I am slowly working on improving visitor experiences at Oyama Senmaida by improving wayfaring and information. First step: make the existing signs look nicer.
I started with the big wooden sign at the lookout point. This is one of the most photographed parts of Oyama Senmaida and it was looking pretty rough. So I gave it a couple coats of kakishibu and repainted the lettering. Now it will stand proudly in everyone’s photos.
In the hours I worked on this sign, several dozen casual visitors arrived. Most walked up from the parking lot, a few arriving on bicycles, and one or two stopping their cars on the road.
I paid attention to their visits. Although I was blocking the sign with my ladder, most people came over to read it. There are photos of rice planting and harvest plus a topographical map. The title says that this is the closest terraced rice field to Tokyo. Most people mentioned this fact in their conversations.
Some visitors, understanding that I sort of belonged to the space, spoke to me. I gave suggestions of where to go next, identified the radar dome, and agreed (many times) about the beauty of the scenery.
One of the bicyclists, a Chinese guy who didn’t speak much English or Japanese, showed me his phone, translated to say “The scenery is beautiful here. Thank you for making the place nicer for us” then he Facetimed his wife so that I could see their new baby, and got his daughter to interpret for us. He is very proud that both his children are American citizens and now we are connected on Line.
A friend stopped by with her family and I gave them a docent’s summary of the place – what the name means, how many rice paddies there are, how they get water, who does the work, the school programs offered. As I did that in English, I gathered an audience of eight other people listening in. Visitors crave interaction and information.
Those short hours confirm to me that there are opportunities to improve visitor experience beyond cleaning up the signs. First, I hope to have the staff identify what they want visitor to know and to do. I think that the ultimate goal should be to get people to sign up for programs or join the NPO. There are many steps along that path.
And the first one is a good first impression with clean and tidy signs. I have my work cut out for me. There are a lot of signs and information boards:
Oyama Senmaida’s wooden wayfaring signs are dear to my heart. I have been “secretly” painting the one across the street from our old house for some years. Last time was in 2022:
And now I get to do it officially. It makes me happy to be able to give visitors a good impression of the place and to encourage them to support it in various ways.
