Unusual Travel Experiences Gain Popularity in Japan: From Watching Waste Incineration to Cleaning Public Baths

[Financial News] In September, visitors to the Ota Incineration Plant, located in the coastal area of Ota Ward, Tokyo, entered the crane control room. They watched in awe as a massive crane processed large volumes of waste.
Those who visited the incineration plant that day were participants in a travel program arranged by the Ota Tourism Association. The one-day bus tour took visitors around Ota Ward’s artificial islands, with both adults and children paying 33,000 yen (about 310,000 KRW) per person.
Participants expressed high satisfaction, likely because they could directly observe waste incineration operations in a location usually off-limits to the public.
On the 10th, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that 'experiential tours'—which take visitors to restricted areas such as incineration plants, airports, factories, and public baths—are gaining popularity in Japan.
This bus tour, which circled the artificial island housing the incineration plant, was held twice. Thanks to word of mouth about visiting rarely accessible places, about 230 people applied nationwide, and 25 participants were selected by lottery for each program.
A 77-year-old woman who joined the tour said, "I have lived in this area for a long time, but this is my first visit here. It was a new discovery," expressing her satisfaction.

The waste incineration plant tour is not the only unique experience available. Private travel companies have already introduced similar programs for those seeking something special. Since 2022, Hatobus, a major bus tour operator, has been running the Haneda Airport Best View Drive.
The appeal of this program is that it allows participants to enter restricted areas of Haneda Airport—normally inaccessible to the public—and observe aircraft takeoffs and landings from close range.
Mania LLC, an event company, has launched a unique tour called 'Be the First to Enter a Public Bath After Opening Preparations.'
Shigenobu Matsuzawa, CEO of Mania LLC, explained, "It's a rare experience for participants to clean the public bath themselves or peek into the boiler room. Most participants are in their 30s and 40s, and 50 to 60 percent are women." At the end of November, a lion dance experience tour with a lion dance researcher is also planned.
Taniwaki Moki, a professor in the Department of Tourism Policy at Tamagawa University, noted, "There is a growing trend of valuing experiences that can only be had at a specific time and place. Such programs are now preferred over traditional trips to the same tourist destinations."
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter