Takayama Village
Megumi Yumoto

“Travellers are happy, enjoying what they are doing. I wanted to meet and work for such happy people,” says Megumi Yumoto, a Takayama-mura native, explaining the reason why she made a career change into tourism. Her strength is the great human network she has cultivated.

My job is to make “happy people” even happier

Takayama-mura is putting a great deal of effort into branding the village as an “Anti-aging Village.” The hub of the village tourism is SPINE, which treat the visitors with the combination of two significant resources of the village: spa and wine. Local vegetables and fruits as well as specialties are available and the footbaths wait for the visitors at the terrace. In a corner of SPINE, there is an office/information area of the tourism association where Yumoto works. She guides tourists through the village’s highlights and attractions every day.
“The consumers of tourism are happy people who are enjoying travelling. I wanted to have a job to meet such happy people.”
When she felt that the village was really a comfortable place to live was after she has had a child. “Even if I could not be at home, my child could spend time and eat at their friends’. I felt the warmth of the villagers for the past ten years, appreciating that the local people care for us.”
She did not have any experience in the tourism but the members of the association and people around trained her for the past seven and a half years. When she realized that she could not be a professional of one specific field, she also realized that she had a treasure of “human network.” “I thought I didn’t have to become a professional of something if knew professional people. Because then when someone asked me something, I can connect him/her to the professionals that best match their needs.”
Her favorite scenery of the village is the beautiful street she uses to commute everyday. “I drive along the Matsukawa River. Now is the season of the glowing autumnal leaves and the vermillion bridge across the river. Seeing the village through the trees and the fantastic misty fields amazes me. It’s so nice to encounter the scenery which makes me feel that there will be something wonderful or encourages me throughout the day.”

Interviewed in October, 2017
Writer : Hideko Takahashi / Photographer : Hiroyuki Tamura