I am Kengo Toi, also known as Chi, and I run the Bikan Historical Area blog "Kurashiki Tocotoco."
In this article, I will introduce our site "Kurashiki Tocotoco" while reflecting on my own past.
- The background and reasons for its establishment
- My feelings towards Kurashiki
I am a blogger living in Kurashiki City
I have been using the handle "Chi" on the internet for many years, sharing information through blogs and events.
My blog mainly focuses on topics I enjoy, such as gadgets like the iPhone and idols.
There is hardly any discussion about Kurashiki.
As of September 2018, I am 39 years old, but I was born and raised in Kurashiki City, and aside from about four years for university and three years for work, I have lived in Kurashiki my entire life.
However, if you ask whether I had a strong "love for Kurashiki," I would say not really.
Since April 2017, I have been holding a blog community called "Okayama Blog College (Okaburo)" once a month, often using shops in the Bikan Historical Area as venues,
I always thought I would like to create a blog about the Bikan Historical Area with the Okaburo members someday
but that was just a someday thought, and I had no concrete plans.
Then, a disaster occurred.
The July 2018 heavy rain disaster affected Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture
The July 2018 heavy rain disaster affected a wide area of western Japan, including Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture.
In particular, the situation in Mabi, where most of the urban area was flooded, was widely reported nationwide.
Okayama Prefecture had been free from disasters for many years, and the awareness of disasters was likely low, including for myself.
The disaster that occurred so close by was shocking. I was not directly affected, but many people close to me, including friends and colleagues, were affected.
I was thinking, is there anything I can do…
While I was thinking that, someone reached out to me, and I became involved with the Kurashiki City Disaster Volunteer Center.
I was a systems engineer, but I was scheduled to leave the company I had worked for ten years in July 2018.
By chance, I had more time available, so I supported the introduction of a volunteer reception system and the "IT transformation" of the volunteer center.
After the disaster, not only the staff of the Kurashiki City Social Welfare Council, which operates the volunteer center, but also many people were actively working for the recovery of the disaster area and support for the victims.
Knowing this changed my own awareness significantly.
The number of tourists in the Bikan Historical Area has drastically decreased
At that time, I heard that the number of tourists in the Bikan Historical Area had drastically decreased.
The photo was taken in mid-July 2018, and I had never seen the Bikan Historical Area so deserted.
Seeing the current situation in Mabi, the disaster area, and the Bikan Historical Area made me feel surprisingly sad.
For the first time, I felt the "love for Kurashiki" that I thought was not strong.
Kurashiki City is a city of tourism.
I want to do something for Kurashiki
When I thought about that, I decided to utilize the knowledge I had gained from running my blog for a long time and create a "WEB media that disseminates information about the Bikan Historical Area."
The concept of "Kurashiki Tocotoco"
In this way, the Bikan Historical Area blog "Kurashiki Tocotoco" was born.
I think it can be classified as a so-called "local blog," but due to the background mentioned above, I do not intend to focus solely on information about the Bikan Historical Area.
A WEB media that conveys "the present of Kurashiki," centered on tourism information
is how I positioned it.
For this reason, I will simultaneously disseminate the following types of information.
- Tourism information, focusing on tourist facilities and restaurants in the Bikan Historical Area
- The situation in Mabi
In particular, the situation in the disaster area will not be reported over time and will fade away.
However, it will take years for Mabi to recover and for the victims to regain their original lives.
Since Kurashiki City is a city of tourism, I believe there is a high demand for tourism information.
By simultaneously disseminating the situation in Mabi, I thought that people outside Okayama Prefecture could also learn about it, which is the "thought" behind creating "Kurashiki Tocotoco."
Conclusion
Kurashiki Tocotoco opened in September 2018, nearly three months after the heavy rain disaster in July 2018.
I have many thoughts, and since I intend to operate it long-term, I believe there will be many changes as I continue.
However, I wanted to document the thoughts I had at the time of establishment in this article.
Thank you for your support of "Kurashiki Tocotoco."
