On August 12, Prof. Nakao Seiji from the Department of Regional Management, University of Fukuchiyama, Japan, was invited by the Information Research Institute of Science and Technology to give an online presentation entitled "Tourism Policy, Traditional Culture of the Rural Aeras in Japan and Local Resident Activities". Dr. Ni Hui, a lecturer from the Department of Economics of Yokohama National University and a visiting researcher fellow at the San'in Research Institute of Shimane University, also delivered significant academic opinions at the seminar. The online meeting was chaired by researcher Ma Jia who is the director of the Agricultural Economics Office of the institute. Scholars and postgraduates from SAAS attended the meeting as well.

Based on the "Sixth Industry" and "Marginal Village" perspective, Prof. Nakao introduced the concept of "Educational Countryside Stays": under a certain proportion, rural households accept a certain number of strangers to visit and experience. Under this circumstance, rural industries may be activated, which could bring more communication between the people from rural areas and big cities. By analyzing the development status of rural areas and agriculture in Japan, Prof. Nakao proposed that it is necessary to integrate sightseeing experiences in rural areas in order to expand agricultural value or increase farmers' income. He then introduced the current development models of educational countryside and further pointed out that the trend of the rural leisure tourism should be changed from pure "sightseeing of natural landscapes" to "communication with local culture".

Through this online presentation, the scientists of our academy have deepened their understandings of the development of rural tourism industry in Japan and recognized the important role of agricultural culture in the Japanese rural tourism. Scholars from SAAS and the University of Fukuchiyama have further understood each other through this academic activity, which has laid a good foundation for future scientific research cooperation.