Paper Title
A Travel Experience Recommendation System to Enhance Understanding of Japanese Food Culture
Abstract
During the travel journey, we gain a more comprehensive appreciation of a target country's unique
charm through various aspects such as language, history, traditional customs and celebrations, geography and
environment, clothing, and architecture. However, among these numerous aspects, we believe that an
investigation into food and dining is particularly crucial. Food culture not only reflects the lifestyle and social
structure of the local people but is also an essential component of a country's unique culture. Therefore,
understanding food culture becomes crucial in tourism. In this study, we emphasize the introduction of eight
Japanese food cultures and their relationships. Faced with various preferences, different food allergens, and
individual differences in religious beliefs, foreign tourists' experiences with Japanese food culture vary from
person to person. We enhance tourists' understanding and familiarity with Japanese food culture by establishing
a food culture database, creating individual profiles for food culture, and conducting surveys through
questionnaires. According to the results of the survey questionnaire conducted with 13 foreign tourists, the
overall understanding of the 8 food cultures increased by 32.28%. Among them, family restaurant culture
showed the most significant improvement, reaching as high as 77.78%.
Keywords - Tourism, Japanese Food Culture, Tourists