Each year 1,600,000 visitors go to Hokkaido to see the beautiful farms in Biei. It is a unique area scattered with hilly farmland that feature amazing fields of not just crops but beautiful flowers. It is because of these beautiful fields that people flock to the area for a once in a lifetime opportunity. Now the people of Biei are looking to protect the farmland so future generations can also enjoy this amazing area.
Via the crowdfunding site Japankuru Funding, the farmers are looking to collect funds from all over the world, using the sites multilingual services, and hoping to help people understand more about the area, that each area is private property, and that its dangerous for people to come into the farm as it could contaminate the crops and cause an area wide infestation.
The project, with the name Protecting the Countryside, Creating Harmony Between Visitors and Farmers, Making Biei the Best Place it can be, launched on Friday 24th May 27, 2019 looking to raise $9400 or 1,000,000, which it has already reached in 3 days. The projects main aim is to create signage that will help to educate the visitors as well as give tourists a way to help farmers that make the beautiful fields. Aside from this, money will also be used to create 3 special photo spots that will allow for visitors from all over to be able to take scenic photos without trespassing and causing harm to the fields that are the farmers livelihoods. Finally, a portion will be used to create a website that will be able to introduce these farmers.
The project has 32 days left and is now looking to raise extra money towards a second goal that is now in the process of being made after an unexpected response from the community.
You can find the project at: https://en.japankurufunding.com/projects/bieiprotection/
About the signage that will be made
The signage will let the tourist know which person the farm belongs to as well as letting them donate directly to the farmer. This will be made possible through QR codes on the signage. By doing so, it is hoped that the visitors to the area are shown that these fields are private property and not places to be trespassed on. In addition to these codes for donation, other information as well as an introduction video message will also be located on the signs. Overall we hope that the visitors can learn a lot about the area through these signs.
About Japankuru Funding
Japankuru Funding is a Japanese based crowdfunding site, that allows for the project page to be curated in 3 different languages, English, Japanese, and Traditional Chinese. This allows for funding to be collected from all over the world.