Pan-Pacific Conference XXXIV. Designing New Business Models in Developing Economies

To cope with the adverse situation, rice farmers
have decided to reorganize “Muramai system”.
Their principle is “farmer first” Muramai system.
Farmers started to select brewer partners who
sympathize with them concerning Sake. They have
willingly adopted “SMC” idea in dealing with
Muramai reorganization. SMC helped them build an
efficient network of working parters.
Consequently, it has brought both farmers &
breweries several improvements of e.g. lead time
control, warehouse efficiency, cost efficiency,
supply stability, quality of rice & Sake. One
example is as follows:
“Yamada Nishiki” is cropped once a year in
autumn, Sake brewing starts in winter. The latent
risk arising from this peculiarity can be reduced
thanks to Muramai system. Breweries can instruct
rice farmers on harvest period beforehand through
the system and by close communications with
farmers & villages can get prior knowledge of
condition of harvest & rice, which enables
breweries adjust a production plan before rice is
carried in. In brief, by getting hold of the quality
and quantity of rice before its harvest, breweries can
maximize resources and efficiency in the whole
process of Sake making with minimal loss.
“SCM” and “Muramai system” are both
management methods aiming at integrating whole
process of business from product planning, material
procurement, production, shipment, marketing to
after sales care. The goal of these is to secure stable
management by acquiring accurate customers’
needs quantitatively along with concentrating on
improving product quality.
It is highly likely that if intriguing Sake
storytelling combines with ordinary learning tour
program or with experience-based tour, it will
become “signature tour“to foreign tourists to Japan.
Naturally, it will promote regional revitalization
remarkably.
Traditional Farmers as Leading Actors in
Inbound Tourism
The total domestic shipment volume of Sake has
been decreasing, while foreign shipment has
increased in recent years. Sake has been exported to
62 countries as of 2015. 70% of total quantitative
volume consists of US, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong,
and China. The total sale proceeds of exported Sake
showed \8.9 billion in 2012, \10.5 billion in 2013,
\11.5 billion in 2014, and \14 billion in 2015 which
increased 19.2% over the previous year.
Government estimates that the amount will reach as
much as \60 billion including processed products by
2020. Almost all Japanese Sake breweries have their
long history of from about 100 to 880 years. Each
brewery has maintained its customs & traditions to
keep its quality level. Some of them have built
memorial exhibition hall and a room where you can
taste various sakes in their sites. You can even
observe directly Sake making process. It should be
noted that contemporary craftsmen with traditional
skills not only confine their efforts to making
excellent Sake but also welcome customers with
giving them a chance of direct contacts with Sake
making.
Originally, these rural oriented tours have been
specifically planned for wealthy and regular tourists
living in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
They like tours with real experiences e.g. golf
playing, visits to traditional Sake breweries, eating
local foods, experiences of Soba noodle making,
and visits to pottery & porcelain villages.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this study was to present a new
tourism business model for attracting more foreign
tourists to Japan through cross-sectors collaboration
of primary, secondary and tertiary industry. This
will realize “win-win-win” partnership between
sectors concerned.
As exampled above, rice farmers sell their rice
proudly and steadily. Sake breweries buy high
quality rice steadily and sell high value added Sake.
Tourism industry gains high customers satisfaction.
This triune industry sector collaboration is a
recommendable “benchmark”.
As may be understood, it becomes the key to
revitalization of local communities and “Japan”
value will be increased. Needless to say, farmers
play a pivotal role in this case.
In the next step, it is recommended that this “3-
Win” strategy should be diffused all over Japan and
that it should start to build a sophisticated system
with quaternary sector (IT industry), because the
latter would probably open a new sector of industry
– fifth industry.
However, it should be pointed out that further
investigation and case studies are needed to
establish new “cross –sectors collaboration system”
as a “pilot benchmark” which will be needed to
cope with current rapidly changing highly
networked society.
Reference
Research on agriculture and forestry issues 120p-
125p「No. 182, June 2011」New revision
Kikisakeshi Necessity 「Sake service research
group · Association of tutorial research
association」
METI
「http://www.meti.go.jp/seisaku/local_economy/ 88
/ kakusya 51. Html」
Kinki Agricultural Bureau
「http://www.maff.go.jp/kinki/」
Kinki Agriculture Bureau Seminar on promotion of
Japanese liquor understanding March 14, 2017
Cabinet Office Intellectual Property Strategy
Promotion Office Cool Japan Strategy Report
Tourism Agency
「http://www.mlit.go.jp/statistics/file000008.html
」
Japanese Government Tourism Board (JNTO)
http://www.jnto.go.jp/jpn/statistics/data_info_listing
/index.html
For the rest of the papers and references, please
contact The first author (leeyong58@gmail.co
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