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Big resort in bankruptcy
Mrs. Ito poses in front of the new widened road in central Shimukappu. 99.10.07/ Temperature: 10C/ Weather: Partly cloudy/Wind Direction: W
Start:Shimukappu Station
Destination: Mitsuoka Bridge, Hidaka
Distance Traveled: 19 kmLeaving the station behind me I started off down the new widened sidewalkin Shimukappu headed toward the center of town. At the main intersectionin town there is a yet another center to sell local goods. The road wasunusually wide and freshly paved. Almost all of the buildings to eitherside of the street look like they were completed in the last two years.This scenery was the first of its kind along this journey.
It turns out that the development of all of Shimukappu Village is contributed to the creation of the mega-resort Tomamu, located in the outskirts of the village.
"I can't really say that there has been a lot of merit for us in widening this road," said a women I met on the street. "The government gave people money to rebuild their houses back away from the old road. The traffic that does pass through here is headed for the Tomamu Resort," said Mr. Hirakawa, a friend of the women who I met on the street. A truck whizzed by surrounding us in black exhaust.
"The resort dates back about 15 years" "Since the land here isn't very fertile and much of the population was aging, the village mayor at the time suggested the village build a ski resort. They built ski slopes, a golf course, and four huge towers for tourists" "Rather than appealing to locals, the resort catered to tourists from Honshu (the main island of Japan). This was fine when the economy was good, but since the bubble economy has burst there have been a lot of problems. Finally, last year the resort went bankrupt. I think they should have stopped after building two towers. The last two towers probably put them out of business" they said.
Water rests in the tire tracks of a terraced rice paddy. I was astonished to find rice fields this far north. I remembered how barren the resort seemed when I walked by yesterday. The two giant hotel towers and two smaller ones jutted out from the logged hillside. In their heyday, with an abundance of skiiers skidding to a stop at their base, the buildings may have appeared grand with shiny glass against mountainside. Now, still shiny, the stillness surrounding them made them seem desolate. Not a single person walked the bright green fairways or putted on the greens. The golf course along with the vast green lawn leading up to the resort must take an absurd amount of fertilizer and weed killer. Though the greens were bright, the surrounding trees lacked the vivid colors of trees further up the valley. This would account for the fewer insects and birds in Tomamu than had accompanied me through the rest of the valley.
Not only has the resort laid claim to the portion of the valley to which it invites tourists from all over, but the 'development' it has invited is spread all throughout Shimukappu Village.
In the name of development Shimukappu Village has paved, polluted, and sold off much of its precious environment. The village had its financial boom in the 80's. It is now suffering the financial and environmental downside of that boom. After folding once, the new owners of Tomamu are taking a second try.
The resort development in Shimukappu Village has occurred all over Japan as well as in many places all over the world. The short-term benefits may seem appealing. It is the environmental and economic price of these endeavors that reveal the long-term benefits.
The people I spoke with in Shimukappu seem to realize now that community building is not just a matter of building fancy facilities, big roads and creating expensive campaigns. Let's hope that there is enough environmental and economic foresight in the town's new attempt to revive itself.
Greg
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