since 1955. Additionally, in 2013, the aging rates of the whole Japan and under population areas are respectively 22.7% and 33.0%, while that of the remote islands is 35.0%. Most remote islands as well as the whole nation suffer from the problem of the declining birth rate and aging population. Furthermore, most remote islands had tremendously serious problems related to declining birth rate and aging population in particular. Though the main industry of the remote island is fishery, there has been lack of new blood and insufficient human resources to carry on such an occupation.
On the other hand, in recent years, more tourists visit remote islands. With the increase of the tourists visiting remote islands from the inside and outside of Japan, it is possible to promote the sustainable development and local revitalization in remote islands. However, there are very few guidebooks and websites which introduce remote islands. Additionally, the islanders could hardly transmit sightseeing information related to their islands by themselves. Therefore, it is difficult for tourists to obtain the information related to the remote islands. Against such a backdrop, in order to support the tourists in the remote islands, the present study aims to develop a web portal to support the islanders to transmit sightseeing information. The web portal is developed using web-geographic information systems (Web-GIS), and connecting with external SNS (Social Networking Services).
However, the population of the islands has been continually in the decrease since 1955. Additionally, in 2013, the aging rates of the whole Japan and under population areas are respectively 22.7% and 33.0%, while that of the remote islands is 35.0%. Most remote islands as well as the whole nation suffer from the problem of the declining birth rate and aging population. Furthermore, most remote islands had tremendously serious problems related to declining birth rate and aging population in particular. Though the main industry of the remote island is fishery, there has been lack of new blood and insufficient human resources to carry on such an occupation.
On the other hand, in recent years, more tourists visit remote islands. With the increase of the tourists visiting remote islands from the inside and outside of Japan, it is possible to promote the sustainable development and local revitalization in remote islands. However, there are very few guidebooks and websites which introduce remote islands. Additionally, the islanders could hardly transmit sightseeing information related to their islands by themselves. Therefore, it is difficult for tourists to obtain the information related to the remote islands. Against such a backdrop, in order to support the tourists in the remote islands, the present study aims to develop a web portal to support the islanders to transmit sightseeing information. The web portal is developed using web-geographic information systems (Web-GIS), and connecting with external SNS (Social Networking Services).