ON THE TRIP Inc. (headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo), in collaboration with the Takehara Tourism and Town Development Organization (location: Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture) and in partnership with Takehara City and Value Management Inc., has released an audio guide titled "Takehara Town Walk" for the historic streets of Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture.
The guide begins at the former Morikawa Family Residence, a building designated as an Important Cultural Property of Takehara City, known for its role in supporting salt production. This location currently serves as the front desk and club lounge of NIPPONIA HOTEL Takehara Saline Town and is also open to the public as a café.
Starting from the salt-making stories that remain here, the audio guide introduces the narratives of 11 spots including historic buildings, townhouses, and merchant houses. It traces Takehara's journey from its foundation in salt production to its expansion into sake brewing, scholarship, and shipping, offering a guide experience that connects visitors with the lives and memories of the people. The guide includes sounds that once echoed across the salt fields, such as the hamako uta (salt workers' songs) and the sound of hoes, recorded alongside the narration to create an immersive town walk experience where visitors can hear Takehara's memories simply by listening.
Additionally, ON THE TRIP has been involved in the exhibition renewal of the former Morikawa Family Residence.
The exhibition displays historical photographs and salt-making tools, creating a composition that allows visitors to relive the salt-making operations of that era while listening to the audio guide as they tour the building.
Guide URL: https://on-the-trip.net/spots/769/purchase?locale=ja
The guide is created by ON THE TRIP Inc. (https://on-the-trip.com/), which produces official audio guides for temples, shrines, museums, art festivals, and more throughout Japan. They produce an audio guide app that allows visitors to tour mapped spots while listening to the guide.
Exploring Takehara's "Memories" and "Scenery" Through Audio
Located in southern Hiroshima Prefecture, Takehara was known during the Edo period as one of Japan's leading salt-producing regions, a town that prospered through salt and sake production. In the past, salt fields spread across Takehara, with a sea of white salt and sand glittering everywhere. The townscape nurtured by salt production is now designated as a nationally Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
During the Edo period, Takehara was a small port town that attempted to reclaim the sea and turn it into rice fields. However, due to the influence of seawater, crops wouldn't grow, and they were struggling when a merchant from Ako, known for salt production, happened to appear. Looking at the barren fields, the merchant advised, "This place is suitable for salt fields."
At that time, salt-making in Ako was considered a secret technique, but because the Ako and Hiroshima domains had family ties, the technique was specially transmitted to Takehara. Thus, the fields were reborn as salt fields, becoming the foundation of the town's new prosperity.
In this way, the guide reviews Takehara's history while leading visitors on a journey into the memory-scapes of Takehara that no longer exist.
Seeking Facilities and Local Governments Interested in Tourism DX Through Audio Guides
ON THE TRIP Inc. conducts thorough research into the history of towns and the stories that places hold, creating guides like works that move people's hearts like films or novels. By listening to the guides, visitors deepen their understanding of the places they visit, enriching their travel experiences.
Currently, they are recruiting partner facilities and local governments. Audio guides are created either as paid production projects or as free initiatives. For free implementations, they provide multi-language audio and text production (English, Chinese), design of various tools such as posters and maps, web production, book creation, and digital marketing—all production materials necessary for the guide at no cost.
In return, they set an admission fee that includes the audio guide and share that revenue. For example, if a facility has an admission fee of 500 yen, they would reset it to 800 yen, and in exchange, provide the audio guide as a tool to deeply understand the facility's information and appeal. The difference of 300 yen × number of users would be shared as revenue between the facility and ON THE TRIP.
This initiative started from the issue that admission fees at Japanese cultural properties are low compared to other countries, and visitors aren't sufficiently informed about what experiences they can have. Despite having stories worth celebrating at Japanese cultural properties, their appeal is still not adequately conveyed to visitors. They aim to update these challenges using digital tools.
For details, please refer to the link below. For inquiries, please contact us through the inquiry form.
