By TSUKASA FUKE/ Staff Writer
May 4, 2022 at 07:00 JST
Mount Ishizuchisan in Ehime Prefecture (Provided by the Organization for Promotion of Tourism in Shikoku)
TAKAMATSU--An artificial intelligence-based system identified 15 sites on the island of Shikoku that share striking similarities with popular tourist destinations around the world.
The system developed by NTT Docomo Inc. rated photos submitted to a competition to promote the charms of Shikoku on a scale of zero to 100.
The top Grand Prix prize went to the Marugamemachi Ichibangai-mae Dome, a shopping gallery in Takamatsu, which received an 88.4 score from the AI system for its resemblance to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan.
Since its completion in 2007, many people have commented that the dome in the Kagawa prefectural capital appears nearly identical to the one in the arcade in the northern Italian city.
The contest was sponsored by the Organization for Promotion of Tourism in Shikoku to offer a taste of exotic locations at a time when it is difficult to travel overseas due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The organization, which comprises Shikoku Railway Co. (JR Shikoku), the island’s four prefectural governments and other entities, solicited photos from August 2021 to January this year. It received 113 entries from 83 people across the country.
A panel of judges from the organization also reviewed the images to select winners.
Two entries shared the semi-Grand Prix prize: Mount Ishizuchisan in Ehime Prefecture, which looks like the Matterhorn in Switzerland, with a score of 86.4, and Irino beach in Kuroshio, Kochi Prefecture, which is compared to the Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia, with a score of 84.5.
Chichibugahama beach in Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture, is famous for its similarities with the Uyuni salt flat, but it was excluded from the contest as it has become a “Hall of Famer.”
Each of the island’s four prefectures received its own top winner.
While Mount Yashima in the Kagawa prefectural capital looks like Table Mountain in South Africa, terraced fields in the Yusumizugaura district of Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, bear strong similarities to the ancient Inca Empire ruins Machu Picchu ruins in Peru.
The Hinoji valley in Miyoshi, Tokushima Prefecture, resembles the Blyde River Canyon in South Africa, one of the world’s three biggest canyons. Tatsukushi beach in Tosa-Shimizu, Kochi Prefecture, shares marked similarities with Antelope Canyon in a Navajo reservation in the U.S. state of Arizona.
“Even we didn’t know many of the places (in Shikoku) that share similarities (with the world’s famous sightseeing spots),” said Shinji Hani, who heads the Organization for Promotion of Tourism in Shikoku. “It was very interesting to discover that some places, such as the terraced fields, look more similar when they are seen from different angles.”
Organization officials plan to promote the sites as new tourist spots in Shikoku by publishing digital pamphlets and introducing recommended sightseeing routes.
To view all the results, visit the official website at (https://shikoku-tourism.com/sekaispot-contests/result.html).
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