Contents Tourism in Japan - Pilgrimages to Sacred Sites of Popular Culture - Philip A Seaton

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Contents Tourism in Japan

Contents Tourism in Japan Pilgrimages to “Sacred Sites” of Popular Culture

Philip Seaton, Takayoshi Yamamura, Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, and Kyungjae Jang

Copyright Cambria Press 2017. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to [email protected], or mailed to: Cambria Press 100 Corporate Parkway, Suite 128 Amherst, New York 14226 Front cover photo credit ©KOITABI~True Tours Nanto Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available. ISBN 9781604979732 (alk. paper)

Table of Contents

List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter 1: The Players and Patterns of Contents Tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Chapter 2: Canonized Texts and Heritage: Pre-1945 Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Chapter 3: Community-Building Through Contents: 1945– 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Chapter 4: Digital Age Contents Tourism: 2000–2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

List of Figures

Figure 1: The forty-seven prefectures of Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Figure 2: Engyōji Temple, Himeji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Figure 3: Sites of contents tourism in Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Figure 4: The players of contents tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Figure 5: Contents tourism as cultural tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Figure 6: Contents transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Figure 7: Itasha  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Figure 8: Devotional fan behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Figure 9: Saigō Takamori commemorative sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Figure 10: Shinsengumi memorial at Mibudera Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Figure 11: Fan messages on ema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Figure 12: Fan message in a visitor notebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Figure 13: Power spot at Sarume Shrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Figure 14: Ise Shrine  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

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Figure 15: Tora-san statue, Shibamata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Figure 16: Sanrio Puroland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Figure 17: The Satta Pass at Yui . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Figure 18: Mount Fuji from the Satta Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Figure 19: The opening of Lucky Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Figure 20: Recreating the Lucky Star opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Figure 21: Scene reenactment and cosplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Figure 22: Using the Koitabi Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Figure 23: Canonized contents tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Figure 24: Boom and bust contents tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Figure 25: Canadian World, Hokkaido . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Figure 26: World Cosplay Summit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Figure 27: Branding using contents in Chōfu city . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Figure 28: Mythical Takachiho Gorge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Figure 29: Airport name as local brand in Tottori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Figure 30: Sites of contents tourism in Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Figure 31a: Overview of tourism in Japan to 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

List of Figures

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Figure 31b: Overview of tourism in Japan to 1945 (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Figure 32: Namahage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Figure 33: Mizuki Shigeru Road, Sakaiminato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Figure 34: Godzilla in Shinjuku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Figure 35: Iga Ueno Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Figure 36: Statue of Matsuo Bashō . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Figure 37: Basho’s Birth House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Figure 38: Basho Museum, Tokyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Figure 39: Statue of Murasaki Shikibu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Figure 40: Visitor numbers at the Tale of Genji Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Figure 41: Byōdōin  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Figure 42: Statue of Yaji and Kita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Figure 43: Graves of the forty-seven ronin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Figure 44: Official poster of the Masamune-kou Matsuri . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Figure 45: Statue of Date Masamune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Figure 46: Fan messages to Date Masamune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Figure 47: Battle reenactment at Shiroishi Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

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Figure 48: Visitor numbers at Shiroishi Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Figure 49: Rekijo (history fan girl) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Figure 50: Recreating an iconic photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Figure 51: Sakamoto Ryōma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Figure 52: Visitor numbers at the Chiran Peace Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Figure 53: Tomiya Shokudō . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Figure 54: Visitor numbers at the Kure Maritime Museum . . . . . . . . . . 125 Figure 55: Kantai Collection cosplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Figure 56: Fans of Hetalia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Figure 57: Dōgo onsen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Figure 58: Akiyama Brothers’ Birthplace Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Figure 59: Botchan Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Figure 60: Ehime-ken Gokoku Shrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Figure 61: Masaoka Shiki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Figure 62: Sites of contents tourism in Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Figure 63a: Chronology of postwar history, media, and tourism  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

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Figure 63b: Chronology of postwar history, media, and tourism (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Figure 63c: Chronology of postwar history, media, and tourism (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Figure 63d: Chronology of postwar history, media, and tourism (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Figure 64: Chronology of the opening of the main manga/anime tourist facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Figure 65: Ozu Yasujirō exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Figure 66: Asahi Television visitor center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Figure 67: Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Figure 68: Yujiro Memorial Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Figure 69: Ultraman Stadium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Figure 70: Ultraman Stadium shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Figure 71: Kita no Kuni Kara Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Figure 72: Gorō’s stone house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Figure 73: Taiga Drama pavilion for Yae no sakura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Figure 74: Taiga Drama pavilion for Gunshi Kanbee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Figure 75: The set of Ryōmaden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

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Figure 76: Toei Kyoto Studio Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Figure 77: Botchan Square . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Figure 78: Thomas Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Figure 79: Hokkaido Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Figure 80: Hundred Sacks of Rice Monument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Figure 81: Toraya dumpling shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Figure 82: The Path of Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Figure 83: Onomichi City Museum of Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Figure 84: Set of Otokotachi no Yamato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Figure 85: Sites of contents tourism in Chapter 4 and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Figure 86: Inbound and outbound travel, 1964–2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Figure 87a: Chronology of key events, 2000–2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Figure 87b: Chronology of key events, 2000–2015 (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 Figure 88: Total visitors to Aizuwakamatsu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Figure 89: Summer Wars and Ueda city . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Figure 90: The Hajisai Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

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Figure 91: Yuwaku Bonbori Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Figure 92: The lighting ceremony at the Bonbori Festival . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Figure 93: The Lucky Star stamp rally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Figure 94: Comiket  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Figure 95: Hyper Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Figure 96: A cosplayer asking to be photographed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Figure 97: Cosplaying friends in Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Figure 98: Japan Events in Tunisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Figure 99: Akihabara  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Figure 100: Ichinokura-sawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Acknowledgements We have incurred many debts while writing this book. It has been supported by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science grant (Kiban A grant number 26243007, “International Comparative Research on the Spreading and Reception of Culture through Contents Tourism,” grant period 2014–2019, project co-leaders Philip Seaton and Takayoshi Yamamura). There are too many people who have given interviews and provided materials to thank individually here. We have acknowledged them in the text where appropriate, but there are many others, too. However, we offer special thanks to the two anonymous referees who gave us very constructive advice for improving the text; and to Sue Beeton, who has given us great encouragement and advice since we first started working together in 2012. Finally, we thank all the staff at Cambria Press for their help in getting this book to press. We have done all we can to ensure an error-free book. Any errors that remain are the responsibility of the authors.

Contents Tourism in Japan

Introduction Zuisenji Temple, Nanto city, Toyama prefecture: A young woman is taking a photo of a temple in the Inami area of Nanto city. As she lines up the shot, an anime character appears on the screen of her tablet. The woman is using the AR (augmented reality) app Koitabi Camera. The anime girl is one of the characters of the anime KOITABI~True Tours Nanto (Koitabi), which is set in Nanto city and was produced by Nanto city government and local anime production company P.A. WORKS. Having watched one of the three Koitabi episodes on her tablet (they are all romantic vignettes lasting about ten minutes which take place at locations in Nanto), the woman is now able to use the Koitabi Camera. But, to watch the anime and use the app, she has had to travel to Nanto city. The anime can only be viewed when the tablet’s GPS (global positioning system) indicates she is in a specific location; and the app can only be used after watching an episode and while standing at one of the designated AR points, of which Zuisenji is one. *** In recent years, Japanese manga, anime, music, cinema, television dramas, and computer games have gained many international fans. Recognizing the global appeal of Japanese popular culture, since the early 2000s the Japanese government has promoted popular culture exports and developed a national branding strategy using the slogan “Cool Japan.”1 This strategy has two main elements: to gain a larger share of the multi-billion-dollar global culture industry and to improve

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the international image/brand of Japan via the use of “soft power.” However, in 2004, the large numbers of Japanese people who visited South Korea after watching the Korean television drama Winter Sonata caught the Japanese government’s attention. The government recognized for the first time in official documents that Japanese popular culture had another potential: to increase domestic and international visitor numbers and energize the tourism industry. The term used in Japan to describe this form of tourism induced by popular culture is kontentsu tsūrizumu, “contents tourism.” A 2005 policy document published by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and the Agency for Cultural Affairs defined the essence of contents tourism as “the addition of a ‘narrative quality’ (monogatarisei) or ‘theme’ (tēmasei) to a region— namely an atmosphere or image particular to the region generated by the contents—and the use of that narrative quality as a tourism resource.”2 Contents tourism is a close relative of film-induced tourism, literary tourism, and other forms of tourism related to media that have generated considerable scholarly and tourism sector interest since the 1990s.3 The Japanese term kontentsu, a loanword from the English “contents,” has only existed since the 1990s in its present usage. Okamoto Takeshi has defined kontentsu as “information that has been produced and edited in some form, and brings enjoyment when it is consumed.”4 The key development in popular culture at this time was the accelerating multiuse of storylines, characters, locations, and other creative elements across various media formats. A story might be released as a manga, a computer game, an anime series, and a live-action film in quick succession. It became less appropriate to categorize popular culture works by the media format. Instead, the combination of the creative elements became known as kontentsu (the contents) among scholars and those working in Japan’s creative industries. Fans of a set of contents would visit related sites, and the concept of kontentsu tsūrizumu (contents tourism) emerged. Tsūrizumu is also a

Introduction

3

loanword from English. The usual word for tourism in Japanese is kankō, which comes from I Ching (The Book of Changes), an ancient divination text and one of the five classics of ancient Chinese philosophy. The two characters for kankō are “see” and “light” and refer to the phrases “Look at the light=glory of the kingdom. If you wish to brighten the light, you will be accorded privileged treatment as the king’s distinguished guest”.5 It is said these sentences were imported into Japan in the Edo period and created the term kankō. In 1855 the Edo shogunate navy named a training ship Kankō-maru, and the term was used to mean “to look at another country’s light such as its history, culture, manners, and landscape” or “to show the brightness of one’s country to others.”6 In the Taisho period (1912–1926) the term started to be used interchangeably with the English word “tourism” and retains this meaning today.7 Nelson Graburn has noted that kankō and another term kenbutsu (sightseeing) are ryokō (travel) and tabi (trips) when not “on duty” through work obligations.8 Sylvie Guichard-Anguis, meanwhile, juxtaposes kankō and tabi and suggests the former is more to do with travel for leisure while the latter is moving (historically “walking”) with an element of selfdiscovery.9 Tsūrizumu, by contrast, is a relatively recent loanword derived from the standard translation of kankō. Therefore, it is quite far removed from the etymology of tourism in English, namely the idea that “tours are circular structures, and the last destination is the same as the point of origin: home.”10 As a loanword that has re-entered English from Japanese, the “tourism” of “contents tourism” is an amorphous concept. It comprises elements of the circular “tour,” the more linear “journey,” and the movement of “travel,” all bound together by notions of leisure rather than work, “seeing light,” and enjoyment, which is also inherent in the definition of kontentsu. Combining all these elements, our working definition of contents tourism is travel behavior motivated fully or partially by narratives, characters, locations, and other creative elements of popular culture forms, including film, television dramas, manga, anime, novels, and computer games.

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The important feature, therefore, is that contents tourism is defined by the motivations of travelers rather than by the nature of the site. The meanings or narrative quality given to a site by one or more sets of contents are an integral reason for making and/or enjoying the trip, even if the associations are extremely vague such as “the site has some connection to manga.” As the number of tourist sites related to popular culture grows, many tourists may be called “incidental cultural tourists.” Such people do not set out to visit places related to popular culture, but end up having a tourism experience enhanced by the associations with contents at such a site.11 In principle, however, visiting Engyōji Temple in Himeji because it was used as a location for the film The Last Samurai counts as contents tourism, but visiting it for its architectural and religious significance does not. Alternatively, using John Urry’s famous concept of the “tourist gaze” (“socially constructed seeing”), the contents tourist sees corridors where Algren (Tom Cruise) and Katsumoto (Watanabe Ken) converse, while other tourists see buildings in a temple complex that is over a thousand years old.12 What counts as “popular culture” also needs some explanation. A widely agreed upon definition of popular culture remains elusive.13 Either the definition becomes extremely broad—for example, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has defined “pop culture” as “culture that has been consumed and refined through people’s daily lives,” a definition that encompasses almost any form of traditional and/or modern production— or the definitions get bogged down in often arbitrary distinctions between what is “high art” or “pop culture.”14 In contents tourism, however, there are clearer boundaries. First, the popular culture is mediatized. Popular culture includes the written word, moving images, music, computer software, apps, and any other media that pass “information that has been produced and edited” from creators to fans, who gain “enjoyment when it is consumed.”15 Popular culture, in this instance, does not include nonmediatized culture such as cuisine, although cuisine is an important component of the “Cool Japan” strategy. Second, the mediatized culture contains creative elements and is produced primarily as entertainment.

Introduction

5

Contents tourism is narrower than “media tourism,” which can include advertising, guidebooks, news media, infomercials and other media productions that we exclude from contents tourism. Contents tourism is induced by what Philip Long and Mike Robinson term “organic” media information sources “which strictly lie outside of the influence of the tourism industry and its desire to shape our imaginings.”16 Third, by being “of the people,” popular culture is not the work of government and there are no distinctions between “art” and “pop culture.” Any form of culture from “high” to “low” can induce tourism and falls within the scope of our inquiries, so in this book we will present examples from poetry to pornography. In short, contents tourism begins with the creation of “narrative worlds” comprising stories, characters, locations, and other creative elements such as music.17 These contents generate a tourism imaginary, defined by Athinodoros Chronis as a “value-laden, emotion-conferring collective narrative construction that is associated with and enacted in a particular place through tourism.”18 When people proceed from mental visitation to a mediatized “narrative world” (via the consumption of a film or comic, etc.) to bodily visitation to a location in the real world related to those mediatized contents, they engage in contents tourism. The Japanese government’s interpretation has focused, unsurprisingly, on the policy dimension and how contents can be utilized by localities to develop “narrative quality” or “themes” as a tourism resource. Or, as Chronis puts it, “Selling a tourism destination, then, is not an effort to sell the place per se, but a place narrative.”19 What this all means in practice is that when a young anime fan learns that there is an anime produced by a favorite anime production company that can only be seen in Nanto city, and when she makes the journey, tablet in hand, to Nanto to enjoy the anime, visit related locations, and engage in activities such as taking a picture of Zuisenji Temple sites using the Koitabi Camera, we can call her a contents tourist. This is

6

Contents Tourism in Japan

just one of the many forms of contents tourism in Japan that will be introduced in this book.

The Potential of the Contents Tourism Approach The links between media and tourism is a rapidly emerging field within tourism studies. Within the literature in English on Japanese tourism, however, little has been written on these links. There has been extensive discussion of “Cool Japan,” soft power, and cultural exports.20 However, Carolin Funck and Malcolm Cooper note that Japanese tourism has received “relatively little coverage in print,” and even in the Japaneselanguage literature, “tourism has not received as much attention as might be expected, given that it has experienced continuous development since at least the seventeenth century.”21 Funck and Cooper address manga, anime, and videogame tourism in two pages at the end of their volume,22 which indicates how contents tourism is a niche topic within Japanese tourism studies, yet one to watch for in the coming years. One aspect of contents tourism relating to Japan that has attracted attention within both the literature about Japanese tourism and the English-language literature about media-induced tourism is the “Korean wave.” The Winter Sonata boom has featured in both general studies of Japanese tourism to South Korea and as a film-induced tourism case study.23 Another is the Akihabara (“Akiba”) boom. It was started by an online novel called Densha otoko (Train Man), which was posted anonymously in the Internet chat room 2-Channel between March and May 2004 and later became a book, film, and television drama.24 Densha otoko, the massive popularity of the idol group AKB48 (who regularly perform in their own theater in Akihabara), and “maid culture” have turned Tokyo’s electronics district into a domestic and international tourism magnet for those interested in otaku (“nerd”) culture.25 These examples are merely the tip of the contents-tourism iceberg, as we shall see throughout the book. Nevertheless, domestic film tourism within

Introduction

7

Japan was conspicuous in its absence from Joanne Connell’s exhaustive 2012 survey of the literature on film tourism, in which Japan was featured only in the context of outbound tourism to Korea (the Winter Sonata boom) and the United Kingdom (Iwashita Chieko’s research into film and destination image), and inbound tourism by Taiwanese fans of Japanese television dramas.26 A turning point in the English-language literature came around 2012–2013 when Craig Norris published articles about Japan using the language of “media tourism”27 and “media pilgrimage,”28 and Sue Beeton, Takayoshi Yamamura, and Philip Seaton published the first article defining “contents tourism.” Until the publication of a special edition of the journal Japan Forum (Volume 27.1) in 2015, however, despite contents tourism being a key feature of tourism policy for a decade and despite it being a multi-billion yen industry—according to Bank of Japan estimates into the financial impacts of the annual Taiga Drama on Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, the economic impacts of that one drama alone are in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year29— domestic tourism in Japan induced by popular culture had received hardly any scholarly attention in English. This book aims to reduce the size of this gap in the literature by introducing contents tourism in a broad geographical and historical context. In so doing, we hope to place Japan firmly on the global map within the media-induced tourism literature. Our broader research project, meanwhile, presents the usefulness of the contents tourism approach beyond Japanese case studies. The importance of narratives, characters, and locations has long been recognized. In Film-Induced Tourism, for example, Sue Beeton wrote: the promotional capability of films is not equal, and some television programmes and movies have little impact, while others may be both influential and memorable—it may be the plot, the characters, the setting or all three that combine to create a film experience of lasting importance.30

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Contents Tourism in Japan

Peter Bolan, Stephen Boyd, and Jim Bell echo these findings through a survey of influences on film-induced tourism as seen in blog entries. They conclude: “Scenery is the dominant motivational driver but narrative/storyline and characters are also important influences, whilst emotion/romance and music also have a role to play.”31 In one sense, therefore, contents tourism as a concept merely approaches recognized phenomena from a different angle.32 However, this different angle presents opportunities for insights that are more difficult to obtain within approaches based on a media format, such as literary tourism, and is closer to the more inclusive term “media tourism” as used by Stijn Reijnders, which “recognizes the multimedia character of many contemporary examples.”33 Yet we do not see contents tourism usurping existing discourses of film-induced tourism or any other variant of media-induced tourism. Quite the contrary: we see contents tourism as an additional theoretical and methodological approach that complements rather than competes with existing approaches. Furthermore, we do not advocate the use of a contents tourism approach in every case. For example, tourism to New Zealand triggered by The Lord of the Rings films is one of the best-known case studies of film-induced tourism.34 Lord of the Rings tourism in New Zealand is best categorized as film-location tourism. The narratives, characters, and locations of the J.R.R. Tolkien novels did not generate any associations with New Zealand prior to Peter Jackson’s films. By contrast, analysis of Jane Austen tourism benefits from a contentstourism approach. Distinguishing fans of Austen’s novels and fans of the film and television adaptations (or even the many derivative works) is analytically cumbersome. Attempting to distinguish film and literature tourism, therefore, is problematic. It is more useful to focus on the various contents of “Austen’s world.” This includes sites relating to Austen the author; the characters, narratives, and real locations in the fictional novels she wrote; and locations added to Austen’s world through their use as drama-shooting locations.

Introduction

9

In short, the more that a set of contents (narratives, characters, locations, and other creative elements) reaches fans through multiple media formats, the greater the potential for a contents-tourism approach.

When Did Contents Tourism Begin? Determining when contents tourism began requires addressing a key question: did contents tourism begin when the terminology was coined (kontentsu in the 1990s and kontentsu tsūrizumu in the 2000s), or can “contents tourism” be used retrospectively to describe earlier forms of tourism induced by media? One researcher who has argued for the retrospective definition of past tourism behavior as contents tourism is Masubuchi Toshiyuki, who cites Edo period (1603–1868) visits to sites relating to haiku poet Matsuo Bashō and even earlier examples from the Nara period (710–794) as early forms of contents tourism.35 Debate exists over how far back such retrospective naming of travel behavior as contents tourism can go, but some retrospective naming is necessary because it is only with the emergence of a hitherto-unseen and distinctive form of tourism that the need for a new term to describe it emerges. Conversely, Yamamura Takayoshi has argued that tourism has gone through three distinctive phases since the 1960s: a period of mass tourism in the 1960s and 70s when tourists were typically “sent” by travel companies to destinations; a period of new tourism in the 1980s and 90s when host communities “welcomed” guests; and a period of next generation tourism from the 2000s, when individual travelers generated new “networks” through travel. During this latter phase, when contents tourism really emerged as a concept, the Internet and social media transformed travel behavior.36 The ways in which travelers use social media, travel blogs, and file-sharing sites are distinctive aspects of contemporary contents tourism.37 Consequently, earlier forms of contents tourism that predate the advent of the Internet and social media must

10

Contents Tourism in Japan

be treated as substantially different in nature, even if not in name, to contents tourism in the digital age. Ultimately, identifying a starting point of contents tourism is less important than refining the theoretical and methodological tools for studying the phenomenon. Some of the key terms of the contents tourism vernacular, particularly “pilgrimage to sacred sites” (seichi junrei) to mean visits by fans to sites related to a favorite work, generate associations with older forms of travel. Indeed, the significance of rituals, pilgrimage, and religious sites in modern Japanese tourism runs throughout Graburn’s pioneering 1983 work To Pray, Pay and Play. “Pilgrimage to sacred places” was coined by fans rather than by researchers and features in the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) website.38 We have decided, therefore, to trace the history of contents tourism back to its ancient roots in religious pilgrimage. To avoid an arbitrary change in terminology part way through the book, “contents tourism” refers to any tourism induced by popular culture in any period of history.

History as Contents Japanese history as a form of contents is another key theme of our work. Contents tourism is typically associated with fictional pop culture, and for many people “contents tourism” is synonymous with “anime tourism.” But many of our case studies are tourism to heritage sites induced by the representation of history in popular culture. If we think of history as a story, with historical characters performing important deeds in various locations, we can think of history as contents. The most famous events of Japanese history are depicted repeatedly across various media formats from television dramas to manga, and visitation to heritage sites in Japan is influenced by these depictions of history in popular culture. We call this phenomenon heritage and/or contents tourism.

Introduction

11

The Structure of the Book This book has four chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the theoretical framework. The first half is latitudinal and examines the relationships in play at any given time between the three key players of contents tourism: fans, contents businesses, and local authorities. The second half is longitudinal and presents patterns of contents tourism over time. Chapters 2 to 4 follow a standard template. They begin with an overview of tourism and historical trends in the time period before presenting various themes and case studies. These three chapters cover periods of rapidly diminishing length: thirteen centuries (to 1945), fifty-five years (1945–2000) and fifteen years (2000–2015) respectively. The durability of the myths, legends, canonized texts, and heritage presented primarily in chapter 2 distinguishes these older sets of contents from the many ephemeral works of popular culture in chapters 3 and 4. Viewing contents tourism over the longue durée places the characteristics of all the case studies in a clearer temporal context. The subject matter of each chapter is usually determined by the date the contents originated. So, for example, the tourism boom since 2005 induced by the game and anime Sengoku BASARA comes in chapter 2 because the contents derive from the Warring States period in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There are exceptions to this rule, however, when a set of contents exemplifies a theme dealt within that chapter. So, for example, the historical drama Yae no sakura is discussed in chapter 4 (rather than chapter 2) as an example of contents tourism aiding postdisaster recovery following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. A large number of sites and examples of contents tourism are covered in this book. Some are mentioned only in passing; others are discussed at length. Our aim has been to map the phenomonen rather than to present deep case studies, which we have done elsewhere. This book forms part of a much bigger research project, and we encourage readers to read this book in conjunction with the research published in the International Journal of Contents Tourism, which is also run as part of

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Contents Tourism in Japan

the project. IJCT publishes research articles, research notes based on fieldwork, and “postcards,” which are blog-type entries accompanied by a photograph taken at a site of contents tourism. IJCT also provides links to other open-access publications by the authors of this volume, such as a special edition of Japan Forum (2015) Vol. 27.1, and the Hokkaido University publication The Theory and Practice of Contents Tourism. The work in those publications is more ethnographical in nature than that of the current volume, although we have made some modest attempts at photoethnography—defined by Yale University anthropologist Karen Nakamura on her website photoethnography.com as “the art and science of representing and analyzing other cultures visually”—by presenting almost one hundred photographs that capture telling moments of contents tourism as travel culture.39 These photos were taken at some of the hundreds of sites visited collectively by the four authors as part of the research that went into this book.

Notes on the Text There is now a vast amount of information online about tourist sites, historical events, works of popular culture, and individuals. There are also specialist contents-tourism sites, such as http://animetourism88.com/ en/ (Anime Tourism 88-Stop Pilgrimage), http://likeafishinwater.com (a blog in English produced by an anime fan), and http://otakutour.jp (Otaku Japan Tour Guide). The travel section of The Japan Times, http:// www.japantimes.co.jp/life/travel/, also has many articles about visits to sites of contents tourism, a number of which are cited in this book. In order to prioritize analysis of the big picture—the themes and dynamics of contents tourism—historical detail and background information easily accessible online has been kept to a minimum throughout. Japanese names are written in the Japanese order (surname first, given name second). Macrons are used to indicate long vowel sounds, but are omitted on prefectures, major cities like Kyoto, or when the official English spelling omits the macron (for example, Kochi Ryoma Airport).

Figure 1. The forty-seven prefectures of Japan.

Introduction 13

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Contents Tourism in Japan

Figure 2. Engyōji Temple, Himeji.

Why did you go and what did you see? The tourist went out of an interest in Japanese history/culture and saw a temple complex with over a thousand years of history. The contents tourist went to see a location for The Last Samurai and saw the corridors where Algren (Tom Cruise) and Katsumoto’s (Watanabe Ken) friendship developed.

Introduction

15

Notes 1. Valaskivi, “A brand new future?” 2. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism et al., “Eizō tō kontentsu no seisaku, katsuyō ni yoru chiiki shinkō no arikata ni kansuru chōsa.” 3. See Beeton, Yamamura, and Seaton, “The mediatisation of culture;” Seaton and Yamamura, “Japanese popular culture and contents tourism.” 4. Okamoto, n-th Creation Tourism, 41. 5. Maruyama, Ekikyo, 107–109. 6. Tabi no Bunka Kenkyūjo, Tabi to kankō no nenpyō, 98. 7. Kagawa, Kankōgaku daijiten, 18–19. 8. Graburn, To Pray, Pay and Play, 58. 9. Guichard-Anguis, “Introduction.” 10. MacCannell, The Tourist, 168. 11. Seaton and Yamamura, “Japanese popular culture and contents tourism,” 3. The concept of an “incidental cultural tourist” is cited from McKercher and du Cros, Cultural Tourism, 144. 12. Urry and Larsen, The Tourist Gaze 3.0, 2. 13. Long and Robinson, “Tourism, popular culture and the media,” 98. 14. See also Seaton and Yamamura, “Japanese popular culture and contents tourism,” 5–6; Seaton, “Pop(ular) culture in the Japanese history classroom,” 232–234. 15. Okamoto, n-th Creation Tourism, 41. 16. Long and Robinson, “Tourism, popular culture and the media,” 106–107. 17. Steinberg uses the term “world”, from the Japanese sekai, for “the narrative or character worlds of a particular media mix.” Steinberg, Anime’s Media Mix, xi. 18. Chronis, “Between place and story,” 1809. 19. Chronis, “Between place and story,” 1799. 20. See for example Iwabuchi, Recentering Globalization; Otmazgin, Regionalizing Culture; Otmazgin and Ben-Ari, Popular Culture and the State in East and Southeast Asia. 21. Funck and Cooper, Japanese Tourism, 5–6. 22. Funck and Cooper, Japanese Tourism, 208–209. 23. For discussion of the Korean wave boom in Japan, see Moon, “Japanese tourists in Korea,” 164–165. For a film-induced tourism approach see

16

24. 25. 26.

27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

Contents Tourism in Japan Kim et al., “Effects of Korean television dramas on the flow of Japanese tourists.” Freedman, “Train Man and the gender politics of Japanese ‘otaku’ culture.” See for example Sabre, “French manga and anime fans in Japan;” Norris, “Japanese media tourism as world-building.” Connell, “Film tourism,” 1011–1012, 1022; Kim et al., “Effects of Korean television dramas on the flow of Japanese tourists;” Iwashita, “Media representation of the UK as a destination for Japanese tourists;” Liou, “Beyond Tokyo Rainbow Bridge.” Norris, “Creating Godzilla’s media tourism.” Norris, “A Japanese media pilgrimage to a Tasmanian bakery.” Seaton, “Taiga dramas and tourism,” 85. Beeton, Film-Induced Tourism, 57. Bolan, Boyd, and Bell, “‘We’ve seen it in the movies, let’s see if it’s true,’” 227. Another work in which narratives, characters, and locations feature is Laing and Frost, Books and Travel, which provides a typology of narrative forms in literature and their relation to travel. Reijnders, Places of the Imagination, 4–5. See for example Beeton, Film-Induced Tourism, 81-96. Masubuchi, Monogatari wo tabi suru hitobito, 29. Yamamura, “Kankō jōhō kakumei jidai no tsūrizumu (sono 1),” 3–5. For examples, such as the use of mobile devices in seeking out locations and passing on information to fellow fans via social media, see Okamoto, “Otaku tourism and the anime pilgrimage phenomenon in Japan.” Japan National Tourism Organization, “Pilgrimage to sacred places.” As a basic rule, in photos where the subjects are identifiable, subjects were conscious that they were being photographed and gave their consent for the photo to be used. The scenes are “staged,” but are accurate representations of “unstaged” scenes witnessed by the authors. For “natural photos,” in which the subjects have not given their consent or are not aware they are being photographed, we have ensured that they cannot be identified from the photo.

Chapter 1

The Players and Patterns of Contents Tourism Horiuchi Junichi has identified three main players of contents tourism: fans, contents businesses, and local authorities (figure 4).1 A holistic approach to contents tourism involves analysis of all three and the relationships between them. Analysis of fans focuses on the motivations and behaviors of people who pursue an interest in contents via travel. Analysis of contents businesses focuses on patterns of media production and consumption that induce contents tourism, and the collaboration between businesses and the local authorities welcoming tourists. Analysis of local authorities focuses on the impacts—financial, environmental, and social—of receiving influxes of contents tourists, and the ways that host communities engage with their guests.

Fans A fan may be defined as a person with a strong interest in or admiration for a set of contents, performer, creator, or genre. “Strong interest” here effectively means sufficient interest to motivate purposeful visitation

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Contents Tourism in Japan

to a site related to the contents. Fandoms, groups of like-minded fans, may emerge around a single work, but more usually emerge via repeated engagement with the contents, performer, creator, or genre in multiple works over time. Indeed, the emergence of a fandom encourages cultural producers to extend the marketable life of the phenomenon generating the fandom, although the “emotional investment” made by fans translates into pressure on cultural producers to continually satisfy what is expected of them.2 Fans are often avid consumers who repeatedly engage with favorite works and actively collect related items. At the same time, fans can be highly creative. They produce derivative works, spend many hours creating costumes to wear during cosplay, and organize events for likeminded people. Fandom is a form of “active love.”3 This consumerproducer duality has led to fans also being called prosumers. However, while fan productions might be sold (such as dōjinshi, fan-produced comics/novels/illustrations, sold at events such as Comiket, Comic Market, in Tokyo), fan production is insufficient to make a living. In this sense, the prosumer fan is an amateur rather than a professional. Some fans turn their interests into full-time careers, but such professionals belong in a different category than amateur fans. Archetypal contents tourism occurs when people purposefully visit places related to a set of contents. Following consumption of popular culture (pre-departure), fans travel to relates sites (the destination) as a way of deepening their engagement with admired contents. The mode of transport used to get to, from, or around the destination can be an integral part of the fan experience, particularly when public (or private) transport is decorated with characters and scenes from the contents (called “wrapping” in Japanese) and announcements are made by famous voice actors/actresses. Contents transport, riding on themed modes of transport as an integral part of the tourism experience, may even make the journey more important than the destination.

The Players and Patterns of Contents Tourism

19

Once at the destination, fans engage in characteristic behaviors, such as posing for photographs next to important sites related to the contents. On returning home (post-return), fans re-engage with the contents in a new light. This either leads to a cycle of further consumption and travel, or closes the circle on their experience of contents tourism. The term pilgrimage is often used to describe tourist behavior by fans. Ian Reader writes: Pilgrimage and related terms such as junrei and tirthyatra […] contain notions of crossing, sacred geographies, movement between states of being, the integral nature of travel and worship, and of journeys to get to and be in places that are considered holy. They further indicate that pilgrimage involves both the places themselves and the practices engaged in on the way to and at them.4 “Places that are considered holy” may refer not only to religious sites, but also to sites containing non-religious objects of veneration. Nonreligious sites which assume “holy” status and inspire secular pilgrimage include sites related to celebrities (such as Elvis Presley’s home Graceland); graves of and memorials to war heroes; sites related to political or national leaders (such as a mausoleum); sites relating to national legends or ethnic/cultural roots; and, within modern fan culture, sites relating to a favorite artist or work of popular culture.5 In Japan there are also power spots, places that are believed to have spiritual power. Many are linked to Shinto sites (such as shrines or natural features believed to contain kami, or deities). A “power spot boom” in the 2000s has often overlapped with contents tourism, particularly among young women exhibiting “popspiritualism” as opposed to deeper religious belief.6 The existence of both pilgrimage and contents tourism is ultimately determined by the behaviors and motivations of travelers. Graburn writes: The traveler does not have to decide between being a tourist or a pilgrim, for both modes are part of the larger whole; neither does he have to undergo sharp changes of attitude from awestruck

20

Contents Tourism in Japan reverence to playful secularity, for they are intertwined parts of one cultural structure. … [W]e may distinguish between pilgrims and tourists in general by stating that pilgrims are those who normally display an appropriately reverent, spiritual attitude at marked religious sites, with a continuity in belief in what those historical sites stand for; tourists may be equally interested in the site but display a morally different attitude, without historical spiritual continuity.

Similar comments about degrees of reverence and spiritual continuity may also be made to distinguish fans and non-fans. Another commonality is the rite of passage, which marks the “passage of the person from one social status to the next within the categories provided by their society.”7 While a pilgrimage may be considered a lifetime obligation for the religious faithful, in contents tourism a pilgrimage to a sacred site may be not only the act of a fan but also the rite of passage that makes the fan. In Japan, anime fans themselves use the term seichi junrei, pilgrimages to sacred sites, to describe their visits to anime-related sites. Indeed, junrei (the Chinese characters mean “going around” and “worship”) is closer etymologically to the English word “tourism” than kankō (“seeing the light of the nation,” the usual translation for “tourism”). Pilgrimage has deep historical connections to the development of tourism. In many premodern societies, religious pilgrimage was one of the few opportunities that ordinary people had to leave their homes and travel. Catering to pilgrims by providing food, lodging, and entertainment at religious sites was the foundation of much of the modern Japanese tourism industry. An example of pilgrimage overlapping considerably with contents tourism is tourism related to Saigō Takamori, who inspired the character of Lord Katsumoto in The Last Samurai (2003). After his death as a traitor fighting against the Meiji government during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, Saigō was transformed into a “demigod” in popular culture and eventually given an imperial pardon in 1889.8 He was “canonized” by his

The Players and Patterns of Contents Tourism

21

hometown of Kagoshima, which built the Nanshū Shrine in 1880 for the repose of his soul (and those who died fighting with him) adjacent to his grave. The Saigō Nanshū Memorial Hall was also built close by in 1978. Sites related to Saigō are some of the key tourist attractions in the city. In 2013, the Hokkaido Nanshū Association (effectively a fan club that studies Saigō’s life and philosophies) led a tour of Association members to attend the memorial ceremony held at the shrine and Saigō’s grave on the anniversary of his death, 24 September. Kudō Tsutomu, head of the Association, described to one of the authors during the tour how his interest in Saigō was triggered by the 1990 Taiga Drama about Saigō’s life, Tobu ga gotoku. Both this drama and The Last Samurai triggered considerable tourism booms to Kagoshima.9 In this example, Saigō tourism straddles the categories of pilgrimage (both secular and religious) and contents tourism. However, not all visitors to sacred sites are fans and/or display the reverence of a pilgrim. They might have only a passing interest, or not even appreciate why the site is sacred. Furthermore, fans do not necessarily visit only sites related to their favorite contents on their travels. Contents tourism might be just one motivation among many for a trip. Consequently, a more complex view of contents tourism than “fans on a pilgrimage” becomes necessary. Following McKercher and du Cros’ categories of cultural tourists, contents tourists may be categorized in terms of the strength of their motivations and the depth of their experience (figure 5).10 Motivations to make the trip and the ongoing personal significance of the trip distinguish fans (purposeful contents tourists) from the casual, sightseeing, or incidental contents tourist. The purposeful contents tourist makes visitation to contents-related sites a primary motivation for travel. Purposeful tourists may also seek out sites that are only known to fans; in other words, they are not yet identified in tourism information aimed at the general tourist. Other categories of contents tourists only visit sites that have undergone some level of touristification and have been identified as

22

Contents Tourism in Japan

sites related to popular culture. Despite these motivational differences, once on site all categories of contents tourist are equally significant from the point of view of visitor statistics and general tourism spending (food, accommodation, entrance fees). However, fans typically have higher propensity to purchase items or experiences related to the contents. Photography is integral to tourism. “Much tourism becomes, in effect, a search for the photogenic. Sometimes it seems that tourist travel is a strategy for the accumulation of photographs and hence for the commodification and privatisation of personal and especially family memories.”11 Photographic behavior also helps distinguish fans and sightseers (figures 15–22). Many tourists today share photographs and experiences via social media while traveling. However, fans adopt characteristic poses next to sets, props, and locations; they recreate iconic scenes from a film; or they try to capture a picture from the same shooting angle as the film. These are then shared not only on social media but also via fan websites. Many such fan behaviors cross national cultural boundaries, so the behaviors of film-location tourists discussed by Stefan Roesch in a Western context, and the fan behaviors within Okamoto’s study of otaku tourism in Japan, have much in common.12 But, there are some aspects of fan behavior in Japan that are culture specific. The practice of leaving messages and manga-style illustrations on ema (votive plaques) at shrines or temples as a message to a favorite character is specific to Japanese fans. The custom derives from Shinto traditions of writing wishes or prayers on ema and then leaving them in shrines for the gods to hear (figures 10, 11 and 46). The experiences of fans and casual tourists also diverge at the posttourism stage. Many tourists develop deep associations with particular destinations and may return repeatedly. However, a characteristic of contents tourism is the post-travel relationships forged between travelers and contents, and travelers and host communities. On their return home, fans reengage with the works that inspired their initial desire to travel. Contents tourism by fans, therefore, is cyclical with an ongoing process of renewed contents consumption in between tourism experiences.13

The Players and Patterns of Contents Tourism

23

Through the repetition of the contents tourism cycle, significant relationships build up between fans and host communities. For example, Lucky Star (anime, 2007) precipitated a virtuous cycle of contents consumption and fan engagement in Washimiya (now Kuki city), where the anime was set. Following the anime, a Lucky Star portable shrine was built by fans in collaboration with the local community and became part of the annual shrine festival. A work of pop culture was incorporated into traditional local culture, creating regular flows of people to the community in the process. Not all cases have been so amicable. There are examples of invasive tourism behavior by fans seeking out locations on private property or public buildings such as schools that have caused fan-community friction. But, when the host-guest relationship is healthy, generating shifts in travelers from being a fan of the work to being a fan of the region is now recognized as key to sustainable contents tourism.14

Contents Businesses Works of popular culture are produced by contents businesses, which are professional contents producers, ranging from individual artists to multinational corporations. Contents businesses produce popular culture for artistic or commercial reasons, rather than to increase tourism. Popular culture is distinct from tourism advertising, although in recent times the distinction is often blurred. Contents businesses either produce works of popular culture independently or collaborate with local authorities during production and marketing. Local film commissions help businesses find shooting locations, hire acting extras, and secure lodgings during production; and during post-production local authorities help by promoting the finished work. In return, contents businesses offer location placement (the geographical equivalent of product placement) to authorities and the potential of a boost in name recognition, the local brand, and tourism levels. The image of the location created is not always conducive to inspiring tourism or even welcomed by the locality; and not all sets of

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Contents Tourism in Japan

contents generate the expected tourism flows. But, the many examples of contents tourism booms encourage both sides to consider a collaborative relationship. Municipalities also try to benefit from tourism related to contents businesses by establishing tourists sites to their most famous cultural sons and daughters. There are relationships between fans and contents businesses, too. People may be fans of the business as much as the contents. Fans of manga artist Tezuka Osamu may visit the museum about his life and works in Takarazuka, Hyogo prefecture; fans of Studio Ghibli films visit the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo; and the whole city may become associated with contents businesses; for example, Chōfu city in Tokyo is the home of Nikkatsu Studios and Kadokawa Productions and markets itself as “Chōfu, town of film” (Eiga no machi Chōfu). Contents businesses also have various relationships with the contents. First, the contents may be original or derivative. An original work establishes a new set of narratives, characters, locations, and other creative elements, while a derivative work is an adaptation or reproduction of an existing set of contents. Second, the contents may be non-fiction, semifictionalized, or fiction. New works using non-fiction, semi-fictionalized, and derivative contents typically induce additional tourism to existing tourist sites, while original fictional contents generate new patterns of tourism. The contents tourism approach is of particular use when contents are disseminated via a media mix. Marc Steinberg identifies the beginning of the modern media mix in Japan in the early 1960s, when Astro Boy was disseminated in various media formats and anime production costs were covered via the licensing of franchised goods.15 Media mix strategies were refined by conglomerates such as Kadokawa from the 1970s. Steinberg distinguishes the “marketing media mix,” when advertising is spread across various media platforms in the pursuit of a common sales goal, and the “anime media mix,” when the same set of contents is disseminated in various media formats for the broad benefit of all formats.16 Contents

The Players and Patterns of Contents Tourism

25

tourism engages with the latter, although we prefer multiuse to “anime media mix” because not all media mixes involved anime. Both these forms of media mix assume that a single copyright holder controls the use of the contents. However, not all contents are copyrighted, particularly when they are old and/or public domain, for example historical narratives. Consequently, a third organic media mix exists when various actors independently and for divergent motivations utilize the same set of contents (a process we also refer to as canonization). Defined this way, the organic media mix existed at least by the fourteenth century in Japan, when The Tale of Genji had various renditions in the original novel, digests, Noh theater, and painting.17 As discussed in the Introduction, such organic media information sources lie outside the influence of the tourism industry and are the key media works triggering contents tourism within our definition of the phenomenon. Technological changes have diversified the organic media mix. In the pre-1945 period, there were two main turning points. The first is around the beginning of the Edo period. “Until the seventeenth century, literary texts had been transmitted only in hand-written manuscripts of limited quantities and were almost entirely the possession of a small elite group of aristocrats, priests, and high-ranking samurai.”18 The development of printing presses, woodblock prints, and theater for the masses in the Edo period created a mass market for works of popular culture. Commercialization enabled a broader array of texts; for example, in addition to poetry and literature, the genre of travel writing emerged, often with a scholarly tone as in the writings of Kaibara Ekiken (1630– 1714).19 The printed word also reached further via the commercial libraries that emerged around the same time.20 The second turning point came during the Meiji period (1868–1912), when photography and the moving image entered the media mix. There are other turning points in the twentieth century, too, particularly the beginnings of the radio, television, video, computer, and Internet. Yamamura Takayoshi has also argued that after 2000 the region could be considered a form of media (and thereby

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part of the media mix)—as a place disseminating contents and facilitating communication between people.21 The media mix, therefore, has existed for centuries in various stages of development. The important distinction for contents tourism is whether the media mix derives from canonization or multiuse (although the distinction is sometimes blurred). Canonization is when a work becomes highly regarded over time for its meanings and qualities, and “canonized texts become the object of extensive commentary and exegesis.”22 In other words, contents businesses at a considerable temporal, spatial, or social distance from the original work/artist seek to profit through adaptation or eulogy of the original work in their own productions. Multiuse, by contrast, requires close relationships between the various actors disseminating the same contents in various works and formats; and the copyright holder determines the boundaries of multiuse. Multiuse operates mainly over the short term (years, or at most decades) and either metamorphoses over time into canonization or disappears as the fad created by the contents passes.

Local Authorities The third player in contents tourism is the local authority, which has administrative jurisdiction over the geographical locations visited by tourists. Local authorities regulate the tourism sector, formulate local tourism strategy, and initiate and/or oversee the process of touristification, namely the conversion of local sights (things to see) into tourist sites (places to visit). Touristification may be spontaneous, planned, or a combination of both.23 Spontaneous touristification is demanddriven, with fans/tourists identifying a place for visitation and tourism industry actors or local authorities responding to that demand. Planned touristification is more supply-driven, with tourism industry actors and local authorities identifying and developing sites that they hope will attract tourists. In either pattern, the local authority has a powerful voice

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in what is or is not included in the community’s cultural heritage as presented in tourist sites. Sights are selected for touristification through the process of sacralization. Dean MacCannell proposed a five-stage process. “The first stage of sight sacralization takes place when the sight is marked off from similar objects as worthy of preservation.” This is also called the naming phase. Next comes the framing and elevation phase, when an “official boundary” is placed around an object. Enshrinement, the third phase, is when the framing around the object (whether a building or other displays) itself becomes the object of a process of sacralization. The fourth phase of mechanical reproduction is when replicas or images of the object are created and motivate the traveler to find the original. Finally, social reproduction is when “groups, cities, and regions begin to name themselves after famous attractions.”24 Works of popular culture have a role at all stages of the sacralization process. Sights may become worthy of preservation, framing, elevation, and enshrinement because they feature in a work of popular culture, or through connections to the contents business. The mechanical reproductions (popular culture works) that “motivate the traveler to find the original” are the essence of a contents tourism approach. Finally, social reproduction occurs when communities embrace sets of contents as an integral part of their cultural heritage and identity. Sacralization has many similarities with memorialization, leading Stijn Reijnders to note the connections between media tourism and the construction of cultural memory—in particular Pierre Nora’s concept of “realms of memory.” Nora defines a realm of memory (lieu de mémoire) as “any significant entity, whether material or non-material in nature, which by dint of human will or the work of time has become a symbolic element of the memorial heritage of any community.”25 Reijnders develops Nora’s concept and introduces the idea of lieux d’imagination (“places of the imagination”), defined as “material reference points like objects or places, which for certain groups within society serve as material-symbolic

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references to a common imaginary world.”26 There are two main differences between the respective lieux of Nora and Reijnders. First, Nora’s “realms” include the non-material, but Reijnders’ “places” are limited to the material. Second, Nora focuses on (supposedly non-fictional) national heritage while Reijnders’ case studies are the fictional worlds of TV detectives, Bond and Dracula. For local communities wishing to enhance tourism—whether using memories or imaginations, tangible or intangible culture, fictional or non-fictional characters/narratives—the basic questions remain the same: which contents induce “profitable” (however defined) tourism and whether the contents are embraced by the local community as part of their cultural heritage (“sacralized” in MacCannell’s terminology). These key concepts from MacCannell, Reijnders, and Nora suggest there are five main types of sight (a thing to see): unmarked places/spaces, places marked with unstaffed monuments, staffed facilities, tangible artifacts, and intangible performative culture.27 As local authorities convert these sights into tourist sites, four (not mutually exclusive) sitetypes emerge: an official site is a government-funded building, facility, or monument relating to a set of contents that is created when the local government wants to honor those contents or their producers within local cultural heritage; an actual site marks the spot where events depicted in popular culture occurred (locations) or were created (sets/studios); hometown sites honor the work and lives of artists and creators from that municipality, such as author-birthplace museums; and proxy sites have no specific relationship to the contents, but still have the ability to attract contents tourists, for example, fan conventions, theme parks, and touring exhibitions.28 In the touristification process, the issue of authenticity is central. Authenticity has generated much discussion among tourism scholars.29 Early discussions of authenticity focused on objective authenticity (whether sights are real or “fake”), but based on Erving Goffman’s stage theory, MacCannell suggested the notion of “staged authenticity,”

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whereby communities present sights that satisfy tourist expectations and reap the benefits of tourism, but simultanously protect the community from excessive intrusion.30 Responding to MacCannell, Eric Cohen argued, “The question here is not whether the individual does or does not ‘really’ have an authentic experience in MacCannell’s (1973) sense, but rather what endows his experience with authenticity in his own view.”31 In other words, Cohen suggests constructive authenticity, which is more focused on personal experience. These positions have been developed with reference to both existential authenticity and performative authenticity. Proposing existential authenticity, Wang Ning writes, “Unlike both objective and constructive (or symbolic) authenticities which involve whether and how the toured objects are authentic, existential experience involves personal or intersubjective feelings activated by the liminal process of tourist activities.”32 And Britta Timm Knudsen and Anne Marit Waade proposed performative authenticity focusing on tourists’ “emotional/affective/sensuous relatedness” to places.33 Individual tourists vary greatly in their respective needs for authenticity; and authenticity may play a relatively small role in people’s enjoyment of a tourism experience. Citing Feifer’s assertion that some tourists may delight in “inauthenticity,” Urry and Larsen comment, “It therefore seems wrong to suggest that a search for authenticity is the basis for the organization of tourism. Rather, one key feature would seem to be that there is a difference between one’s normal place of residence/work and the object of the tourist gaze.”34 But, assessments of authenticity, however defined, infuse authorities’ decisions to become involved in touristification. If touristification involves the incorporation of the contents into the cultural heritage of the community (particularly the case for historical contents or those related to local creators/ performers), the process will be rejected if the contents are not embraced by the community because they are deemed to be fake or incompatible with local identity. Furthermore, fans are acutely aware of authenticity levels in tourist sights and while “inauthenticity” might be attractive to some, “inauthentic” attractions risk fan alienation. Inauthenticity also

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generates legal risks in the relationship between local authorities and contents businesses, namely copyright holders. Unless the contents are out of copyright or public domain, local authorities require licensing tieups with the copyright holders to utilize contents as tourist resources. Consciousness of the multiple issues relating to authenticity, therefore, underpins relationships of mutual trust between the players of contents tourism: fans, contents businesses, and local authorities. Ultimately, contents tourism is a form of cultural tourism and has close links to heritage tourism. There is considerable overlap between cultural tourism and heritage tourism and “the differences, if they exist at all, are rather subtle.”35 Broadly speaking, when works of popular culture trigger ephemeral contents tourism, the tourism remains as simply cultural tourism; when a longer-term process of incorporating contents into the local tourism industry occurs, the shift to cultural heritage tourism takes place; if the incorporation transcends generations, the contents generate heritage tourism. Within this view, the involvement of local authorities is essential within the metamorphosis from popular culture to heritage because contents tourism at official sites—a statue to a local author in the town square, or displays in municipal museums—is a litmus test that the contents have become heritage. A site that exemplifies many of the concepts introduced in this section is the Akiyama Brothers’ Birthplace Museum in Matsuyama (a case study we will return to in chapter 2). The Akiyama brothers were the main characters in the Taiga Drama Clouds Above the Hill (broadcast 2009– 2011), which was based on a historical novel by Shiba Ryōtarō. The brothers were actual people and served with distinction in the RussoJapanese War (1904–1905), Yoshifuru in the cavalry and Saneyuki in the navy. The site, therefore, combines fictional and non-fictional narratives within local cultural heritage. The museum is a birthplace museum, so it is an actual site and a hometown site. The location is authentic, but the building itself is a reconstruction and was opened in 2005, just as the drama was going

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into production. Funding for the museum came via donations, but the museum’s development came within a broader touristification plan dubbed “saka no ue no kumo no machizukuri” (city planning of “clouds above the hill”). This plan was endorsed by local people when its proponent, Mayor Nakamura Tokihiro, was reelected with this policy stated explicitly in his campaigns.36 The museum, therefore, also has an official stamp of approval as local heritage. Within the courtyard there are monuments to both men, and the house itself contains various displays of varying degrees of “authenticity,” ranging from original letters written by the brothers to a documentary about their lives. The site meets both aspects of the two main definitions of heritage tourism: “tourism in places categorized as heritage or historic places” and visitation to sites that “give information” about the past.37 However, it is also a site of contents tourism. The site would probably not have merited touristification without Shiba’s novel. NHK’s drama features prominently in the courtyard, where posters of the drama are displayed. Inside the house there are photos of and autograph boards signed by the actors who played the brothers. These are authentic objects for fans of the drama, but in heritage tourism terms they are inauthentic artifacts of limited value. The photo is merely of a different-looking person wearing a replica of the uniform worn by a historical figure. Without the cachet of the person being an actor in a famous drama, the photo would not merit display in a heritage site. Visitors to the museum, therefore, are presented with a complex interplay between real historical figures and the television drama, realms of memory and places of the imagination, authenticity and inauthenticity.

Patterns of Contents Tourism Over Time In addition to the latitudinal relationships between the players of contents tourism, there are longitudinal patterns over time. The first two patterns —“canonized contents tourism” and “heritage and/or contents tourism”— focus on durable contents and long-term sociocultural imperatives. The

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second two patterns—“boom and bust contents tourism” and “supplydriven contents tourism”—focus on ephemeral contents and short-term economic imperatives. And the final two patterns—“tourism to regions branded by contents” and “genre-based contents tourism”—relate to how contents tourism integrates into the broader tourism industry. Ultimately, most local authorities witness combinations of these six patterns straddling multiple sets of contents, in other words, complex contents tourism.

Canonized Contents Tourism Canonized contents tourism is generated by fictional or literary works whose qualities are recognized over time and handed down to subsequent generations as highlights of local/national culture. Such contents may not trigger tourism immediately; but as the reputation of the work/artist grows, tourist sites emerge amidst broader social engagement with the contents such as media/scholarly discussion. Levels of tourism receive periodic boosts when new attention is given to the work/artist, for example, following a new film adaptation. Adding new sites may increase aggregate levels of tourism. Eventually, a plateau is reached. This might not even be at a financially sustainable level, but the value to society of passing down the contents via tourist sites is deemed sufficient to ensure public and/or private financial support to sustain sites as cornerstones of national or local culture. Examples of canonized contents include The Tale of Genji, Japan’s oldest novel, and Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige (available in English translation as Shank’s Mare), a comic novel of travel along the Tōkaidō road during the Edo period (1603–1868) that both inspired and was inspired by travel in its day (chapter 2).

Heritage and/or Contents Tourism Heritage and/or contents tourism is similar to canonized contents tourism, although the contents are actual historical characters, narratives, and locations rather than fictional stories. On occasions, however, the levels

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of fictionalization and mythology in “history” make canonized contents tourism and heritage and/or contents tourism indistinguishable in practice, particularly for older history such as The Tale of the Heike about the rivalry between the Heike and Genji lineages in the twelfth century.38 Touristification requires a resonant set of historical contents that will induce travel to heritage sites. The creation of historical contents is the work of historians, novelists, artists, and filmmakers; it may also involve the intervention of governments wishing to champion the contents for political purposes. Touristification begins with commemorative sites related to noteworthy events and individuals. Eventually, these develop into a set of heritage tourism assets. Contents tourism occurs when the history is re-narrated in works of popular culture and visitation to heritage sites is boosted. As with canonized contents tourism, heritage sites may be subsidized because their value to a community extends beyond their ability to generate financial revenues. Examples include tourism to sites related to any historical figure depicted in Japan’s major historical dramas, particularly Taiga Dramas set during the samurai period from the eleventh to the nineteenth century. The example of Saigō Takamori has already been mentioned in this chapter, and Sakamoto Ryōma is discussed in chapter 2.

Boom and Bust Contents Tourism The next two patterns conform broadly to the classic model of the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) proposed by Richard Butler.39 Boom and bust contents tourism is when fans flock to related sites for a limited period following the release of a work of popular culture. The “exploration” and “development” stages proceed relatively quickly as “pioneer” fans seek out locations (a characteristic of anime tourism40) or visit known sites ahead of the work being released (a characteristic of tourism to sites relating to NHK’s Taiga and Morning Dramas, because the storylines and locations are announced ahead of the broadcast date). Having reached a peak (Butler’s “consolidation” and “stagnation” phases), the duration of the boom then depends on the ongoing presence of the contents in the

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public’s mind. When attention and/or popularity wanes, levels of tourism decline to pre-boom levels. The boom can start from any preexisting level of tourism, and the contents may be either fictional or non-fictional. Visitor numbers to the Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum during the 2010 Taiga Drama Ryōmaden (figure 24) are a textbook illustration of boom and bust contents tourism in practice.

Supply-driven Contents Tourism Supply-driven contents tourism is initiated by businesses and municipalities who construct sites relating to contents that they hope will attract tourists. These sites (particularly theme parks) need not have any geographical connection to the contents that are being displayed, but must make a financial profit to survive. They also reflect the TALC, although minus the “exploration” stage because the tourism effects begin abruptly when the attraction opens for business. Thereafter tourism levels follow one of three trajectories: planned closure, sustainability, and decline. Events and conventions only have a short life span and their tourism effects are equally ephemeral. For example, many people may visit a city to attend a fan convention, but after the convention is over they return home and the city will not receive contents tourists again unless it hosts another convention. The TALC ends as abruptly as it started with “planned closure.” Tourism levels at sites intended to be permanent or long term, such as museums or theme parks, reflect the sites’ long-term success in attracting visitors. Some sustainable sites flourish and stay in business (Butler’s “consolidation” and “rejuvenation” stages), while others go into decline and eventually close. A successful site of supply-driven contents tourism is Sanrio Puroland, a theme park featuring the characters of the Sanrio group, including Hello Kitty. In 2016 it marked its twenty-fifth anniversary (chapter 3). An example of a failed site is Canadian World in Ashibetsu, Hokkaido. This theme park, which recreated the locations in Anne of Green Gables, opened in 1990 only to close in 1997. It reopened again as a free open-air park in 1999 after being bailed out by local government (chapter 3). A

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short-term event is the World Cosplay Summit held each year since 2003. For a week, cosplayers from around the world congregate in Nagoya to take part in parades and perhaps stay on in Japan to do tourism at other sites, too (chapter 4).

Tourism to Regions Branded by Contents Tourism to regions branded by contents occurs when sites have some level of prior touristification or the potential for touristification, but the region is given a branding boost by a new set of contents. Rather than simply being “a pretty onsen town” it becomes “a pretty onsen town where the film XYZ was set.” This raises, whether temporarily or permanently, levels of tourism. Some regions may even become known by a set of contents or creator (Urry and Larsen refer to these as “themed spaces,” for example “Robin Hood Country” and “Brontë Country”).41 A connection between contents and a location can be made when the name of the place appears in the title of a work. This is a common feature of the detective series, in which the traveling sleuth is called upon to solve mysteries in various places. The long-running television series based on novels by Uchida Yasuo about the amateur sleuth Asami Mitsuhiko featured various locations in its titles, for example Nikkō Murder Mystery (set in Nikkō, Tochigi prefecture). In another example, the areas of Aomori prefecture facing the Tsugaru Straits between northern Honshu and Hokkaido, became better known and gained narrative quality as a result of the 1977 hit enka ballad Tsugaru kaikyō, fuyu geshiki (Tsugaru Straits, Winter Scene), sung by Ishikawa Sayuri. Local authorities promote such connections as part of a tourism strategy, particularly through the construction of “hometown sites” for famous local narratives, characters, and contents producers. Arguably the ultimate method of local branding is for the local airport to be named after a local character, for example in 2015 the Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport was renamed after the prefecture’s most famous tourist site and the manga/anime character Detective Conan.

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Genre-based Contents Tourism The final pattern is genre-based contents tourism. Many instances of contents tourism are work-specific, in other words, tourism is generated by a particular work or set of contents. But in genre-based contents tourism, the interest is broader and the link to specific tourist sites is more tenuous. Fans of war movies, for example, might be drawn to warrelated tourist sites, even though there is no specific link between the films they have watched and the site they visit. The “genre” may extend up to the nation. Someone who says “I read manga as a child, so I wanted to visit Japan one day” has indicated popular culture is a motivational factor for visiting a destination. However, there is no link between a specific set of contents and a specific site. This form of genre-based contents tourism is effectively the mechanism by which the Japanese government hopes its “Cool Japan” strategy will boost tourism: Japanese popular culture creates “fans of Japan” who desire to visit the “sacred site” (Japan itself) one day. Complex Contents Tourism Ultimately, most contents tourism does not fit neatly into one of these six patterns. Most localities will experience a combination of some or all of the six patterns across their various tourism assets. Contents tourism from the perspective of a destination welcoming tourists, therefore, is complex contents tourism, which comprises many overlapping and interwoven patterns at once. Matsuyama city in Ehime, for example, uses multiple sets of contents in its tourism promotion: the novel Botchan, which is partially set in the city and was written by Natsume Sōseki, who lived in Matsuyama; the haiku of local poet Masaoka Shiki; and Shiba Ryōtarō’s epic novel/drama of the Russo-Japanese War Clouds Above the Hill. Matsuyama also has one of Japan’s oldest hot springs (Dōgo onsen), a castle, and other sites (chapter 2). In such cases, contents tourism is one component of a complex and diverse tourism industry. The case studies that reveal the processes of contents tourism best (and have therefore received most attention) are those where the trends,

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causes, and effects of contents tourism are most easily separated out from other variables affecting a local tourism sector. Well-known case studies, therefore, are of tourism induced by a specific set of contents (such as Lucky Star, which induced tourism to the previously non-descript Washimiya town), or tourism by a specific set of fans (such as the many Korean fans who visited Otaru, Hokkaido, after seeing the 1995 film Love Letter). In most cases, distinguishing contents tourism from other forms of tourism within a destination can be difficult, especially in major tourism destinations like Kyoto. In general, the bigger the destination, the more likely tourists are to have multiple motivations for visiting. This makes categorizing specific activities as contents tourism more difficult. Furthermore, the larger and more complex the destination, the more it is affected by macro trends (such as favorable exchange rates or inclement weather) than by a single set of contents. Big destinations might even see considerable anecdotal evidence of a contents tourism boom amidst statistics indicating net declines in tourism.42 The quantification of contents tourism is complicated further by incomplete data collection (many sites do not keep accurate records) and sites that are visited by contents tourists and other tourists alike. Evaluating numbers of contents tourists, their economic impacts, and other quantitative aspects of the their behavior, therefore, remains an imprecise science. In Japan, the situation is complicated even further by a lack of consistency in how tourism data is collected and reported by different municipalities and prefectures. Much of the data relating to contents tourism, therefore, provides an estimate of what has happened rather than a comprehensive, scientific picture. With these caveats in mind, we turn to our first period: from ancient times to 1945.

Figure 3. Sites of contents tourism in Chapter 1.

38 Contents Tourism in Japan

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Figure 4. The players of contents tourism.

Source. From “The mediatisation of culture” (p. 146) by Sue Beeton, Takayoshi Yamamura, and Philip Seaton, 2013.

Note. This is an adaptation of Horiuchi Junichi’s model of the players of contents tourism (Horiuchi’s original referred specifically to contents tourism relating to the Shinsengumi, but the model is broadly applicable). Yamamura Takayoshi has presented a variation on this model with the contents in the center and fans, contents 43 businesses, and local authorities exhibiting respect and adoration to them.

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Figure 5. Contents tourism as cultural tourism.

Source. Prepared by the authors based on categories proposed by McKercher and du Cros.

Contents tourists are one form of cultural tourist. Their travel motivations, therefore, may be categorized in a similar way. Contents tourism ranges from the purposeful pilgrimage, when visiting a sacred site of popular culture is the sole motivation for a trip, through to incidental tourism, when tourists stumble across a site while on a trip undertaken for different motivations. Causality may even be reversed: rather than the contents inspiring the travel, the travel precipitates a serendipitous interest in contents, which then leads to further consumption of the contents and tourism. However, the fan on a pilgrimage remains the archetypal form of contents tourism.

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Figure 6. Contents transport.

Tourism is not simply a destination. It is a journey, too. “Contents transport” may be integral to the tourism experience. This can include public transport, such as this train wrapped in images from Gegege no Kitarō in Sakaiminato, Tottori.

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Figure 7. Itasha.

The contents transport may be the itasha, a private vehicle decorated with scenes from a favorite work. In this photo, owners of itasha have gathered in the onsen town of Tōya in Hokkaido for the Toyako Manga-Anime Festa.

The Players and Patterns of Contents Tourism Figure 8. Devotional fan behavior.

At the sacred site, fans may exhibit devotional forms of behavior. In this example, a fan bows to images of an anime character.

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Figure 9. Saigō Takamori commemorative sites.

Fan pilgrimages are not only to places related to fictional characters. Representations of historical figures in historical dramas, manga/anime, and computer games may create fans of historical figures. Here, tourists/pilgrims (including one of the authors) pay their respects to Saigō Takamori at his grave during a trip in 2013 to attend the annual memorial ceremony on the anniversary of Saigō’s death. The roof of Nanshū Shrine is visible behind the graveyard.

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Figure 10. Shinsengumi memorial at Mibudera Temple.

Many of the behaviors of fans in Japan mirror fan behaviors worldwide, for example photography. However, some behaviors are specific to Japan: for example, the practice of writing messages on ema votive plaques and hanging them in a Shinto shrine. This is an area for visitors to hang ema within the grounds of Mibudera Temple in Kyoto, a “sacred site” related to the Shinsengumi (a group of samurai loyal to the shogun in the 1860s).

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Figure 11. Fan messages on ema.

Two fans have left messages on ema addressed by name to favorite members of the Shinsengumi. The ema on the left is to Okita Sōji and makes a typical request written on an ema: “Okita san, I hope my math and English scores will improve.” The message on the right, from a woman called Akiko, is more devotional: “Saitō Hajime san, seeing your integrity is wonderful [Heart mark]. I am so glad I met you. Thank you!!”

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Figure 12. Fan message in a visitor notebook.

In addition to leaving their messages on ema, fans write comments in visitor books. In this example, another visitor to Mibudera Temple writes: “September 19, 2011. It’s my first time at a site related to the Shinsengumi [heart mark]. Okita LOVE. I had a wonderful three-day trip [heart mark]. I’ll come again!! Mayorā, from Kanagawa.” The illustration and the word “Mayorā” in the comment indicates she is a fan of the anime Gintama.

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Figure 13. Power spot at Sarume Shrine.

Another form of “sacred site” is the “power spot.” Many are related to Shinto sites and mythology. Sarume Shrine is located next to Sarutahiko Shrine in Ise, Mie prefecture. Both shrines are considered strong power spots. In the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan), Sarutahiko guides the god Niniginomikoto from Takamagahara to the ground, so he is considered as a god of guidance. Sarume Shrine, according to one theory, apotheosizes his wife, Amenouzume, who is a god of the performing arts and enmusubi (marriage). Women come to worship her and gain power in their love lives.

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Figure 14. Ise Shrine.

Ise Shrine was the focal point of Japanese pilgrimage and travel for centuries. Today it is one of the most famous power spots in Japan. People often touch the huge sacred trees in front of the main hall to gain power, although this “power spot” is an Internet rumor. The real center of the power is the main hall where Amaterasu is enshrined.

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Figure 15. Tora-san statue, Shibamata.

Tourists having their photograph taken next to a famous sight is one of the most standard, universal images of the tourist experience. Contents tourists routinely pose next to sights related to contents, in this case the statue of Tora-san outside Shibamata Station, Tokyo, a sight related to the long-running cinematic series It’s Tough Being a Man.

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Figure 16. Sanrio Puroland.

In the age of the smartphone, the selfie has been added to the photographic repertoire. In Tama city, near Tokyo, three young women pose for a group selfie outside Sanrio Puroland. This theme park is a “sacred site” of cute (kawaii) culture and features exhibitions and stage performances by the Sanrio corporation’s characters, such as Hello Kitty.

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Figure 17. The Satta Pass at Yui.

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Figure 18. Mount Fuji from the Satta Pass.

Photo Credit. Michael Plastow

Many tourists recreate iconic scenes in their photographs. This photograph of Mount Fuji from the Satta Pass is a popular shot because it recreates the view of a famous woodblock print: The Satta Pass at Yui by Hiroshige (see figure 17). Woodblock prints and novels have greatly enhanced the narrative quality of sites along the Tōkaidō road and ensured their enduring appeal as tourist sites.

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Figure 19. The opening of Lucky Star.

Photo Credit. ©Kagami YOSHIMIZU/Lucky Paradise

Fans also recreate iconic scenes from films, anime, and manga. The scene is from the opening of the anime Lucky Star. This scene takes place in a real location in Washimiya (now Kuki city) and has become a sacred site for fans.

The Players and Patterns of Contents Tourism Figure 20. Recreating the Lucky Star opening.

A fan recreates the opening of the anime Lucky Star.

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Figure 21. Scene reenactment and cosplay.

Toyako Manga-Anime Festa, Hokkaido in 2016.

Sometimes fans need a stage rather than a location, in other words, suitable props and backdrops that they can use for recreating scenes. In this example, a cosplayer takes a photo of a friend recreating a popular scene from the anime Fullmetal Alchemist in which the character Maes Hughes lies slumped in a telephone box having been shot.

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Figure 22. Using the Koitabi Camera.

Photo Credit. ©KOITABI~True Tours Nanto

The advent of smartphones and mobile technology has enabled new forms of photography, such as the tsū shotto (“two shot”) with an anime character. This photo was taken with the Koitabi Camera, which can be used by people visiting Nanto city, Toyama.

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Figure 23. Canonized contents tourism.

There are a number of distinctive patterns of contents tourism over time. This figure shows the pattern of canonized contents tourism and heritage and/or contents tourism. From small beginnings, tourism builds up over the course of decades or centuries. Each new tourist site that opens and each new work of popular culture that induces tourism adds to the long-term growth in aggregate tourism related to the contents. Eventually, a plateau is reached as the tourism market becomes saturated.

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Figure 24. Boom and bust contents tourism.

Boom and bust is perhaps the most recognizable pattern of contents tourism. A work triggers a rush of additional tourism to a site before the interest fades and visitor numbers return to pre-boom levels. This pattern is unmistakable in visitor numbers to the Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum in Kōchi city following the broadcast of NHK’s Taiga Drama Ryōmaden in 2010.

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Figure 25. Canadian World, Hokkaido.

Supply-driven contents tourism is when businesses invest in theme parks, attractions, or events to attract contents tourists. Tourism levels jump as the attraction/event opens. Successful sites, such as Sanrio Puroland, maintain profitable levels of visitation. However, some failed sites, like Canadian World in Hokkaido, based on the novel Anne of Green Gables, see dwindling visitation and eventually close.

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Figure 26. World Cosplay Summit.

Events or conventions are intended only to last for a short period. The World Cosplay Summit began in 2003 and invites cosplayers from around the world. It lasts a week and is held around the first week of August.

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Figure 27. Branding using contents in Chōfu city.

Some regions or towns brand themselves using contents. This firmly establishes the town as a site of contents tourism and increases visitors. For example, Chōfu city in Tokyo is home to major production facilities of the Nikkatsu and Kadokawa corporations. This display at Tobitakyū Station proclaims “Chofu, town of film.”

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Figure 28. Mythical Takachiho Gorge.

Photo Credit. Mandy Bartok / Uncover Japan.

Miyazaki prefecture brands itself as “the home of myths.” Scenic places such as the Takachiho Gorge are enhanced with a narrative quality stemming from the myths.

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Figure 29. Airport name as local brand in Tottori.

Photo Credit. Itō Takayuki.

The ultimate regional branding through contents is for the regional airport to to be named after local contents, whether an anime character or historical figure. There are the Kochi Ryoma Airport, the Yonago Kitaro Airport, and the Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport.

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Notes 1. Horiuchi, “Rekishi kontentsu no juyō to shōhisha no ishiki,” 62; Beeton, Yamamura, and Seaton, “The mediatisation of culture,” 146. 2. Hills, Fan Cultures, 28. 3. Tsutsui, Godzilla on My Mind, 155. 4. Reader, Pilgrimage, 23. 5. Reader, Pilgrimage, 100–120. 6. Sugawa-Shimada, “Rekijo, pilgrimage and ‘pop-spiritualism’.” 7. Graburn, “The anthropology of tourism,” 12. 8. Ravina, The Last Samurai, 7–11. 9. Seaton, “Contents tourism and the (hi)story of “the last samurai.” 10. McKercher and du Cros, Cultural Tourism, 140, 144. 11. Urry and Larsen, The Tourist Gaze 3.0, 178. 12. Roesch, The Experiences of Film Location Tourists; Okamoto, “Otaku tourism and the anime pilgrimage phenomenon in Japan.” 13. For other models noting the cyclical properties of media/film tourism, see Reijnders, Places of the Imagination, 17; Beeton, Travel, Tourism and the Moving Image, 29. 14. Yamamura, “Contents tourism and local community response,” 79. 15. Steinberg, Anime’s Media Mix, viii. 16. Steinberg, Anime’s Media Mix, 141. 17. Shirane, “The Tale of Genji and the dynamics of cultural production,” 22. 18. Shirane, Traces of Dreams, 3. 19. Yonemoto, Mapping Early Modern Japan, 44–68. 20. Morris-Suzuki, The Technological Transformation of Japan, 33. 21. Yamamura, Anime, manga de chiiki shinkō, 53. 22. Shirane, “The Tale of Genji and the dynamics of cultural production,” 4. 23. Sabre, “French manga and anime fans in Japan,” 14. 24. MacCannell, The Tourist, 44–45. 25. Pierre Nora, “From lieux de mémoire to realms of memory,” xvii. 26. Reijnders, Places of the Imagination, 14. 27. For a comprehensive list relating to the moving image, see Beeton, Travel, Tourism and the Moving Image, 32–34. 28. Seaton, “Memories beyond borders,” 120–124. 29. See Urry and Larsen, The Tourist Gaze 3.0, 7–13. 30. MacCannell, “Staged authenticity.”

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31. Cohen, “Authenticity and commoditization in tourism,” 378. 32. Wang, “Rethinking authenticity in tourism experience,” 351. 33. Knudsen and Waade, “Performative authenticity and spatial experience,” 12–13. 34. Urry and Larsen, The Tourist Gaze 3.0, 13; citing Feifer, Going Places. 35. Timothy, Cultural and Heritage Tourism, 6. 36. Hirano, Saaler, and Säbel, “Recent developments in the representation of national memory and local identities,” 259. 37. Poria, Butler, and Airey, “The core of heritage tourism,” 240. 38. For discussion of history and myth pertaining to the Heike, see Adolphson and Commons, Lovable Losers. 39. Butler, “The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution,” 6. 40. Okamoto, “Otaku tourism and the anime pilgrimage phenomenon in Japan,” 22. 41. Urry and Larsen, The Tourist Gaze 3.0, 125. 42. See Seaton, “Taiga dramas and tourism,” 86–91. 43. Yamamura, Anime, manga de chiiki shinkō, 63; Yamamura, “Contents tourism and local community response,” 77.

Chapter 2

Canonized Texts and Heritage: Pre-1945 Contents The two keywords in pre-1868 Japanese tourism are onsen (hot spring) and pilgrimage. The earliest records of behaviors that fit modern definitions of tourism are from the seventh century, when nobles visited summer retreats and onsens. The Japanese archipelago is seismically active and an overnight stay at an onsen hotel remains the quintessential Japanese tourism experience. According to the Japan Spa Association, the precise date that onsens were first developed as sites of leisure and tourism is not known, but various evidence points to a culture of visiting onsens from the eighth century. They are referred to in the oldest written records of Japan, the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters, completed in 712) and Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan, completed in 720).1 The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the Keiunkan Inn as the oldest continually operating hotel in the world. This onsen hotel in Yamanashi prefecture has been in operation since 705.2 Onsens are also mentioned in the poetry collection Man’yōshū (Collection of a Myriad Leaves), which was compiled during the eighth century.

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The second keyword is pilgrimage. Ordinary people in pre-modern Japan had few opportunities to travel apart from religious pilgrimage. From the Muromachi period (1333–1576), pilgrims took the opportunity of travel to Ise Shrine to make detours to other sights or stay at an onsen. According to Ishimori Shuzo, Japan achieved a high level of development in domestic tourism at a comparatively early stage (although foreign travel equivalent to the European “grand tour” did not exist). He attributes this to political stability during the Edo period (1603– 1868) and, paradoxically, to the “underdevelopment” of transportation infrastructure. Feudal lords traveled in palanquins to and from Edo under the sankin kōtai (alternate residence) system, so a sophisticated road network designed for people traveling on foot was created. This facilitated travel by the masses, primarily those on pilgrimages. By contrast, in Britain, mass tourism only became possible after the development of railways in the mid-nineteenth century.3 As numbers of travelers increased, so did the number of guidebooks, travel writings, popular culture forms representing travel, and customs relating to souvenirs/gift-giving. The Edo period is considered a golden age of Japanese culture and much of it related to travel. Matsuo Bashō journeyed around Japan writing poetry; woodblock prints were made of famous views; travel novels written by Jippensha Ikku were popular; and kabuki plays established narratives (such as Chūshingura, the tale of the forty-seven ronin) that continue to induce tourism today. In summarizing this early period, there are two trends: travel began among members of the ruling classes in the medieval period and then spread to ordinary people in the early modern age; and the purpose of travel gradually changed from “worship” to “pleasure.”4 Furthermore, during the Edo period a tradition grew of “combining travel and work as part of the educational and maturing process.”5 Samurai traveled to learn swordsmanship and gain worldly experience, while the children of commoners were sent to work for employers away from their hometowns. The volume of travel was significant. It is estimated about ten percent of

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the population made a visit (many in secret and by farmers during the agricultural off season) to Ise Shrine in 1830.6 From the 1860s, when Japan opened up following its “closed nation” policy (enforced 1641–1854), industrialization and modernization proceeded rapidly. Road and rail infrastructure was developed and facilitated travel. While some railways were built primarily to support industrialization, others (particularly private railways) connected urban centers with religious sites. The Buddhist temple complex at Mount Kōya (designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 along with other sites in the Kii peninsula) was connected to Osaka by rail in 1930, thereby bringing pilgrimage into the industrial age.7 Meanwhile, Westerners introduced new forms of travel and leisure, for example mountaineering, skiing, and sea bathing. In the 1900s, the Shōnan region (facing Sagami Bay, about 50 kilometers southwest of Tokyo) developed as “Japan’s Riviera” and became a magnet for Japan’s literati in the 1910s and 1920s.8 At the same time, more and more Japanese traveled overseas. In the nineteenth century, the purpose of overseas tours was technological catch-up with the West. Into the twentieth century, foreign package tours took off. In 1906, when the Asahi Shinbun newspaper announced a tour by ship to Korea and Manchuria, its tour sold out in three days, triggering a travel boom to Japan’s new imperial sphere of influence following victory in the Russo-Japanese War.9 Gradually, something similar to the grand tours of eighteenth-century Europe emerged, whereby wellto-do Japanese travelled for educational, leisure, and creative purposes. Literary great Yosano Akiko, for example, spent five months in Paris and a week in London in 1912.10 As in the pre-1868 period, travel became increasingly affordable to a wider range of people. Travel agents and tourism associations started appearing. For example Japan Tourism Bureau (JTB, since 1963 Japan Travel Bureau), to this day one of the industry leaders, was established in 1912. War in the 1930s did not stop tourism and at the “zenith” of the Japanese empire in 1940 there was considerable “imperial heritage

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tourism,” and even tourism to sites of recent fighting such as Nanjing.11 However, when the war turned against Japan after 1942, travel for pleasure declined and the hiatus would continue well into the postwar as Japan recovered from total defeat.

Myths, Legends, and Folklore The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan) are Japan’s oldest contents. The modern terminology to describe these ancient texts might feel forced, but the Kojiki and Nihonshoki contain the mythological narratives, characters, and locations that form the foundations of Shinto and the imperial lineage; they constitute the earliest historical records of ancient Japan; they induce tourism; and they are used in modern tourism promotion. This meets the definition of contents tourism in any age. One guidebook to sites related to the Kojiki and Nihonshoki lists twentyeight sites, including eighteen Shinto shrines, six natural features (caves, gorges) that appear in the myths, three museums, and one burial mound. The sites are concentrated in three prefectures: Miyazaki (ten), Shimane (five), and Nara (four), and Ise Shrine is one of two sites in Mie prefecture.12 Nara was the capital of Japan at the time the Kojiki and Nihonshoki were produced, but Miyazaki and Shimane are the key locations within Japanese mythology. Both prefectures place this mythology at the heart of their contemporary tourism strategies and are “regions branded by contents.” Miyazaki prefecture is on the Pacific Ocean side of Kyushu. Its warm climate makes it a popular venue for sports tourism and winter/spring training camps for professional athletes. The prefecture’s Japaneselanguage tourism promotion website (in 2016) contains a section to Miyazaki as “the home of myths” (shinwa no furusato). The picturesque Takachiho Gorge would be a natural tourist attraction, but has the added narrative quality of being a site of Japanese mythology. In an article for

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The Japan Times that recounts her trip to these sights, Mandy Bartok writes: It’s here that the Shinto gods of ancient Japanese myths allegedly cavorted and their stories are woven into the fabric of the craggy landscape. Tales of Amaterasu Omikami (the Sun Goddess and progenitor of the Japanese Imperial line), her brother Susano’o (the Storm God) and many other deities mentioned in the famous eighth-century chronicle Kojiki (“Record of Ancient Matters”) play out in Takachiho’s shadowy forests and glens. … From the gorge, we follow the road through Takachiho Village and into the hills to the Amano Iwato Shrine. This site is perhaps the most famous in Japanese lore, boasting the cave where Amaterasu hid for a time from her fellow divinities. Heavy rain is threatening, and the few light showers that have already passed have left the cement trail down to the cave slick and dangerous. We pick our way carefully along the rocks, following the curve of the Iwato River. The ravine here is not as deep as Takachiho Gorge but the sense of antiquity is just as palpable. Bartok does not use the term “contents tourism,” but the significance of the mythological narratives and characters for adding meaning to the trip permeate her every paragraph.13 Her trip followed a trail taken by many Japanese tourists since the designation of these places as “sacred sites” by the Miyazaki prefectural government in the 1930s and subsequent touristification of the area.14 Tourism promotion in Shimane prefecture is similar. The official Japanese-language tourism promotion website in 2016 has two sets of copy: “where the gods gather” (kamigami tsudou) and “land of connections” (go-en no kuni). The English website has a section created in 2012 to mark the 1300th anniversary of the Kojiki. It calls Shimane the “home of Japanese mythology” and says that one third of the myths in Kojiki are set in Shimane.15 The most important site is Izumo Taisha shrine, which enshrines the deity Ōkuninushi. A wrestling match between Ōkuninushi’s son and the god of thunder and swords, Takemikazuchi, is

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part of the story of the founding of Izumo Taisha and is considered to be the mythical origins of sumo. Ōkuninushi’s eventual defeat resulted in him being given control of things unseen, which includes en-musubi or connections, hence Shimane’s copy that it is the “land of connections.”16 Shimane’s English-language website also invites people to “Explore Unfamiliar Japan.” This paraphrases the title of Lafcadio Hearn’s book Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan. Hearn (1850–1904) lived in Matsue city, Shimane prefecture, in 1890–1891 and it is this city with which he is most closely associated. His observations on life in Japan and books presenting Japanese folklore in English make him one of the most important writers of the Meiji period (1868–1912) and a museum to him in Matsue was opened in 1933.17 Shimane’s use of an author in tourism promotion is another instance of branding through contents and demonstrates how the branding can vary according to the specific (in this case Englishspeaking) tourism market. Folklore is another form of contents. Unlike literary works, the authors and origins of folklore are unclear. This does not stop them from becoming associated with a particular location and being used in tourism promotion. Okayama prefecture, for example, claims the Momotarō folktale as a local narrative. Momotarō, “Peach Boy,” was found by an old couple inside a peach floating down a river. After he grows up, he goes to fight a group of ogres living on Onigashima (Ogre Island). Momotarō features prominently in local tourism: there is a statue of Momotarō outside Okayama Station, the Momotarō Matsuri Festival is held in early August, and a “Momotaro Legend Course” is included within the model sightseeing courses on the Okayama Visitors & Convention Association website.18 There are culinary links, too: peaches are a local specialty and kibidango (sweet dumplings), which Momotarō gives to the monkey, dog, and pheasant who accompany him on his quest in the story, are sold as local sweets and souvenirs. It is not only mythical narratives that may induce tourism. The Namahage, demon-deities particularly associated with the Oga peninsula in

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Akita prefecture, are mythical characters that play a central role in the region’s tourism industry. The Namahage Festival was originally a local event at which village men in Namahage masks and costumes went from house to house scaring children, often to tears. This seemingly unpleasant event has been interpreted as having various beneficial effects including disciplining children, encouraging people to contribute to the community, and reinforcing children’s protective bond with their parents.19 In recent decades, the previously private festival that took place in people’s houses has undergone touristification. Tourists are invited into houses to witness the Namahage at work scaring children, the Namahage enter hotels to scare tourists, a new festival was started in 1964 to showcase Namahage rituals to visitors, and the Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum opened in 1999.20 Another example is yōkai (ghosts or monsters). Yōkai stories date from antiquity, but are very well known. They have been depicted numerous times within modern pop culture forms from children’s songs to anime. Yōkai stories have existed in English since at least Lafcadio Hearn’s Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904) and there are detailed online fan sites (including in English) presenting the various yōkai. Since 2013, there has been an extremely popular game/manga/anime called Yōkai Watch making yōkai ubiquitous in shopping malls, game centers, and on television. The most successful touristification relating to yōkai is in Sakaiminato city, Tottori prefecture. Sakaiminato was the hometown of manga artist Mizuki Shigeru, whose manga Gegege no Kitarō has become a timeless classic of “manga literature.” In 1993, twenty-three statues of yōkai and other characters from Gegege were placed along a shopping street near the station (by 2016 this had risen to 153). The touristification turned the street from a “shutter town” (shattā gai) with many vacant shops into a bustling tourist street. Visitors exceeded one million for the first time in 2007, but in 2010 the NHK Morning Drama was Gegege no nyōbo

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(Gegege’s wife) about Mizuki Shigeru’s wife and visitors to the road soared to 3.7 million (dropping down to 2.3 million again by 2014).21 Sakaiminato is not the only place benefiting from yōkai tourism. After the war, Mizuki lived in Chōfu city in Tokyo and he is honored there with yōkai statues in a shopping street, too. Oume city in Tokyo runs yōkai tours and has a dedicated website to yōkai based on an alleged link between the city and the setting of Lafcadio Hearn’s rendition of the Yuki onna (Snow Woman) story.22 And Ushiku city in Ibaraki prefecture has held an annual Kappa Festival since 1981 and claims that Ushiku Marsh is the home of kappa, one of the best-known yōkai, which are the subject of popular children’s stories and songs sung at kindergarten. All these examples demonstrate that mythology and folklore are important resources for tourism promotion and regional branding. The presence of mythology and folklore within a local tourism brand indicates their transition into local heritage, and their repeated representation in popular culture makes them contents. Calling the foundational myths of Shinto “contents” might be considered by some to be problematic, even provocative. However, around the world, religious stories and characters are represented in popular culture and inspire travel to sacred sites. At some level, therefore, religious pilgrimage overlaps with contents tourism. The way that “reverence” is exhibited in onsite behaviors will ultimately distinguish the faithful from the fan. However, on a statistical level, those counting visitor numbers to major shrines or religious sites are often unable to distinguish the worshippers and the tourists. Herein lies the major practical obstacle to definitive quantification of levels of contents tourism. Such calculations rely on knowing the unknowable: the true motivations of all visitors to a site.

Canonized Contents The oldest literary works for which a link can be made to travel are poems. There are many poetic forms in Japan, but the most famous are

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haiku and tanka. Haiku have three lines of 5–7–5 syllables and tanka have five lines of 5–7–5–7–7 syllables. The short length of the poems leaves little space for explicit descriptions of places. Instead, poems use various devices to convey the attractiveness of a place, such as mentioning flora and fauna to evoke a season. Referring to poems before and during the Edo period, Funck and Cooper write, “Once a place had been extolled and thus made into a meishō or ‘famous place’, there were soon imitators who visited the same place themselves, sometimes to leave their own poems there, often simply to enjoy the atmosphere.”23 There are thousands of monuments around Japan in sites where evocative poems were written or renowned poets lived. The poem is typically engraved on a stone monument, often next to a plaque providing commentary and (if necessary) a transcription into modern Japanese. Such monuments can be found in parks, gardens, temples, shrines, sidewalks/footpaths, and plazas outside stations. They provide a spot for the momentary enjoyment of poetry or information about local culture. They are not inducers of tourism except for a few poetry aficionados. But, having a poetic heritage presented in this way gives local authorities additional sites to put on tourist maps and adds an aura of sophistication and tradition to the destination.

Man’yōshū and Hyakunin Isshu Man’yōshū (“Collection of a Myriad Leaves”) is Japan’s oldest and largest collection of poems. The approximately 4,500 poems are believed to have been selected mainly by Ōtomo no Yakamochi sometime after 759. There are around 150 species of plant named in 1,500 of the poems. However, its “invention” as Japan’s “national anthology” is a relatively recent phenomenon. “[F]or more than a thousand years, beginning with its compilation by members of the aristocracy in the Nara period, the Man’yōshū had little or no connection to the overwhelming majority of the people inhabiting the Japanese archipelago.” It was not until the middle of the Meiji era (1868–1912) that the anthology became well known.24

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More recently, the collection has inspired the creation of Man’yō botanical gardens across Japan. In 2015, there were thirty-seven gardens of which twenty-seven were open to the public. Even though these botanical gardens have Man’yō in their name (explicitly marking them as sites of literary as well as botanical significance), most visitors prioritize the natural environment rather than the literary connections when they visit. The gardens are sites of contents tourism by name, but visitor motivations suggest that few visitors can be counted as contents tourists. However, Takaoka town in Toyama prefecture has made the Man’yōshū central to its local tourism branding. Yakamochi, who edited the collection, served as governor of the region and wrote a number of the poems. Man’yōshū-related tourism in Takaoka, therefore, rests on hometown site connections more than the actual sites depicted in the poetry. There are the Man’yō Historical Museum, a streetcar called the Man’yō Line, and a statue of Yakamochi standing outside the train station.25 In 2013, the museum received around 25,000 visitors and the annual Takaoka Man’yō Festival, at which the entire set of poems is recited, attracted around 130,000 people.26 Japan’s oldest and largest poetry collection still induces tourism today over thirteen centuries after its compilation. Of note, however, is how canonization of Man’yōshū and subsequent touristification only began after eleven of those thirteen centuries. Another poetry collection that has created a set of meishō (famous sites) is Hyakunin Isshu. There are various collections, but the most famous is the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, compiled by the poet Fujiwara no Teika in the thirteenth century. This collection features in the game karuta, a traditional New Year pastime and, for the dedicated player, a highly competitive sport with an annual competition held at Ōmi Jingū shrine in Ōtsu city, Shiga prefecture. Card games were introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, but there was already a Japanese tradition of games matching the beginnings and endings of poems called utagai, “poem shells,” involving poems written on shells. A combination of these games is thought to be the origin of uta-karuta,

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poem cards. Today, the game is called karuta (from the Portuguese for cards). One hundred cards with the second half of a tanka poem are laid out in front of two players. When the first half of the poem is read out, the first player to slap the card with the second half gets the card. The player who gets the most cards wins. To play at the highest level, quick reflexes and memorization of all of the poems are necessary. The significance of this collection for tourism is threefold. First, the poetry collection is well known because of karuta. The places referred to in the poems are learned by Japanese children from a young age. The Tatsutagawa River in Nara, for example, features in two poems, one of which is: Chi haya buru | All red with leaves Tatsuta’s stream Kami yo mo kikazu | So softly purls along, Tatsuta gawa | The everlasting Gods themselves, Kara kurenai ni | Who judge ‘twixt right and wrong, Mizu kukuru to wa. | Ne’er heard so sweet a song.27 To this day, the banks of the Tatsutagawa River are famous for their autumn leaves. The river’s status as a meishō is enhanced by the poem and karuta, both through name recognition and through imbuing Tatsutagawa with a narrative quality rooted in centuries of tradition as a site for viewing autumn leaves. Second, the collection is relatively small (100 poems) and there are relatively few places mentioned by name. Travelers interested in Hyakunin Isshu have a clear itinerary to follow, primarily in Kyoto and Nara. In addition to sites mentioned in the poetry collection, there is Shigureden (The Hall of Ogura Hyakunin Isshu) in the Arashiyama district of western Kyoto. This museum—which, like the Man’yō Historical Museum in Takaoka, is close to where the anthology’s compiler was from—presents the history of karuta as a game. The centerpiece of the exhibits is a display of all 100 poems with dolls of the 100 poets who wrote them.

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Third, the combination of the game and poetry collection created a rudimentary media mix in the Edo period, but the karuta media mix has become thoroughly modern in recent times. There are many books in manga format teaching young children about the game and its history. Since 2007 karuta has been the subject of an award-winning manga called Chihayafuru. This was made into an anime series starting in 2011 and two live-action films in 2016. The story centers on Chihaya and her quest to become “Queen” at the kyōgi karuta competition at Ōmi Shrine. The shrine became a sacred site and Ōtsu city has laid on various events for fans. Visitation to Shigureden tripled when it held a Chihayafuru special exhibition in 2012, prompting another special exhibition in 2013. In the story, Chihaya also visits the museum on a school trip, creating a direct link between the manga and the tourist site.28 According to the museum’s curator, Higashiura Yoshitaka, there are more younger and female visitors than before the manga began.29 Chihayafuru shows how pop culture can make traditional culture “cool” and develop new patterns of visitation to sites of canonized culture.

The Tale of Genji Like Japan’s oldest poetry collection, Man’yōshū, Japan’s oldest novel sustains a tourism industry a millennium after its publication. Completed in the early eleventh century, The Tale of Genji was written by a noblewoman, Murasaki Shikibu, and depicts court life in the Heian period. Before the Muromachi period, poems and literature were considered to be high-class pursuits and beyond ordinary people. However, by the Muromachi period The Tale of Genji already had various renditions in digests and other forms within a rudimentary media mix. Into the Edo period, this mix developed further via parodies, kabuki plays, puppet theater, and ukiyo-e prints (including erotic shunga versions). Between 1829 and 1842 a parody of The Tale of Genji was published titled Nise Murasaki inaka Genji (A Fraudulent Murasaki’s Bumpkin Genji). This was “a particularly important milestone in the history of the canonization of the Genji” because it was a bestseller and popularized a novel still

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linguistically inaccessible to many.30 Into the early twentieth century, the poet Yosano Akiko and novelist Tanizaki Jun’ichirō published Genji in modern Japanese in the 1930s. The Takarazuka Revue (an all-female theater troupe) has staged musical adaptations of Genji since 1918. The first of many film adaptations was in 1951, and Genji was the subject of a bestselling manga serialization titled Asaki yume mishi (Fleeting Dreams) in a girls’ magazine from 1979–1993.31 The latest adaptation was a big-budget motion picture in 2011. The canonization of The Tale of Genji laid the foundations for a touristification process. There are walking and bus tours around locations mentioned in the novel (mainly shrines, temples, and locations near Kyoto) and/or sites containing references to the novel (such as history museums covering the Heian period). There are sites related to the author Murasaki Shikibu, such as the Murasaki Shikibu Park in Echizen city, Fukui prefecture, where visitors can soak up the atmosphere of the Heian period and try on period clothing. And in Uji, the city where the final ten chapters of the novel were set, there is the Tale of Genji Museum. Patterns of visitation to this museum (figure 40) have some general characteristics of museum attendance, but also some characteristics distinctive to contents tourism. The decline in visitor numbers in the years after the museum opened is a familiar pattern. The peak in 2008 was a result of campaigns and promotions to mark the millennial of the first appearance of The Tale of Genji in written records. The ten percent rise in visitor numbers in 2011 is probably the result of the film adaptation of The Tale of Genji released that year. The drop back down to 2010 levels in 2012 is characteristic of a one-year mini-boom precipitated by the release of a new adaptation of the contents. The large drop in 2013, meanwhile, was largely due to the closure for renovation work of Byōdōin Temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Uji’s major attraction. The rise in visitors to the Tale of Genji Museum when Byōdōin reopened speaks of the importance of “sightseeing contents tourism”: many visitors who went to the restored Byōdōin added the Museum to their itinerary. In

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short, while new adaptations of The Tale of Genji have induced tourism, these new adaptations have been less important influences on tourist numbers than macro factors: events to mark a big anniversary year and the broader dynamics of Uji’s tourism sector.32

The Wandering Poet: Matsuo Bashō From the early Edo period, political stability and technological advances in printing created an environment in which people could travel, write about their travel, and induce others to do the same. In 1635, the system of alternate residence in Edo (sankin kōtai) began as a way of preventing feudal lords from challenging the Tokugawa shogunate. Lords were required to spend alternate years in Edo and leave relatives in Edo, effectively as hostages. To facilitate movement across the country, the shogunate managed a network of roads connecting the regions with Edo. The Tōkaidō road became and remains one of Japan’s main transport arteries. By the late seventeenth century more than a million people travelled up and down the Tōkaidō road annually.33 Such volumes of travel were both documented and inspired by travel writers. One early “travel writer” was Japan’s most famous poet, Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694). Bashō made a number of lengthy journeys in Honshu ranging from present-day Hyogo prefecture in the west to Yamagata and Miyagi in the northeast. After 1684 Bashō travelled for poetic inspiration, and these trips spawned his most famous works, including Oku no hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North).34 Bashō was famous as a poet during his lifetime and his travels often took him to places that were already established as meishō (famous places) or utamakura (poetic places). He was, one might argue, an early “contents tourist” in his own right. He traveled on his own on journeys of self-discovery, sought out places made famous by other poems, left his own poems, and shared them with friends en route. These behaviors have many parallels with modern contents tourism behavior, albeit within the technological limitations of Bashō’s lifetime.

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Bashō’s life, work, and travels are commemorated in so many sites around Japan that “Bashō sites” cover almost the full range of categories. Hometown sites in Iga city, Mie prefecture, include his birthplace, a hermitage, and the Basho Memorial Museum. Then there are many actual sites around Japan where he lived, stayed, or composed poems. He spent a number of years in Fukagawa in Kōtō ward, Tokyo, where there is the Basho Museum. This museum has elements of a proxy site because the precise location of his hermitage is unknown, although it is known to be very close to the museum site and a statue of Bashō looking out over the Sumidagawa River. Finally, Bashō has featured in numerous displays in official sites, such as national/local museums. In those actual sites where connections to Bashō are weaker, the pattern of contents tourism tends away from “canonized contents tourism” and towards the pattern of “regions branded by contents.” In Sukagawa city, Fukushima prefecture, there is a museum about Bashō marking the eight days that he spent in the region in 1689 while writing The Narrow Road to the Deep North. While Bashō’s time in Sukagawa is not particularly significant in the context of his life’s work, the visit is a main claim-to-fame of a small rural community with few other tourism assets. Another site enhancing its appeal through an association with Bashō is Yamadera, the Risshakuji temple complex in Yamagata prefecture. The temple is registered as a meishō by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the complex is in a spectacular hillside setting. The Yamadera Basho Museum is located within the complex and commemorates his visit there in 1689. Finally, some places are mentioned in Bashō’s poetry. These places were normally already famous as “poetic places” (utamakura, such as Matsushima, one of the three famous views of Japan),35 but gain additional aura from their association with Bashō. Another feature of the various Bashō sites is how they showcase different parts of the Bashō story and canon to augment their claims to authenticity and connections to him. The museum in Fukagawa, for

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example, highlights what is probably Bashō’s most famous haiku, “the frog poem,” which was composed in 1686 while he was in Fukagawa: Furu ike ya | An old pond Kawazu tobikomu | A frog leaps in Mizu no oto | The sound of water.36 This poem has been inscribed on many monuments around the country and, demonstrating that even canonized works are not immune from populist touristification, adorned many of the souvenirs and the photo corner for visitors. By contrast, the poem that is inscribed on a monument outside the house where he was born in Iga is a nostalgic verse about home: Furusato ya | My native home— Heso no o ni naku | Weeping over my umbilical cord Toshi no kure | At year’s end.37 Furthermore, Minomushi-An, his hermitage in Iga, is celebrated as the place where The Narrow Road to the Deep North was written, while Fukagawa highlights that it was the starting point for his journey. Finally, the poem of choice for Minami Midō Temple, near where he died in Osaka while en route to Kyushu, is the verse written shortly before his death that, according to the Matsuo Basho Memorial Museum (Iga), “is thought to express the lifetime of the poet who loved to wander.” Tabi ni yande | On a journey, ailing— Yume wa kareno o | My dreams roam about Kakemeguru | Over a withered moor. Bashō is buried in Gichūji Temple in Ōtsu city, Shiga prefecture.

Travel Author Jippensha Ikku Travel was also a popular topic for novelists of the Edo period. In 1802, Jippensha Ikku published the first volume of Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige

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(Shank’s Mare). The story follows two humorous characters, Yaji and Kita, traveling on the Tōkaidō highway from Edo to Ise Shrine. The immediate popularity of the story led to a long-running series and Jippensha’s fame has been likened to that of his near contemporary Charles Dickens.38 Eventually the Tōkaidō section of the story was completed in 1809 in eight volumes when the pair of travelers arrived in Osaka. Jippensha’s commercial success enabled him to become Japan’s first professional novelist. He continued publishing stories about Yaji, Kita, and their travels around Japan right up to his death in 1831. Despite writing a wide variety of other books including love stories and textbooks, Jippensha remains best known for Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige.39 Jippensha traveled to do research for his novels, which are rich in details about sights, people, and local products, and Hizakurige induced travel in his lifetime. The first three decades of the nineteenth century were a period of relative stability and, if given the opportunity, people could travel without particular fear for their safety.40 Centuries after his death, Jippensha’s novels continue to be remembered in Shizuoka, where he was born. There was an exhibition in the Shizuoka Bunkazai Shiryōkan (Shizuoka Cultural Heritage Museum, a small museum in the grounds of Sengen Shrine) held from January 6 to February 28, 2016 to mark the “250+1” anniversary of his birth (in 1765). A leaflet provided by the museum listed five sites on a Jippensha walking tour in the area between the museum and Shizuoka Station, including his birthplace (marked with a memorial since November 2003) and a statue of Yaji and Kita (erected in 2002) by the moat of Sumpu Castle. This small exhibition did not generate large tourism flows. Staff estimated there were 30–40 visitors on busy days and 10–15 people on quiet days. However, such micro levels of tourism belie a more significant role that the contents (both the Hizakurige story and Jippensha as Japan’s first professional writer) play in the broader narrative of the Tōkaidō. The Tōkaidō was not simply an important trunk road. It became a cultural icon inspiring literature, travel diaries, guidebooks, and woodblock prints.

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In addition to Hizakurige, visual depictions of the route helped boost travel along the Tōkaidō, most notably the famous ukiyo-e pictures of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō by Utagawa Hiroshige.41 Today, the famous Hiroshige print of Mount Fuji from the Satta Pass at Yui (figures 17 and 18) is one of the iconic shots for photographers to replicate and share on social media, mirroring the archetypal behavior of film tourists who photograph scenes from as close to the original shooting point as possible.42 While Hizakurige today might not directly induce large tourism flows, Japan’s historical roads are a significant trope within tourism campaigns.43 Hizakurige adds narrative quality to the tourist sites along the Tōkaidō, such as the Hakone Checkpoint, which is where book one of Hizakurige ended. A recent (2010) full-color guide to the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō presented the ukiyo-e prints for each station interspersed not only with historical descriptions of travel along the Tōkaidō but also synopses of the eight Hizakurige books.44 The humorous fictional adventures of Yaji and Kita transform the Tōkaidō from being simply a trunk route connecting Edo and Osaka to being a site of travel, adventure, and enjoyment for the characters of the era.

Heritage and/or Contents Tourism The five examples of canonized contents presented thus far have all been of fictional or literary contents. The latter half of the chapter addresses heritage and/or contents tourism, whereby visitation to sites commemorating actual historical events is boosted by works of popular culture.

Sengoku BASARA The Warring States period (Sengoku jidai) was a period of “fission and fusion.”45 It began with the Onin War of 1467, which ended the period of peace under the Ashikaga dynasty. Numerous localized wars culminated

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in the unification of Japan under the three great generals Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period finished when the last resistance to the new Tokugawa order (established after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600) was defeated at the Summer Battle of Osaka Castle in 1615. It is one of the most popular periods of Japanese history and has been the topic of countless dramas, films, novels, and plays. Today, there are numerous books available about the Warring States period aimed at the popular mass market. They use a visual format: history is told using manga; there are re-creations of battle scenes using computer graphics; alliances, and rivalries are laid out in diagrammatic form; there are maps and chronologies; and the personal data and characteristics of famous warriors are given.46 The proliferation of such books reveals the entertainment value of the Warring States period. This is history as contents, namely information that brings enjoyment when consumed. The proliferation of distinctive characters battling each other also makes the Warring States period a favorite scenario for combat computer games, such as the 2005 hit Sengoku BASARA (released as Devil Kings in English). The game play was relatively straightforward. Players chose a character and then embarked on combat missions. The types of mission, the appearance of the characters, and their weapons or special abilities were all based on actual history, albeit infused with the aesthetics of twenty-first century pop culture. Through game play, fans came to feel strong association with their favorite characters, and after the release of the game visitation to sites connected with the real historical figures increased. The game quickly spawned a major franchise: numerous upgraded versions of the game were released, there was an anime series in 2009, a feature-length anime in 2011, theater plays, a musical (by the Takarazuka Revue), and TV dramas. Many places have benefitted from Sengoku BASARA tourism and the game’s producer, Capcom, has entered commercial partnerships with a number of localities and corporations. For example, in early 2016 All Nippon Airways was promoting city breaks (flight plus hotel packages)

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in cities connected to Sengoku BASARA with exclusive merchandise given to tour participants.47 The destination that has benefitted most from Sengoku BASARA is Sendai city. Modern Sendai was founded by Date Masamune (1567–1636), a daring daimyo who was made lord of the Sendai region for his role supporting the Tokugawas at the Battle of Sekigahara. Date was famous for a long crescent-shaped ornament on his helmet and having only one eye. He was also one of the original characters players could choose to be in Sengoku BASARA. After the release of the game, fans started visiting Miyagi-ken Gokoku Shrine and a large statue of Date within the ruins of Aoba Castle (figures 45 and 46). Many of these fans were young women known as rekijo, history-fan girls. The phenomenon of young women becoming interested in history, particularly via stylized drama/anime representations of historical figures as ikemen (heartthrobs), was a conspicuous trend from around 2008.48 In 2009, due to the popularity of Sengoku BASARA and other works such as the Taiga Drama Tenchijin among women, rekijo was chosen as one of the “trend words of the year” (ryūkōgo taishō). The impact of this game is perhaps most visible in Shiroishi, just south of Sendai, where Katakura Kojūrō (one of Date’s trusted retainers and another popular character in Sengoku BASARA) was from. Katakura was a little-known warrior before Sengoku BASARA, but following the release of the game fans started visiting Shiroishi Castle. In 2008, the community responded by holding the first Oni Kojūrō Matsuri Festival. Tie-ups with Capcom and TEAM BASARA (the TV anime production committee) enabled public transportation to be decorated with images from Sengoku BASARA and merchandising deals.49 The festival grew from 3,000 attendees to over 12,000 between 2008 and 2012, but just as striking is the seventy-six percent rise in visitor numbers to Shiroishi Castle and Warriors Residence from 82,074 in 2005, the year the first game was released, to 144,268 in 2009, when the anime was released. Subsequent years show a drop, and the effects of the March 11, 2011 earthquake on tourism were devastating (figure 48). Nevertheless, Sengoku BASARA demonstrated the potential of computer games to spawn a franchise and

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a tourism boom. The primary beneficiaries of Sengoku BASARA tourism were pre-existing heritage sites, so it is a representative example of heritage and/or contents tourism.

The Forty-Seven Ronin When the Warring States period finally ended in 1615, the long pax Tokugawa could begin. The samurai warrior class turned their energies to the arts, ushering in a golden age of Japanese culture. One famous incident that shattered this peace was the forty-seven ronin incident. In 1701, a young daimyo from Akō domain, Asano Naganori, struck the shogun’s elderly master of ceremonies, Kira Yoshihisa, with his sword inside Edo Castle. Within the day Asano had been required to commit ritual suicide for his crime. Aggrieved by the death of their master, particularly since the older yet lower in wealth and rank Kira escaped punishment, forty-seven samurai made masterless by Asano’s suicide plotted revenge. In 1703, the forty-seven attacked Kira’s mansion, killing him and seventeen of his men. For their act of revenge, they were sentenced to commit seppuku, thereby ending the affair. This story has become one of the most enduring legends of Tokugawa Japan and its fame was generated by popular culture. Probably the first play about the forty-seven ronin, albeit allegorical in an attempt to avoid Tokugawa censorship, was put on a mere twelve days after the suicide of the ronin. Since then, around fifty dramas and over forty films have told the story. The most famous of these is Chūshingura, a kabuki play dating from 1748 which is a staple of the kabuki repertoire. Popular culture renditions of the story have largely eulogized the ronin and vilified Kira, although historians have shone a more critical light on the legend. Stephen Turnbull, for example, writes: “[I]t is still extraordinary that within 12 days of their suicide a theatrical performance was being staged that set the tone for three centuries’ worth of glorification of an act of mass murder of an innocent elderly man and his band of loyal retainers.”50

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However, it is the legend created by popular culture rather than academic history that has generated the key sites of tourism. Turnbull’s book about the raid includes an account of the heritage and/or contents tourism possible for those on the trail of the forty-seven ronin legend. He visits the main sites connected to the ronin in Tokyo (Sengakuji Temple, where Asano and the ronin are buried) and Akō (the hometown sites related to the ronin, including Kagakuji Temple and Ōishi Shrine), and he retraces the route walked by the ronin as they took Kira’s severed head and placed it at Asano’s grave. He also visits the lesser-known sites related to Kira in his hometown in Aichi prefecture, where a priest “calmly explained to me how everything I had ever read about the FortySeven Ronin was complete nonsense.”51 The forty-seven ronin case study suggests that it is narrative quality rather than historical accuracy that generates heritage and/or contents tourism. The ronin were the protagonists in the drama. The museum in Sengakuji Temple focuses on their loyalty rather than questioning the motives, morality, or legality of their actions. The temple is not neutral in the saga. The Asano family were patrons and their Edo residence was close by, which is why Asano Naganori was buried there after committing seppuku. By contrast, Kira was just one of countless people to be struck down by vengeful samurai during the Edo period. Most have been forgotten by history and are not commemorated in tourist sites. Where Kira is remembered in his hometown (Nishio city, Aichi prefecture), the almost apologetic local tourism literature begins with a disclaimer: he was “portrayed as the villain” in Chūshingura, but “in fact there are virtually no materials indicating he was the bad guy.”52 However, there is comparatively little contents tourism induced by narratives seeking to counter the dominant narrative. Furthermore, when victims take center stage in sites of tourism, the nature of the tourism diverges from “enjoyable” contents tourism and assumes the characteristics of heritage tourism or educational tourism. These are issues to which we return shortly in the discussions of World War II tourism.

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Sakamoto Ryōma Tourism By the mid-nineteenth century the Tokugawa order was beginning to crumble. External pressure from the imperial powers demanding that Japan end its closed-nation policy and internal pressures such as the increased financial strength of the merchant classes led to revolution. The period from 1853 (the first arrival of Commodore Perry’s “Black Ships”) to 1868 (the Meiji Restoration) is called the Bakumatsu (“end of the shogunate”) period. One of the most important figures during these tumultuous years was Sakamoto Ryōma, a samurai from Kochi. He was born in 1835 and assassinated in 1867, just before his dream of the restoration of imperial rule could be completed. He played a major role by helping the rival Satsuma and Chōshū domains to forge an alliance, thereby paving the way for the military overthrow of the Tokugawas. Ryōma’s other credits include establishing Japan’s first trading company (Kaientai) and drafting the blueprints for the post-restoration order, known as the “Eight Articles Written on a Ship” (senchū hassaku). In a period marred by political violence, Ryōma has a reputation as a negotiator and visionary, which is what makes him a hero with much modern appeal. His image is also enhanced by taking what is reputedly the first honeymoon in Japan with his wife Oryō, who he married after she saved him from an assassination attempt. Ryōma is central to Kochi prefecture’s tourism promotion strategy and in 2003, Ryōma became the first historical figure in Japan to have an airport named after him, Kochi Ryoma Airport. In 2010, the NHK Taiga Drama Ryōmaden about his life precipitated probably the largest ever tourism boom induced by a historical drama in Japan.53 However, our focus here is the long-term process by which Ryōma became an important tourism resource. The story is a model case of heritage and/or contents tourism. The touristification process divides into four stages: honoring Ryōma (1867–1945), sidelining Ryōma (1946–1962), rehabilitating Ryōma (1963– 1990) and traveling Ryōma (1991 onwards). While various commemorative

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sites related to Ryōma existed from shortly after his death, the refinement of the contents in popular culture from the 1960s was the key to the planned touristification during the 1990s. Ryōma-related sites then benefitted from the tourism boom when Ryōmaden was broadcast. The refinement of the Ryōma contents began soon after his death. When he was killed in 1867, Ryōma was simply one among many idealistic men who had died in the cause of the imperial restoration. He was buried in the cemetery at Kyōto Ryōzen Gokoku Shrine, which was established on the orders of Emperor Meiji to commemorate those who had died in the military service of the emperor. His grave and the shrine are the earliest Ryōma sites. Ryōma started to be feted in popular culture. The first novel about his life was published in 1883, but this did not present the contemporary Ryōma legend. Instead, Ryōma’s life extolled the virtues of the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement and its leader Itagaki Taisuke.54 Into the twentieth century, Ryōma’s life and image became co-opted by the Japanese military, particularly the navy. In 1904, the Empress Dowager had a dream that Ryōma would be the “military god” (gunshin) to inspire Japan to victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Following Japan’s victory, a festival in his honor was begun in 1906 at Kyōto Ryōzen Gokoku Shrine.55 The famous statue of Ryōma was erected at Katsurahama Beach, Kōchi, in 1928 and the unveiling ceremony indicated his status as a navy hero: it was on the anniversary of the navy’s victory at the Battle of Tsushima Straits and attended by leading naval officers.56 By the outbreak of World War II, therefore, there was already a rudimentary Ryōma tourism itinerary comprising commemorative sites. After the war, with militarism discredited, Ryōma lost his prominence as a local and national hero. It was not until 1962–1966, when the historical novelist Shiba Ryōtarō penned his epic novel Ryōma ga yuku (serialized in the Sankei Shinbun newspaper) that Ryōma regained his reputation as a Bakumatsu period visionary.57 The novel was adapted for the NHK Taiga Drama in 1968 (the centenary of the Meiji Restoration). The rehabilitation

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process also included the erection of new statues, including the one that currently stands by his grave in Kyoto. With Ryōma’s military reputation expunged and his reputation as a visionary restored, touristification of his life story could proceed. The Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum was established in 1991. Other sites followed, including a museum at his birthplace. Authentic items relating to Ryōma, particularly his letters, became valuable artifacts displayed in Kōchi and elsewhere. In addition to sites in Kōchi, there are significant sites related to his life in Nagasaki (where his Kaientai trading company operations were based), Kyoto (such as the Ryozen Museum of History adjacent to his grave), and Hakodate (where the second museum about his life opened in 2009). All of these sites witnessed significant increases in tourist numbers in 2010 as a result of Ryōmaden. Commemorative processes, therefore, created the first set of tourist sites, such as his grave and the statue at Katsurahama Beach. The full-scale touristification process, however, required a set of usable contents. In Ryōma’s case, both local/national government and popular culture refined the contents at various stages, but ultimately it was postwar popular culture (particularly Ryōma ga yuku) that enabled the touristification of Ryōma. Thereafter, with the tourism infrastructure in place, Kōchi could benefit from booms created by subsequent works of popular culture such as Ryōmaden. Ryōma tourism is a textbook example of how a heritage and/or contents tourism industry emerges.

World War II and Contents Tourism Popular periods of Japanese history, such as the Warring States period and Bakumatsu period, more easily fit the characterization of history as contents. For contested periods of recent history, such as World War II in Japan, arguing that the information “brings enjoyment when consumed” is more complicated. As Sue Beeton notes: “Postwar tourism owes a great deal to the images and ideals presented in the war movies—we see tourists visiting sites not only made ‘famous’ during wartime, often

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becoming sites of pilgrimage, but also those made famous during their (often emotional) exposure in popular war movies.” However, while some war-related sites assume even a “celebrity status,” others (such as the Killing Fields of Cambodia for Beeton) are harrowing.58 Modern wars generate a wide range of emotional responses, which converts into a complex range of motivations for war-related tourism.59 Most World War II sites in Japan were created as part of a mourning process or preserved out of the desire of a community to pass on war memories to subsequent generations. Gerald Figal’s study of tourism in postwar Okinawa, however, recounts how commemorative visits by relatives to places where loved ones fell became commercialized and led to the “touristification of sacred ground.”60 Many war stories also became commercialized within popular culture, for example the story of the Himeyuri girls nursing corps. This story of schoolgirls during the Battle of Okinawa tending to wounded soldiers under ghastly conditions and then choosing suicide over capture is an iconic narrative of the tragedy of war. It is also the subject of the Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum. But, visitation to this museum, even if induced by watching one of the six Himeyuri films to date, probably resembles a commemorative pilgrimage more than a fan pilgrimage. Other war films, dramas, manga, and anime have generated contents tourism. The film Kimi no na wa (Your name is …?, 1953) is about a man and a woman who save each others’ lives during an air raid and promise to meet again six months later at the same place, Sukiya Bridge in Tokyo. The bridge became a popular place to visit until it was removed in 1957.61 Another example is Ni-jū-shi no hitomi (Twenty-Four Eyes), a 1952 novel about the wartime experiences of a teacher and her twelve pupils on an island in the Seto Inland Sea. It has been adapted into eight films and dramas and the Twenty-Four Eyes Movie Studio is a key attraction on Shōdoshima island, Kagawa prefecture, where the story was set/filmed. In addition to such clear examples of war-related contents tourism, other war sites benefit from genre-based contents tourism, whereby a general

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interest in the war has been created by popular culture which motivates visitation to war-related sites. The clearest examples of war-related heritage and/or contents tourism are induced by air force and navy films, which entertain with their action sequences and move audiences with their narratives of noble sacrifice. A number of kamikaze films have induced visitation to the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots in Kagoshima. These include Hotaru (Fireflies, 2001), Ore wa, kimi no tame ni koso shini ni iku (For Those We Love, 2007), and Eien no Zero (The Eternal Zero, 2013). Hotaru and For Those We Love both told the story of Torihama Tome, a woman who cooked kamikaze pilots their last meals before they flew their missions. In 2001, a small museum about Torihama was opened in Chiran, which coincided with high levels of visitation to the Peace Museum (figure 52). Outside the museum, there is a sign showing the restaurant in a scene from Hotaru and explaining its importance in the film. The Eternal Zero, meanwhile, was a multimillion-seller novel (2006) before being adapted to manga (2010–2012), cinema (2013), and TV drama (2015) versions. The Sankei Shinbun newspaper reported in May 2014 that the Chiran museum was busy with visitors through the “Eternal Zero effect” and that another museum in Kyushu, the Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum, which displays a Zero fighter, had seen visitation increase two hundred and fifty percent in the month after the film’s release (January 2014, compared to January 2013). The Tachiarai museum had also seen a thirty percent increase in visitors during 2013, reportedly due to Miyazaki Hayao’s farewell film The Wind Rises, a fictionalized retelling of the development of the Zero fighter.62 Similarly, clear links between works of popular culture and visitation to the Kure Maritime Museum (Yamato Museum) can be seen. The museum was opened in 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the Yamato’s sinking in April 1945 while it was on a one-way mission to join the Battle of Okinawa. It received 1.6 million visitors in its first year, boosted by the sixtieth anniversary commemorations that year and the release of the

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big-budget blockbuster Otokotachi no Yamato (Yamato, 2005). The Kure Maritime Museum is one of Japan’s most visited museums of any category and received its ten millionth visitor on 24 May 2015, just over ten years after it opened. However, as indicated in figure 54 visitor numbers had been in steady decline from its opening year until 2011. Then in 2012, there was an increase caused by the Taiga Drama Taira no Kiyomori (2012). There are various sites near Kure related to Taira no Kiyomori (1118–1181), who, as legend has it, ordered the straits between Kure and Kurahashi island to be dug and by willing the sun not to set completed the task in a day. The Ondo no Seto Park, which commemorates this event, is only about eight kilometers from the museum and has spectacular views over the Seto Inland Sea. The Kure Maritime Museum held a Taira no Kiyomori special exhibit in 2012, and there are other works of popular culture, too—particularly The Eternal Zero, Star Blazers 2199 (anime, 2013), and Kantai Collection (online game, 2013)—none of which are connected directly to the history of the battleship, but are named by the museum or local media as works that boosted visitation.63 The museum is best categorized as a heritage site, but significant levels of contents tourism can be identified, too. The battleship Yamato, therefore, is an iconic warship that, unlike any other in the Imperial Japanese Navy, has generated a set of contents. There is a resonant narrative of wartime heroism and sacrifice; its characters, both the ship itself and crew members, are respected and mourned (the world-leading technology used to build the battleship and profiles of the crew members feature prominently in the museum exhibits); there are identifiable locations related to the battleship in Kure, where the ship was built, and shooting locations for the 2005 film (including in Onomichi, see chapter 3); and Yamato inspires other creative elements with no relation to war history beyond the shared name of the battleship, such as the fantasy anime Star Blazers or the half-girl half-ship cyborg character Yamato from the game Kantai Collection.

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Whereas many works of war-related popular culture address serious issues relating to the war and even promote political agendas, there are increasing connections between the war and contents tourism via apolitical or fantasy means. The 1970s anime Space Battleship Yamato and its 2013 version Star Blazers 2199 borrow the name and design of a World War II icon for a central role in a space fantasy. The popularity of these series have led to the Space Battleship Yamato being used to promote the “three views of Japan” (Matsushima, Amanohashidate, and Itsukushima). Another example is the way that war-related sites are finding new uses beyond the commemoration of the past. Wakayama prefecture has taken a little-visited heritage site related to World War II and made it available to cosplayers. An important part of cosplay culture is the photo shoot: cosplayers pose for photographs individually, or in groups of people cosplaying from the same work (known as awase, getting together), and then share the photos on social media. Cosplayers need not only a costume but also a stage for their performance.64 Tomogashima is a group of uninhabited islands lying between the coast of Wakayama and Awaji island. It was a coastal fortress guarding the entrance to Osaka Bay until the end of World War II and the ruins are popular with cosplayers as an atmospheric place to do a photo shoot. Wakayama prefecture’s official “image up character” Waka Minami (a seventeen-year-old anime schoolgirl) recommends visits to Tomogashima for cosplay in the Wakayamania (Wakayama mania) section of the prefectural tourism promotion website.65 The war remains a sensitive issue and in many cases representations of the war lie beyond the realm of “enjoyment,” but as the war recedes further into the past, pop culture increasingly finds ways to rework narratives, characters, and locations in new forms of culture.

Complex Contents Tourism in Matsuyama This chapter concludes with a case study of complex contents tourism. Ehime prefecture utilizes various sets of contents in tourism promotion and local branding, and is renowned for having enthusiastically embraced

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the key principles of contents tourism. The Second Ehime Prefecture Tourism Promotion Basic Plan (2016) includes social media strategies, a plan to use contents in the promotion of the prefecture (for example, encouraging dramas to be set there), the use of smartphone apps to help “Ehime fan creation” (Ehime fan zukuri), and a plan to develop local products with “narrative quality” (monogatarisei). The mission statement (on the report’s front cover) aspires to a distinctive prefectural brand: “Spreading the word about Shikoku and Ehime domestically and internationally, and the establishment of unique Ehime [onrīwan Ehime, “only one Ehime”].”66 Matsuyama, as the prefectural capital, is central to the strategy. As discussed in chapter 1, the mayor of Matsuyama, Nakamura Tokihiro, promoted community-building using Clouds Above the Hill, Shiba Ryōtarō’s novel of the Russo-Japanese War. In 2016, Nakamura, as governor of Ehime, was continuing the strategy at the prefectural level. Matsuyama has a population of just over 500,000. It has three major attractions: Matsuyama Castle, which dates from 1603; Dōgo onsen, one of Japan’s oldest hot spring resorts; and temples that form part of the famous Shikoku Pilgrimage around the eighty-eight temples linked to the Buddhist monk Kūkai (774–835). However, Matsuyama has also developed a range of contents tourism sites relating to the Meiji period (1868–1912), which have in common poet Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902). Shiki was born in Matsuyama. He is credited with starting a revolution that saved Japanese poetry from a “dismal condition” before tuberculosis cut short his life at the age of thirty-four. He developed a style called shasei (sketching from nature), and “made up his mind that his haiku would treat the experiences of daily life, and he turned his back on cherry blossoms and colored autumn leaves, the hackneyed subjects of Japanese poetry.”67 For his contribution to poetry and literature, Masaoka is honored in The Shiki Museum (Matsuyama shiritsu Shiki kinen hakubutsukan). This museum’s Japanese name bestows the highest possible municipal accolade on a local son: it is official (publicly-funded), has memorial

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(kinen) in its name, and is a hakubutsukan (museum). There are many facilities in Japan which are called “museums” in English, but most are not hakubutsukan. Many are actually document centers (shiryōkan), memorials (kinenkan) or myūjiamu (from the English “museum”). These do not need to meet the stringent standards of a hakubutsukan, which is a research institute as much as a tourist site. The other main sites to Shiki are the Shiki-dō, his family home, and Gudabutsuan, a house Shiki shared with novelist Natsume Sōseki for fifty-two days. During the Sino-Japanese War, Shiki worked as a war correspondent, but conditions in China worsened his tuberculosis. He returned to Matsuyama to recuperate and spent time living with his old friend from his student days at Imperial University (today the University of Tokyo). Sōseki was working as an English teacher at Ehime Prefecture Middle School. He was not yet known as a novelist, but this period inspired one of his best-known works: Botchan.68 Sōseki was only in Matsuyama in 1895–1896, but Botchan immortalized his connection to the city. Sōseki enjoyed bathing in Dōgo onsen. In the spa area, the Botchan clock is a landmark and meeting place, and in Botchan Square there are mannequins of characters from the story for people to pose with for photos. The tram service between the onsen and center of town is the Botchan Train, a tram pulled by a small steam locomotive. Another connection with Shiki is Clouds Above the Hill. The Akiyama Brothers Birthplace Museum was discussed in chapter 1. Shiki was the third main character in that novel/drama. As such, he also features in the exhibits at the Clouds Above the Hill Museum. The final connection with Shiki is the Ehime-ken Gokoku Shrine. The Ehime Man’yōen Botanical Garden containing poetry and plants from the Man’yōshū (discussed earlier in this chapter) is in the grounds of the shrine. Shiki was not afraid to criticize canonized works of poetry; for example, he famously commented that less than one in ten of Bashō’s poems lived up to his reputation. However, Shiki admired the Man’yōshū.69 It is appropriate, therefore, that Shiki is apotheosized at a shrine containing a

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garden to poetry he admired. However, Shiki’s apotheosis at this shrine is exceptional. Gokoku (nation-protecting) shrines usually apotheosize only those who have died in the military service of the emperor. Shiki had served as a war correspondent, but he died of illness a number of years after his return to Japan. His apotheosis, therefore, reflects his local importance in Matsuyama. It also reflects the desire of the shrine to maintain its relevance and appeal by honoring cultural figures and civil servants (police, firefighters) alongside Japan’s war dead from the period 1868–1945. All these connections to Masaoka Shiki create narrative and temporal coherence between the various tourist sites and contribute to the broader Matsuyama brand as an important site of Meiji period heritage tourism. However, there are other connections to contents tourism, too. The Dōgo onsen bathhouse is believed by some Miyazaki Hayao fans to be the model for the bathhouse in the Oscar-winning animation Spirited Away, so it is a sacred site for them. And the section on film tourism in the Matsuyama tourism page presents three sites: locations for the various film/drama adaptations of Botchan; locations for the film Manatsu no hōteishiki (Midsummer’s Equation, 2013), a whodunit based on the hit Galileo television series; and locations for Tokyo Love Story, one of the iconic “trendy dramas” of the 1980s.70 Matsuyama epitomizes a site of complex contents tourism. There are multiple sets of contents that may provide the initial motivation to visit the city. However, tourism experiences do not always proceed as planned. One of the authors went purposefully to Matsuyama to investigate Clouds Above the Hill tourism, but had the serendipitous experience of discovering Masaoka Shiki as a common theme running through Matsuyama’s various Meiji period sites. Other visitors, however, will take away different personal syntheses of this city’s cultural heritage, or limit their pilgrimage to the locations for Tokyo Love Story, or simply enjoy the spa waters and views from Matsuyama Castle with little consideration for contents. However, even visitors who go to Matsuyama with little

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interest in any of the contents associated with the city will find it hard to avoid some form of contents tourism. Tourist information, whether on the city’s homepage or in commercial guidebooks, prominently feature Matsuyama’s literary and film attractions. Complex contents tourism, therefore, does not simply mean visitation to a destination with multiple sets of contents. It means that in one destination individuals engage at various motivational levels with the multiple sets of contents. Wandering around Dōgo onsen, for example, one may seek out the Natsume Sōseki connections, but miss the Miyazaki Hayao ones. The site itself is equal to all visitors in the nature of its relationship to the contents, but visitors all take away something different. One of the pioneers of contents tourism research, Masubuchi Toshiyuki, asked What is Contents Tourism? in the subtitle of his first book on the topic. Contents tourism is not a switch to be turned on and off— this site is contents tourism, that site is not. Contents tourism is in the experience of the traveler: Dōgo onsen for some is simply a spa, for others it is a site connected to Spirited Away. Municipalities and tourism promotion campaigns enhance the narrative quality of a site by highlighting connections to contents: “this is where literary great Sōseki bathed,” “that is where Tokyo Love Story was filmed.” But complex sites like Matsuyama reveal the multiple shades of gray within contents tourism. Masubuchi’s main title is Monogatari wo tabi suru hitobito, “the people who travel a story.” The story in a film or life story of a favorite novelist may induce tourism; but ultimately “the story” becomes the traveler’s experience. “The story” is internalized in the traveler’s memory via physical experiences on site, such as visits to locations, paying homage, and re-enactment. These experiences inform the interaction between the narrative quality of the destination and the personal narrative of the trip that will be recounted to others on the return home. This is the essence of contents tourism.

Figure 30. Sites of contents tourism in Chapter 2.

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Canonized Texts and Heritage: Pre-1945 Contents Figure 31a. Overview of tourism in Japan to 1945.

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Figure 31b. Overview of tourism in Japan to 1945 (continued).

Sources. Compiled by the authors based on Funck and Cooper, Japanese Tourism, chapter 2; Ishimori, “Popularization and commercialization of tourism in early modern Japan.”

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Figure 32. Namahage.

Photo Credit. Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum.

In Akita, the Namahage are traditional demon-deities who scare children, but in recent years they have become a significant tourist attraction. In the photo corner of the Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum, visitors can try on Namahage costumes and masks.

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Figure 33. Mizuki Shigeru Road, Sakaiminato.

Many towns claim an association with yōkai (ghosts or monsters). They became highly popular via the manga of Mizuki Shigeru. This statue of Sanpei the Kappa in front of Sakaiminato Station is the starting point for the Mizuki Shigeru Road in Mizuki’s hometown in Tottori prefecture.

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Figure 34. Godzilla in Shinjuku.

Cinematic icon Godzilla has induced tourism to monster or science fiction conventions, as well as encouraging some fans to follow in his footsteps as he stomped across Japan. He became a tourism ambassador for Shinjuku in 2015.

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Figure 35. Iga Ueno Castle.

There are countless mascots in Japan. They usually fall outside our definition of “contents” because they are PR tools and in most cases inhabit no “narrative world” beyond “cute and welcoming.” However, they are typically themed around a key tourism resource, historical figure, or local specialty. In this case, Taiga-kun (Mr. Tiger, a play on words to include “Iga”) helps promote Iga Ueno Castle in Iga city, “home of Matsuo Bashō and Ninja.”

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Figure 36. Statue of Matsuo Bashō.

Matsuo Bashō was not simply Japan’s most famous poet. He was a “contents tourist” who visited places made famous by poems and then composed his own there. He is honored with this statue outside Ueno City Station, Mie prefecture, very close to where he was born.

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Figure 37. Basho’s Birth House.

One of the most important hometown sites: Basho’s Birth House, Iga, Mie prefecture. The monument on the left is inscribed with a nostalgic poem about home.

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Figure 38. Basho Museum, Tokyo.

Bashō receives the commercial tourist attraction treatment at the Basho Museum, Fukagawa, Tokyo. This photo board is next to a shop selling various souvenirs such as T-shirts and key rings. It is inscribed with “the frog poem,” Bashō’s most famous verse, and refers to the importance of Fukagawa as the start of his famous journey depicted in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

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Figure 39. Statue of Murasaki Shikibu.

Monument commemorating Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji, in Uji city.

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Figure 40. Visitor numbers at the Tale of Genji Museum.

Source. The Tale of Genji Museum.

Visitor numbers at the Tale of Genji Museum, Uji. The large spike in visitor numbers in 2008 was a result of many commemorative events organized for the millenial of the first records of the existence of the novel.

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Figure 41. Byōdōin.

Byōdōin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the building featured on the ten yen coin. When Byōdōin reopened after renovations in 2014, visitor numbers at the Tale of Genji Museum jumped, indicating the significance of “sightseeing contents tourism.”

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Figure 42. Statue of Yaji and Kita.

Statue of Yaji and Kita from the novel Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige (Shank’s Mare) outside Sumpu Castle in Shizuoka. A statue to a writer or characters from an important set of local contents is a common, low-maintenance way of creating a tourist sight and canonizing the author/work in local heritage.

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Figure 43. Graves of the forty-seven ronin.

Some heritage sites become significant through repeated depiction of the story in popular culture over decades, even centuries. The tale of the forty-seven ronin was just one of countless vendettas in the samurai era, but it was canonized and mythologized in plays such as Chūshingura and dozens of cinematic adaptations, which turned the graves of the forty-seven ronin at Sengakuji Temple, Tokyo, into a “sacred site.”

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Figure 44. Official poster of the Masamune-kou Matsuri.

Photo Credit. © 2010 CAPCOM/TEAM BASARA.

The 2005 computer game and 2009 anime Sengoku BASARA presented a highly stylized depiction of sixteenth/seventeenth century samurai Date Masamune and turned him into a sort of historical celebrity. Fans flocked to Sendai to see related sites and participate in fan events. Here Date is depicted in the official poster of the Masamune-kou Matsuri (Lord Masamune Festival) produced in collaboration with Sengoku BASARA.

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Figure 45. Statue of Date Masamune.

One of the most popular sites to visit was this statue of Date in the grounds of Aoba Castle. He is wearing his trademark helmet adorned with a long crescent.

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Figure 46. Fan messages to Date Masamune.

The adoration of fans is evident in this message to Date on an ema at Miyagi-ken Gokoku Shrine. The message reads: “November 16, 2009. It’s my second time [in Sendai]. Like the first time, I was so moved. I want to live in Sendai! I want to come here spring, summer, fall, and winter!!”

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Figure 47. Battle reenactment at Shiroishi Castle.

Photo Credit. Shiroishi City General Affairs Department Planning and Information Section. Sengoku BASARA also popularized the relatively-little-known Katakura Kojūrō. Events such as this battle reenactment at Shiroishi Castle (October 3, 2009) saw large increases in visitor numbers, including many rekijo (history fan girls).

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Figure 48. Visitor numbers at Shiroishi Castle.

Source. Shiroishi city website.

Visitors per year to Shiroishi Castle and the Warriors’ Residence. The effect of Sengoku BASARA in increasing visitor numbers is clear, as is the devastating effect of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami on visitor levels.

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Figure 49. Rekijo (history fan girl).

The history fan girl (rekijo) became a phenomenon from around 2008. In this photo, a rekijo poses between Bakumatsu Period icons Sakamoto Ryōma and Hijikata Toshizō in Shinsengumi garb at the photo corner of the Ryozen Museum of History, Kyoto.

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Figure 50. Recreating an iconic photo.

The photo corners of many museums and attractions provide opportunities for some casual cosplay. At an exhibition in Kōchi containing the set of the 2010 drama Ryōmaden, visitors may recreate the iconic photo of Sakamoto Ryōma.

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Figure 51. Sakamoto Ryōma.

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Figure 52. Visitor numbers at the Chiran Peace Museum.

Source. Minamikyūshū city.

War-related tourism has a strong element of contents tourism. Visitor numbers to the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots indicate the influence of films, particularly in 2001 and 2007.

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Figure 53. Tomiya Shokudō.

The Tomiya Shokudō (Tomiya Cafe) featured prominently in the 2001 film Fireflies and the 2007 film For Those We Love. This new site about the woman who cooked kamikaze pilots their last meals opened in 2001. A sign introducing the film Fireflies can be seen on the left.

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Figure 54. Visitor numbers at the Kure Maritime Museum.

Source. Kure Maritime Museum.

Another war museum benefitting from heritage and/or contents tourism is the Kure Maritime Museum (Yamato Museum). The rise in visitor numbers in 2012 can be attributed to the Taiga Drama Taira no Kiyomori (whose story included important episodes in Hiroshima prefecture) and then the popularity of the online game Kantai Collection helped boost visitation after 2013.

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Figure 55. Kantai Collection cosplay.

Kantai Collection features half-girl-half-warship characters called kanmusu. As well as visiting Kure and other naval sites such as Yokosuka in large numbers, Kantai Collection fans could be seen at the various cosplay events around Japan, such as these cosplayers at the Toyako Manga-Anime Festa in 2016.

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Figure 56. Fans of Hetalia.

With a number of popular anime having links (often very tenuous or fantastical) to World War II, military uniforms are common at cosplay events. Here fans of Hetalia come together for an awase photograph at the Toyako Manga-Anime Festa. The awase is a group activity in which people decide in advance which character they will cosplay as, and then pose together for photographs as a complete group.

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Figure 57. Dōgo onsen.

Matsuyama in Ehime prefecture is a good example of a site of complex contents tourism, in which many sets of contents co-exist within one destination. It is said the Dōgo onsen bathhouse was the inspiration for the bathhouse in Miyazaki Hayao’s Spirited Away.

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Figure 58. Akiyama Brothers’ Birthplace Museum.

The Akiyama Brothers’ Birthplace Museum commemorates the two central figures of Shiba Ryōtarō’s novel (and later Taiga Drama) about the Russo-Japanese War Clouds Above the Hill. Behind this statue of Admiral Akiyama Saneyuki (1868-1918) in the courtyard, there are posters advertizing NHK’s drama.

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Figure 59. Botchan Express.

The Botchan Express (tram) running through the city is in honor of Natsume Sōseki’s novel Botchan, which is set in the city.

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Figure 60. Ehime-ken Gokoku Shrine.

The Man’yōen Botanical Garden presenting poetry and plant species from the Man’yōshū poetry collection is behind the buildings on the left. The shrine apotheosizes Masaoka Shiki as a local cultural figure in addition to the prefecture’s war dead from the Meiji Restoration to World War II, and police officers and firefighters who have died on duty.

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Figure 61. Masaoka Shiki.

The poet Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902), a native of Matsuyama, is the common factor connecting together many of the sites related to the Meiji period.

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Notes 1. Nippon Onsen Kyōkai, “Onsen no rekishi (kodai).” 2. Keiunkan Inn, “Keiunkan.” 3. Ishimori, “Popularization and commercialization of tourism in early modern Japan,” 190–192. 4. Ishimori, “Popularization and commercialization of tourism in early modern Japan,” 183. 5. Graburn, To Pray, Pay and Play, 54. 6. Ishimori, “Popularization and commercialization of tourism in early modern Japan,” 188. 7. Masubuchi, Monogatari wo tabi suru hitobito, 31. Other railways, such as the Keio Line to Mount Takao near Tokyo, were developed in the postwar era, too. 8. Masubuchi, Monogatari wo tabi suru hitobito, 154. 9. Ariyama, Kaigai kankō ryokō no tanjō, 31. 10. Okada, Japanese Writers and the West, 31–50. 11. Ruoff, Imperial Japan at its Zenith, 7. 12. Uryū, “Kojiki” to “Nihonshoki,” 114–128. 13. Bartok, “Takachiho.” 14. Ruoff, Imperial Japan at its Zenith, 86–97. 15. Shimane prefecture, “The Kojiki and Shimane.” 16. Shimane prefecture, “Izumo Taisha.” 17. Kido Askew, “The politics of nostalgia.” There are also museums in Kumamoto city and Yaizu, Shizuoku prefecture. 18. Okayama Visitors & Convention Association, “Momotaro legend course.” 19. Foster, “Inviting the uninvited guest,” 306. 20. Foster, “Inviting the uninvited guest,” 312–317. 21. Foster, “Haunted travelogue,” 168; Sakaiminato city, “Databook 2015.” 22. Oume city, “Oume yōkai densetsu to jisha meguri.” 23. Funck and Cooper, Japanese Tourism, 23. 24. Shinada, “Man’yōshū,” 31. 25. McAuley, “Viewing a myriad leaves,” 4, 13. 26. Takaoka city, “Heisei 26-nen-ban Takaoka-shi tōkeisho.” 27. Porter, A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, 17–18. 28. Suetsugu, Chihayafuru 20, 139–147.

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29. Higashiura Yoshitaka, interview conducted by the authors, March 24, 2016. 30. Emmerich, “The splendor of hybridity,” 211–212. 31. Tateishi, “The Tale of Genji in postwar film;” Kitamura, “Sexuality, gender, and The Tale of Genji in modern Japanese translations and manga.” 32. Nishizawa Kumiko and Ietsuka Tomoko, interview conducted by the authors at the Tale of Genji Museum, March 24, 2016. 33. Ishimori, “Popularization and commercialization of tourism in early modern Japan,” 184. 34. Ueda, The Master Haiku Poet Matsuo Bashō, 25. 35. Shirane, Traces of Dreams, 220. 36. Shirane, Traces of Dreams, 13–17. 37. Matsuo, Bashō’s Haiku, 65. 38. Jippensha, Shank’s Mare, 14. 39. Traganou, The Tōkaidō Road, 106–114. 40. Kanamori, Edo shōmin no tabi, 12. 41. Ishimori, “Popularization and commercialization of tourism in early modern Japan,” 189. 42. Roesch, The Experiences of Film Location Tourists, 135–144. 43. See Millie Creighton, “The heroic Edo-ic.” 44. Kamiyu Rekishi Henshūbu, Tōkaidō gojūsan-tsugi. 45. Turnbull, War in Japan 1467–1615, 9. 46. For example, Yabe, Chō bijuaru! Sengoku bushō daijiten. 47. All Nippon Airways, “Tabisaku X Sengoku BASARA.” 48. Sugawa-Shimada, “Rekijo, pilgrimage and ‘pop-spiritualism’,” 38. 49. Yamamura, “Revitalization of historical heritage using pop culture in Japan,” 327–332. 50. Turnbull, The Revenge of the 47 Ronin, 70–76. 51. Turnbull, The Revenge of the 47 Ronin, 75. 52. Nishio city, “Kira Kōzukenosuke wo meguru tabi.” 53. Seaton, “Taiga dramas and tourism,” 95. 54. Miura, “Ryōma būmu no hensen,” 143. 55. Kyōto Ryōzen Gokoku Jinja, “Ryōma sai.” 56. Iwasaki, Tosajin no dōzō wo aruku, 5. 57. Tagsold, “Popular realms of memory in Japan,” 50. 58. Beeton, Travel, Tourism and the Moving Image, 68, 87, 101. 59. We avoid the in-vogue but problematic term “dark tourism.” Space does not permit detailed discussion here, however we concur with Richard Sharpley and Philip Stone who have concluded, “in some ways, ‘dark

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60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70.

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tourism’ is an unhelpful term.” In the context of war-related contents tourism, as this section indicates, many examples are better characterized as “light” (bright, uplifting, inspiring) or “lite” (not serious) tourism. We plan a fuller discussion of the relationship between “dark tourism” and contents tourism in future publications. See Sharpley and Stone, “Life, death and dark tourism,” 249. Figal, Beachheads, 52. Igarashi, Bodies of Memory, 106–114; Tipton, Modern Japan, 198. Sankei Nyūsu, “‘Eien no zero’ kōka.” Kure Maritime Museum, “10-nen no ayumi;” Hiroshima Peace Media Center, “6-nen buri nyūkan 90-man-nin kosu.” Yarimizu, “Sabukaruchā ibento to chiiki shinkō,” 191. Wakayama prefecture, “Minami no o-susume.” Ehime prefecture, Dai-2-ki, Ehime-ken kankō shinkō kihon keikaku, 19– 26. Keene, The Winter Sun Shines In, 1–3. Gessel, Three Modern Novelists, 28–29. Keene, The Winter Sun Shines In, 3. Matsuyama city, “Matsuyama film tourism.”

Chapter 3

Community-Building Through Contents: 1945–2000 The story of contents tourism in the period 1945–2000 unfolds against the backdrop of Japan’s rise from the ashes of defeat to economic and cultural superpower. Japan’s postwar economic transition divides into five main phases: 1) the occupation period and ignition of postwar growth during the Korean War boom (1945–1953); 2) the period of high growth, when Japan’s economy expanded at double-digit rates (1953–1972); 3) the period of slower growth following the oil shocks and the decision of the major economies to let their currencies float, which strengthened the yen and raised the cost of Japanese exports (1973–1985); 4) the bubble economy and period after the Plaza Accord (1985), which further strengthened the yen (1985–1990); and 5) the “lost decade” after the economic bubble burst and the Japanese economy’s slide into recession and stagnation. As Japan’s economy recovered after the war, people gained more financial capability to travel. Initially, this meant domestic travel, but after 1973 the stronger yen made foreign travel cheaper, fuelling the rapid rise in numbers of Japanese traveling abroad throughout the 1970s and 1980s (figure 86). The 1987 Resort Law implicitly encouraged Japanese

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people to take more time off work and spend more time on leisure. The Law triggered a rush of investment in tourist sites and theme parks, although many went bankrupt as the economy faltered in the 1990s. Also during the bubble era was the “Hometown Revitalization Project” of 1988. Each municipality was given 100 million yen to use as it pleased. Many chose to invest the money in tourist facilities. Into the 1990s, however, job security was undermined as corporations restructured, and social unease rooted in economic uncertainty pervaded Japan. While economic growth brought many benefits, there were also downsides. Environmental degradation and pollution blighted many cities during the 1960s and 1970s. Against the backdrop of civic activism triggered by issues such as the 1960 US-Japan Security Treaty, citizens campaigned for priorities other than growth and the machizukiri movement emerged. The term machizukuri, community-building, first appeared in the 1950s. Machizukuri was not simply urban planning: namely, coordinating the physical appearance of the municipality. By the 1970s, machizukuri revolved around giving the municipality a characteristic philosophy that underpinned both its physical and communal development. By the 1990s, machizukuri had developed various subcategories including “community-building through tourism” (kankō machizukuri). In addition to a touristification process for developing sites, community-building through tourism contributed to the municipality’s social capital (including reputation, connectivity, and image). This was not simply the branding of a tourist destination, but involved specific benefits to the welfare of community residents. Community-building through tourism gave municipalities a set of options for the creation of tourism resources: they could create new resources (either tangible, such as a new theme park, or intangible, such as new regional culture— including contents, but also culinary, artistic, and so on), or they could develop existing resources (touristification of existing physical features or the promotion of existing culture and stories).1 By 2005, these concepts from machizukuri discourse had been formalized into tourism policy

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in the government report that encouraged local authorities to utilize contents in regional promotion. The postwar period also saw major transitions in tourism behavior. Up until 1964, Japanese people were prohibited from traveling abroad for leisure purposes. The Tokyo Olympics that year symbolized Japan’s return to the international community after the war. The bullet train opened and overseas travel for leisure by Japanese restarted. This was the period of “mass tourism” when Japanese travel agents sold the package tours that would inform the typical image of the Japanese tourist overseas up to the 1980s. In the 1970s people aspired to possess the three Cs—car, cooler, and color TV—and car ownership transformed travel for the average family. Japan National Railways also had a number of influential campaigns (such as the “Discover Japan” campaign of 1970), which encouraged independent travel. In the early 1970s, the women’s fashion magazines an-an and non-no were first published, and these enhanced the social acceptance of solo or group travel by women.2 By the 1980s, therefore, the emphasis was on “new tourism” and the relationship between “hosts and guests,” with communities welcoming a more diverse range of independent travelers.3 With a strong yen in their pocket, Japanese traveled abroad in ever-larger numbers, topping ten million in 1990. Up until 1997, the Japanese government encouraged Japanese to travel abroad as a way of “promot[ing] things Japanese,” but after 1997, when the ratio of outbound to inbound tourists reached about four to one, emphasis switched to attracting more inbound tourists.4 Technological advances also diversified the media mix. At the war’s end, Japan’s media mix was limited to print (books, magazines, manga), cinema (including animation), records, radio, and toys/games. New technologies regularly expanded the potential media mix: television from the 1950s; cassette tapes in the 1960s; videos and arcade games in the late 1970s; CDs, satellite television, and home computers in the 1980s; and DVDs and the Internet in the 1990s. Furthermore, the picture/sound/ production qualities of these technologies improved all the time. Of

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particular importance to contents tourism is the development of playback devices that allowed repeat viewing or listening at home. Consuming contents “on demand” enables deep engagement with contents and thereby facilitates the generation of fandoms. From the 1980s, original video animation (OVA) emerged, making niche interest anime more widely available; and in the 1990s, videos opened up foreign markets to Japanese contents as films that were not broadcast on terrestrial television channels overseas or shown at cinemas became available on video.

Contents Businesses as Tourist Sites Contents businesses were defined in chapter 1 as individuals or groups that produce contents for artistic or commercial reasons. Within the crowded realm of popular culture, few contents businesses achieve the accolade of touristification, but if it does happen, the criteria are usually critical acclaim and/or commercial success. Many tourist sites related to contents businesses require little or no ongoing management. A statue of an author in a park requires few upkeep costs, yet might become a tourism magnet or local landmark. However, many touristification processes require substantial investment both to create and maintain a tourist site. There are three main sources of such investment: local or national government, foundations, and corporations. There might also be collaboration between these three in a single project. Publicly-funded (official) sites are created when a municipality or the state decides to honor important artists/creators by constructing a museum or monument, or marking/preserving sites (such as an author’s house). National sites honor nationally recognized figures, but local sites are not always built to people well known outside the locality. If a municipality decides to create a cultural facility—for example, a literary museum or a local art museum—the artists/creators honored there may be the most (but still not very) famous people from that place, or the people whose work best matches the broader role of the facility.

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Foundations (including wealthy philanthropists or benefactors) are groups of supporters who work to keep the memory and legacy of an artist/creator alive, often built around a tourist site containing authentic memorabilia entrusted to their safe-keeping by the artist/creator. While financial profit may not be a key motivator, any site created by the foundation needs to exist as part of a portfolio of activities that breaks even in day-to-day operations. The third model is the corporate sponsor. In these cases, sites are funded by major corporations as part of their business plans or public relations efforts. Examples include film studios open to the public and corporate museums. The financial benefits are typically indirect: namely, greater consumer loyalty, enhanced public image, or on-site merchandize sales. Financial losses at the tourist site may be underwritten by the corporation as an advertising expense. Ultimately, all sites have to attract sufficient visitors to justify the expense and require up-front investment and on-going maintenance. What makes a successful and sustainable site is a complex question for which there is no reliable crystal ball and no uniform set of criteria. Tourism developers have drawn insights from post facto analysis of successes and failures; and while best practice is refined through experience, replicating success and avoiding failure often hinges on another variable that is almost impossible to model: managerial (in)competence. Touristification projects with less potential often succeed because of the drive and vision of wise managers, while those with more potential can founder because of incompetence or profligacy.

Museums to Famous Individuals There are many individuals—writers, performers, artists, or directors/producers—whose achievements are honored in tourist sites. But, however iconic and influential the individuals were during their lifetimes, they are mortal and in the context of national culture their stardom is fleeting. Being feted in life and in death as icons of their generation does

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not necessarily translate into sustainable touristification potential. This is evident in the fluctuating fortunes of sites related to three of the biggest names of Showa period (1926–1989) cinema: director Kurosawa Akira, actor Ishihara Yūjirō, and actress Misora Hibari. Kurosawa Akira is celebrated domestically and internationally as one of Japan’s greatest directors. However, there is no dedicated museum to him for reasons of mismanagement rather than lack of touristification potential. Following Kurosawa’s death in 1998, there were plans to build a memorial museum in Imari city, Saga prefecture, at a site proposed by Kurosawa himself. A temporary Satellite Studio was established in 1999 while the Akira Kurosawa Foundation collected donations to build the museum. However, the project collapsed in 2010 amid accusations of financial mismanagement by the foundation, which led to the municipality withdrawing all support for the project.5 The Satellite Studio closed in 2011 and in 2016 the Akira Kurosawa Foundation website just has a placeholder saying “under maintenance.” This undignified memorial to one of Japan’s greatest directors is despite many key prerequisites (a meaningful site, worldwide acclaim, and support from the municipality) of a sustainable tourist site. Other cases indicate the long-term difficulties of sustaining a site to an individual star, even when the initial touristification was successful. Ishihara Yūjirō (1934–1987) is one of Japan’s greatest screen icons. He shot to stardom after appearing in the 1956 film Season of the Sun, based on his brother Shintarō’s prize-winning novel of the same title. Yūjirō has often been dubbed the Japanese Elvis Presley. Like the King, he combined singing and acting careers, gained a legion of loyal fans, and his life was cut tragically short (in Yūjirō’s case by cancer). Following his death, the Yujiro Memorial Hall opened in 1991 in Otaru, Hokkaido, one of the cities where he spent his childhood. It houses an impressive collection of memoriabilia including cars driven by him in films or owned by Yūjirō in real life, many personal items such as clothing and furniture, his countless awards from his singing and acting careers,

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and many photos/panels depicting his celebrity lifestyle, including one of him with Elvis Presley. Such purpose-built museums to an individual are rare as there are very few people who command enduring star power. Bridging the generational gap and creating a new set of fan-visitors from younger generations who did not grow up with the star as “their idol” is always difficult. Effectively, the individual needs to shift from being a celebrity to being a historical figure, a process that unfolds over decades, even centuries. In August 2016 the Yujiro Memorial Hall announced it would close. From a peak of 240,000 visitors per year, by 2015 this had declined to 130,000. After twenty years of operations, building maintenance and upgrade costs were escalating amid declining revenues. The museum developed a business model that combined celebrity tourism with online retail of Yūjirō goods to his fans, including DVDs, CDs, and clothing. The use of the term “senior fashion” to describe the clothing indicates how Yūjirō’s fans had become advanced in age. The museum was also receiving feedback that elderly fans were finding it ever more difficult to make the pilgrimage to Otaru. The museum had decided to scale down its exhibits and become a touring attraction.6 If fans could not visit the museum, the museum would go and visit them—a pragmatic business response for a market comprising primarily elderly fans and one that indicates how reinvention as a tourism attraction is often necessary to survive generational change. Similar issues exist in sites to Misora Hibari (1937–1989), a singer and actress who became the first woman to win the People’s Honor Award (given posthumously in 1989) for her contributions to music and film. In 1993 a museum commemorating Misora opened in the Arashiyama district of western Kyoto. It faced similar problems to the Yujiro Memorial Hall of a dwindling, aging fandom, but found a different response. When the museum closed in 2013, the commemorative site to her transferred to two locations: a display of memorabilia within the Toei Kyoto Studio Park and the Hibari Misora Memorial House in Meguro ward, Tokyo. The

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former is housed within a building that also contains Toei’s cinematic Hall of Fame. The latter is the family home, where visits are by appointment only. Collectively, the realignment of Misora tourist sites connotes a downgrading of financial risk. Rather than a specialist museum, Misora tourism is now at a generic site (where Misora’s life work is part of a broader site about Japan’s film heritage) and a private home (where the commemoration of a family member is done on the family’s terms). The Kurosawa, Ishihara, and Misora museum examples indicate that even the most glittering careers do not necessarily form the basis of a sustainable site of contents tourism. From the 1950s to 1980s, there were no bigger names in Japanese show business. But, stars fade and are replaced by bright new stars. The knowledge that even canonization in the popular culture of one’s era is insufficient to ensure sustainable contents tourism means that developers of sites of contents tourism need to look beyond the name value of their star and consider broader touristification processes and tourism area life cycles. The three museums discussed thus far have been primarily the foundation model of management; in other words, they are private enterprises that need not focus on profits, but realistically need to break even to survive. Individuals commemorated in publicly-funded tourist sites, however, are more likely to be commemorated as part of local cultural heritage. Local authorities subsidize the sites for their broader value to the community rather than their ability to attract large numbers of tourists. Many such sites are free. For example, there is a small exhibition to Ozu Yasujirō (the acclaimed director of Tokyo Story) in the Furuishiba Culture Center, Kōtō ward, Tokyo. Ozu grew up locally and some of his films were set in this part of Tokyo. He is commemorated in one room of the local culture center; and a walking tour map indicates filming locations in Kōtō and sites such as the plaque by the road that marks the location where Ozu’s house stood. This set of Ozu-related sites suggests there is little financial motivation behind touristification. Citizens are simply

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encouraged to engage with the history of one of their community’s most famous sons. While some sites are free, others charge only nominal entry fees insufficient to cover running costs. The largest category of such sites is literary museums, bungakukan. These divide into two main types: those commemorating a local author and generic literature museums such as The Museum of Modern Japanese Literature in Tokyo, which was established in 1962 and was the first such facility to be called a bungakukan. The first literary museum, however, is said to be the Toson Memorial Museum in Nakatsugawa city, Gifu prefecture, to Shimazaki Tōson (1872–1943), which was established in 1952 and opened to the public in 1957. In 2010 there were 737 such facilities across the country, an average of fifteen per prefecture.7 The majority of generic literary museums and memorials to individual authors tend to have hybrid functions as tourist sites and community centers. For example, the Himeji City Museum of Literature (Himeji Bungakukan) is a purpose-built museum in central Japan. Like many generic literary museums across the country, it has exhibitions introducing various local authors. The Himeji museum is notable for having genuine star power in the form of the Shiba Ryōtarō Memorial Room. Shiba, the influential historical novelist introduced in chapters 1 and 2, had family connections to the area and wrote the novel Harima nada monogatari (Tale of the Seas of Harima) about the family of Kuroda Kanbee, who was from Himeji and the subject of NHK’s 2014 Taiga Drama. Public facilities such as the Himeji City Museum of Literature are not financially sustainable simply as tourist sites. They charge a few hundred yen for entry, and receive at best tens of thousands of visitors per year. These revenues barely cover the cost of one or two staff. However, the facilities have an important community role. Their meeting rooms may be hired by local clubs and organizations, their libraries are places for people to spend time reading, they host educational visits by school children, help develop local identity, and stage cultural events. Their

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functions combine those of the tourist site (to attract visitors from afar) and community center (to serve local people). This operational model rooted in the philosophy of machizukuri, community-building, helps explain why there are some state-of-the-art museums and exhibitions to lesser-known contents businesses (particularly novelists) in unexpected places. For example, in Niseko town, Hokkaido, which is best known as an international skiing resort, there is a small museum to novelist Arishima Takeo (1878–1923). On the surface this is a site of contents tourism, but Arishima’s power as an inducer of tourism is less important than the functions and cultured aura of the building to which he lends his name. Located in a small rural community, the museum doubles up as a venue for chamber music recitals, symposiums, and film screenings.

Industry Attractions The second way in which contents businesses become tourist sites is when a company or industry becomes the attraction, rather than an individual. There are various categories of site, including film/television studios, company facilities, and generic museums to a particular industry. In most cases, the sites have a corporate sponsor and the primary function is to support the core business of contents production by building goodwill and the fan base, although revenues are generated through admission fees and merchandise sales, too. Some working sets and studios are open to the public. One of the oldest sites is the Toei Kyoto Studio Park, which opened in 1975. Run by the Toei corporation, it contains open air sets used in period dramas (jidaigeki) and visitors may also enter studios and see demonstrations of how films are made. The tourist site generates revenue on days when the sets are not being used for filming. Entertainment is laid on for visitors, such as ninja shows and demonstrations of sword fights, and there is a wide array of historical memorabilia on sale in souvenir shops throughout the park. As described earlier, there is also a section on film and Toei history, the Hall of Fame, and (after 2013) the Misora Hibari exhibition.

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A striking feature of Toei Kyoto Studio Park, however, is how few of the souvenirs on sale are related to films produced by Toei. There is also little explanation of what buildings have featured in what films (for film location hunters). Overall, the park has the atmosphere of a historical theme park more than a film set. It is a site of contents tourism that also attracts the cultural heritage tourist. It exemplifies the concept of heritage and/or contents tourism, whereby it is difficult to distinguish whether tourism is induced primarily by an interest in history (heritage tourism), an interest in a specific work of popular culture representing that history (contents tourism), or a mixture of both. Other film studios in Japan are off-limits to the public. The Kadokawa Daiei Studio and Nikkatsu studios in Chōfu city, Tokyo, for example, are both working studio facilities. The corporations may not want fans entering as tourists, but this does not stop municipalities from engaging in low-maintenance touristification and regional branding. Chōfu city calls itself the “city of film” and provides walking tour maps around the various facilities and monuments erected to this municipality’s important place in the history of cinema. Kadokawa acknowledges the interest in its facilities by having one of its famous monsters, Daimajin, outside so that visitors take a photo. But, this is as close as visitors can get to where Kadokawa’s core business of contents production takes place. Unlike cinema, in which ordinary members of the public are only involved in contents production when they are hired as extras, television stations invite members of the public to be studio guests for programs and tend to have facilities with at least public spaces and quite often exhibitions and attractions for visitors. Fuji Television’s headquarters in Odaiba, Tokyo, and Asahi Television’s headquarters in Roppongi Hills, both welcome visitors to their complexes. NHK Studio Park in Shibuya offers the most comprehensive television tourism experience. It has extensive displays about its programs past and present, and visitors can experience the world of television by giving a weather forecast or reading the news in a replica studio. It is also child-friendly, with many popular

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characters from children’s television programs for children to pose with for photos and educational areas to learn about natural history. There are contents business sites linked to manga and anime, too. There has been prolonged debate about the establishment of a national manga museum, and the government is reportedly planning to open a national (state-funded) facility in time for the 2020 Olympics.8 However, there have already been initiatives led by the corporate sector and municipalities. The Kyoto International Manga Museum was opened in 2006 as a public-private partnership between Kyoto Seika University and Kyoto city. Then in 2009 Meiji University in Tokyo opened the Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library as the first stage of a larger project to create the Tokyo International Manga Library. Yonezawa was a Meiji University alumnus, manga critic, and co-founder of Comiket (Comic Market) in 1975, and his manga collection was bequeathed to the university by his widow. Both of these facilities, while open to the public, function more as reading/research centers than exhibitions, although the Kyoto International Manga Museum does have exhibits, too. Other manga facilities, meanwhile, follow basically the same pattern as literary museums. The museum either honors a renowned local manga artist (such as the Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum, opened in Takarazuka city, Hyogo prefecture, in 1994) or the industry in general via the work of local artists (such as the Niigata Manga Animation Museum, which opened in 2013). Facilities relating to anime often double up as manga museums because an anime version is the next step for a successful manga within Japan’s media mix. However, one museum that is primarily for anime is the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, western Tokyo. It showcases the work of Oscar-winning director Miyazaki Hayao, although the studio is more than one man—another Studio Ghibli director, Takahata Isao, directed the powerful war drama Grave of the Fireflies and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, based on a Japanese folk tale. Following Miyazaki’s retirement in 2013, Studio Ghibli ceased production of feature-length anime, but

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fans of the studio’s many films can still visit the Studio’s museum in Tokyo’s commuter belt. There are also attempts to promote contents businesses as sites of industrial tourism. While the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) promotes sacred sites and the locations of famous films/anime, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) invites people to “Come see what makes Japan tick … See the process, taste the results and meet the people who make Japan such a fascinating and innovative place.”9 In 2016 there are nine categories of industrial tourism ranging from “Food, agricultural and fishery products” to “Content (media/ entertainment).” In other words, the motivation for tourism is to see how Japan produces its globally popular contents. This campaign indicates growing awareness at the government level that contents businesses themselves have touristification potential.

Theme Parks The discussion thus far has focused on museums and exhibitions, where visitors come to see and learn. At theme parks, the visitor experience is based around activities, such as rides and games, and leisure spaces, such as replica buildings, parks, or malls. There are numerous theme and amusement parks across Japan, many dating from the bubble era in the 1980s. During this period, local authorities had plentiful cash to invest and national government actively encouraged resort construction under the auspices of the Resort Law. Theme parks require massive upfront investment from local/national government, the private sector, or public-private joint ventures, and must then attract sufficient visitors to survive. When contents are involved, therefore, the parks become sites of supply-driven contents tourism. The theme park transports visitors in time and/or space to a constructed/staged world, either based on an actual time or place (such as a historical village or a park themed around the culture of a foreign

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country10) or a fantasy world created by contents. While discussing the connections between tourism and pilgrimage, Joy Hendry questions the usefulness of the term “pilgrimage” for visits to theme parks based on actual places and/or amusement parks,11 but there is more scope to consider visitation to sites themed by contents as pilgrimage. Furthermore, the stronger the theming via contents, the more likely it is that the theme park will become a sacred site for fan pilgrimage. To this end, it is useful to categorize parks into multi-theme parks, mono-theme parks, and semi-themed parks.

Multi-, Mono-, and Semi-themed Parks Multi-theme parks include Tokyo Disney Resort (Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, Chiba prefecture, opened 1983) and Universal Studios Japan (Osaka city, opened 2001). These typically showcase a broad range of contents produced by a single media conglomerate in one site. TDR and USJ exhibit primarily American contents, but at USJ in particular, Japanese contents have assumed increasing importance in recent years. For example, at USJ there were “Cool Japan” attractions in 2015 and 2016 showcasing Japanese popular culture. These theme parks are extremely popular. TDR had over thirty-one million visitors in 2014 and Universal Studios Japan had 12.7 million visitors in 2015. The secret of success, particularly at TDR, is repeat visitation: data from 2000 indicated that nineteen percent of TDR visitors had been more than thirty times.12 This indicates that many visitors are highly devoted to Disney contents and repeat visitation to TDR bears the hallmarks of fan pilgrimage. Other theme parks, meanwhile, showcase exclusively Japanese contents. In Tama city, a suburb of western Tokyo, there is Sanrio Puroland (opened 1990), which is where fans of Hello Kitty and the Sanrio corporation’s other characters can pose for photos with characters and watch stage performances. It attracted 1.26 million visitors in 2015. These multi-theme parks are expensive to enter and visitors have plentiful opportunities to spend even more money once inside on meals, rides, souvenirs, and

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accommodation. Given the expense, even non-fans are most likely to be purposeful contents tourists. Mono-theme parks, by contrast, showcase a single set of contents. The Yanase Takashi Memorial Museum (Anpanman Museum) in Kami city, Kochi prefecture, features Japan’s most popular character for preschool children, Anpanman. Anpanman sustains a thriving franchise of anime, DVDs, books, toys, and educational materials. The museum—and other facilities in Yokohama, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sendai, and Furano— operates as a merchandise mall as much as a tourist site. Mono-theme parks most obviously cater to fans, but while the Anpanman sites are a success story, mono-theme parks are risky for investors. If the popularity of the contents wanes or the fan base is too small, the site cannot attract sufficient visitors and flounders. One failed mono-theme park is Canadian World in Ashibetsu city, Hokkaido, which replicates the world of Prince Edward Island in Anne of Green Gables (1908). In addition to being a site of contents tourism, this park is a representative example of what Graburn calls “domestic international tourism,” namely tourism to parks in Japan themed around the culture of a foreign country.13 Anne of Green Gables was translated into Japanese in 1952 by Muraoka Hanako and remains a popular novel in Japan, especially for girls. Tourism by Japanese to Anne’s world began in the 1960s and in 1979 Anne of Green Gables became a television anime series as part of the Fuji Television anime series World Masterpiece Theater. Prince Edward Island became a famous destination for Japanese female tourists, and some tourists even thought of it as a “furusato [hometown] away from home.”14 Given this popularity of Anne of Green Gables, Ashibetsu opened Canadian World in 1990 as a third-sector development at a cost of 5.2 billion yen. However, the park was in an isolated location and visitor numbers decreased sharply after 1992. The company managing Canadian World went bankrupt. It lent the land to Ashibetsu for free and from 1999 Canadian World became a public park operated by the city.15 The

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park’s fate dashed the hopes of this former coalmining community, which had sought to develop new industries, including tourism, following the closure of its mines but instead became saddled with a white elephant. In 2014 NHK Morning Drama Hanako to An (Hanako and Anne) told the story of Muraoka Hanako, who translated Anne of Green Gables into Japanese. This renewed interest in Canadian World, but nevertheless Canadian World’s story indicates the risks of the mono-theme park. Wary of such examples, many theme parks spread their risk. One common approach is the semi-themed park. These are theme parks which are partially sites of contents tourism, although the overall park cannot be categorized as such. This dilutes the potential for fan pilgrimage. Nevertheless, attractions themed by contents can be important parts of the business model. One example is Fuji-Q Highland Resort in Yamanashi prefecture (opened in 1961), a large amusement park near Mount Fuji. The attractions include roller coasters, rides such as merry-go-rounds, and haunted houses, all within a complex that includes a resort hotel and onsen. Some zones are themed by contents. Those aimed at children include Thomas Land, a Thomas the Tank Engine theme park, and rides themed on the children’s characters Hamutarō (a hamster) and Kaiketsu Zorori (a mischievous fox). There is a relatively new zone (since 2013) themed on the French children’s books Lisa and Gaspard with Parisianstyle streets, cafés, and shops. Finally, for an older audience there is an exhibit about the domestically and internationally famous anime Evangelion. TOKYO-3, the main setting of Evangelion, was based on the Lake Ashino-ko area of Hakone town, Kanagawa, rather than Fujiyoshida city, where Fuji-Q Highland is located. However, both Lake Ashino-ko and Lake Kawaguchi-ko are located near Mount Fuji and have views of the mountain. Fans can easily feel and imagine the Evangelion worldview at Fuji-Q Highland. Attractions are themed at parks such as Fuji-Q Highland in the hope that they will attract fans of the contents. Not all zones are themed and the park sells itself primarily on the quality of its rides, its location, and other

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facilities (hotel, onsen, Mount Fuji art gallery/wedding chapel). The use of multiple sets of contents appeals to different audiences and contents can be rotated. The renewal of contents-themed zones, like the renewal of rides, helps attract new and repeat visitors to the park. The importance of contents for the branding of the park is evident in contents transport to and from the park. A train on the Fujikyū line (which has a station next to the park entrance gate) is decorated outside and inside with images from Thomas the Tank Engine. This train is almost an extension of the Thomas Land theme park and has a play driver’s seat inside the carriages for young children to play at being a train driver en route to the park. Furthermore, some buses connecting Fuji-Q Highland with major cities across central Japan are wrapped with Lisa and Gaspard. Resorts of the scale of Fuji-Q Highland can negotiate tie-ups and licensing deals with major international contents franchises. But, for many smaller amusement parks, licenses to use contents such as Thomas the Tank Engine are beyond their resources. Even so, rides are decorated with original characters or mascots. From the smallest to the largest parks, therefore, contents—from local mascots to globally famous characters— are used to enhance the pulling power of attractions which, when all the branding is stripped away, sell similar physical experiences: the roller coaster adrenaline rush, the gentle merry-go-round, or the view from the top of the Ferris wheel. In addition to being examples of supplydriven contents tourism, therefore, theme parks become destinations branded by contents.

Developing Sites of Taiga Drama Tourism The postwar development of theme parks in Japan cannot be separated from the evolution of tourist sites related to one of Japan’s most enduring television institutions, the Taiga (“grand river”) Drama, which began in 1963. They are epic, year-long biopics of a historical figure (although between 1967 and 1993 there were five series with fictional leading characters). Taiga-Drama-induced tourism has existed since at least 1965.16 These dramas have generated some huge tourism booms, but they

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have also triggered some reckless and ultimately failed touristification projects. Taiga Dramas induce tourism for various reasons. They usually tell the story of a real person and therefore fans have heritage sites to visit as well as shooting locations. Each weekly episode is forty-five minutes and airs on Sunday at 20:00. In the 1970s thirty to forty percent viewing figures were standard, although since the advent of satellite/digital television twenty percent is considered high. High ratings combined with the yearlong duration maximize the potential for people to develop a deep interest in the contents. In the 1960s and 1970s, Taiga Dramas were usually adapted from successful historical novels, for example, Shiba Ryōtarō’s Ryōma ga yuku (1963, see chapter 2) and the dramas have spawned other adaptations, including film and theater, and spin-off products such as magazines and documentaries. The contents, therefore, gain wide familiarity within Japan. Also important are the broader socio-cultural conditions that existed when the dramas started in the 1960s. As Japan entered its period of high growth, people gained more opportunities for leisure and tourism. Transportation infrastructure improvements (such as the opening of the bullet train) and wider car ownership facilitated travel to drama-related sites. Until 1969, the outdoor scenes of Taiga Dramas were filmed at or near NHK headquarters in Tokyo. There was no location shooting at historic places related to the story. Reducing production costs was the major reason, but television broadcasting was black and white at that time so locations were less important and the dramas resembled theatrical plays for the small screen. Runaway locations were also used. For example, one scene of the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani from the drama Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1966) was shot in Ōarai, Ibaraki prefecture, although the actual site of the events was what is now Kobe city.17 Nevertheless, people started going to the actual locations related to Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159–1189) in Kyoto, Yamagata, Iwate, and the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa. Each area prepared a plan for tourists, such as a boat tour at the Noto Peninsula.18

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With increased tourism to Taiga-Drama-related sites, tourism destination management began from the late 1960s. To promote tourism related to Ten to chi to (1969), which depicted the famous struggle between Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin, Kōfu city (Takeda’s birth place) erected a new statue of Takeda costing twenty million yen. Jōetsu, the hometown of Takeda’s rival Uesugi Kenshin, erected a statue costing eight million yen.19 In collaboration with the Japanese National Railways “Discover Japan” campaign, Kōfu started the Shingen-kō Matsuri Festival from 1970. The festival continues to this day. From 1970, location shooting began at heritage sites related to the drama, and destinations started promoting those places. Momi no ki wa nokotta (“The Fir Tree Remained”, 1970) was based on Yamamoto Shūgorō’s novel. The drama depicted the Date disturbance of 1661— 1671, which followed the replacement of feudal lord Date Tsunamune. The fir tree of the title reflected the tree’s significant role as a symbol of the dignity of the hero, Harada Kai, who was loyal to the new lord Tsunamura. This depiction ran counter to many renditions of his story in puppet theater and kabuki, in which Harada is depicted as a villain for killing an official critical of Tsunamura before being killed himself. The tree first appeared in Yamamoto’s novel, not in histories of Harada, and which fir tree was the model for the novel is unclear. However, in the ruins of Funaoka Castle (where Harada was born) in Shibata town near Sendai, there was a fir tree that was over 300 years old. It became a landmark because it was the same species as the tree in the title of the drama. In anticipation of the tourism boom, the local government invested seventy million yen to renovate the town’s museum. In Golden Week (back-to-back national holidays in late April/early May) 1970, around 100,000 tourists visited Shibata in one day.20 In 1975, Shibata town adopted the fir tree as its official town tree. Such developments in the 1960s and 1970s prompted the media to report on drama tourism as a new tourism phenomenon.21 Many articles were negative, citing the short-term nature of drama tourism booms.

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Nevertheless, three patterns were emerging: first, tourists increased before and during the year of drama and fell back to prior levels after the broadcast (“boom and bust”); second, visitors increased, but the numbers remained higher after the end of the drama (“destinations branded by contents”); and third, the drama resulted in little change in tourism levels.22 Furthermore, the significance of women’s drama tourism was becoming apparent. In 1970, the Asahi Shinbun newspaper commented, “Nowadays, nothing can become a boom if it cannot appeal to women.”23 From the late 1960s, women gained greater influence over consumption patterns in Japan, including tourism. The women’s fashion magazines an-an and non-no both published many feature articles introducing Taiga Drama locations. In the 1980s, Taiga Dramas shifted from being an adaptation of a famous novel to having an original script. The behaviors of drama tourists, however, remained largely unchanged. The major innovation within destination management was the construction of Taiga-Drama-related theme parks. Many theme parks are “anti-geographical” in that they need not be in a specific location.24 But, Taiga Drama theme parks were in actual sites and resembled heritage sites. A number of such projects were undertaken as part of local development plans. Various factors underpinned this trend. The success of Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983, encouraged theme park construction during the 1980s and 1990s. During the bubble economy, local administrations could afford to construct large-scale facilities and were encouraged to do so after the 1987 Resort Law. Furthermore, after the success of Dokuganryū Masamune (One-eyed dragon Masamune, 1987) about Date Masamune, who was introduced in chapter 2 during discussions of Sengoku BASARA, local governments and companies in Taiga Drama locations actively tried to increase tourism by developing sites.25 One method was the construction of an open-air theme park using drama sets. Given the restrictions on filming at historic sites, NHK typically built open-air sets. NHK would open them to the public during the on-

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air period and then dismantle them after the broadcast. Even though it was very popular with tourists during the drama, NHK dismantled the set of the Nobunaga King of Zipangu (Nobunaga, King of Japan, 1992) in Gifu immediately after the broadcast. From 1993 this trend changed. Ryūkyū no kaze (Winds of the Ryūkyū Islands, 1993) was filmed at Nankai Ōkoku Ryūkyū no Kaze (South Seas Kingdom Winds of the Ryūkyūs, hereafter “Winds of the Ryūkyūs Park”), an open-air set theme park in Yomitan village, Okinawa. Ryūkyū no kaze was also filmed at the recently-completed (in 1992) Shuri Castle Park, that contains reconstructions of buildings destroyed during the war.26 The theme park was constructed by the Okinawa Umi no Sono company, which invested two billion yen to reproduce the buildings of Ryūkyū Kingdom era.27 It was the first purpose-built, open-air set theme park created for a Taiga Drama. However, tourist numbers decreased immediately after the drama, the resort was a financial failure, and the Winds of the Ryūkyūs Park closed in March 1999. The company handed over management of the theme park to Yomitan village, which reopened the park as a community experience facility called Taiken Ōkoku Murasaki Mura (Experiencing the Kingdom, Purple Village) from August 1999.28 Before the problems besetting the Winds of the Ryūkyūs Park emerged, construction of the open-air set theme park for the next drama was already underway. Unusually, Ryūkyū no kaze only lasted half a year, so the next drama Homura tatsu (The Fire Still Burns) started in June 1993. An open-air set theme park called Esashi Fujiwara no Sato (EsashiFujiwara Heritage Park) was constructed in Esashi city (present-day Ōshū city, Iwate prefecture). Unlike the Winds of the Ryūkyūs Park, Esashi-Fujiwara Heritage Park was constructed by the local government. Esashi established a third-sector company called Esashi Kaihatsu Shinkō Kabushikigaisha (Esashi Development Promotion Corp.). With many stakeholders in the park, including NHK Enterprises (a subsidiary of NHK)

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and travel agent JTB Tōhoku, Esashi-Fujiwara Heritage Park managed to survive and continues to operate today as a theme park. However, others had not learned the lessons of the Winds of the Ryūkyūs Park. In 2000, Inamachi town (present-day Tsukubamirai city, Ibaraki prefecture) established a third-sector company called Media Park Tsukuba. With the involvement of sixty-two local governments and firms, the company launched the open-air set theme park Warp Station Edo in 2000. Warp Station Edo was built as a sustainable open-air set theme park, not specifically for a Taiga Drama.29 Despite using the same development model as Esashi-Fujiwara Heritage Park, the company filed for administration in 2002 just two years after it opened. The first year went well. There were 370,000 visitors on the back of the Taiga Drama Aoi Tokugawa Sandai (2000) about the first three Tokugawa shoguns: Ieyasu, Hidetada, and Iemitsu. However, visitors dropped sharply to 165,000 in 2001 and 94,000 in 2002. Tsukubamirai city took over management of Warp Station Edo, but could not afford its management and finally sold it to NHK Enterprises. The Fūrinkazan Kan park in Yamanashi was an almost identical story. Constructed as an open-air set theme park for the 2006 Taiga Drama Fūrinkazan (The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan), it was unprofitable and demolished. As the fluctuating fortunes of Taiga-Drama-related theme park reveals, contents tourism is linked to broader trends in the Japanese economy and tourism sector. The many failures indicate that Taiga Drama tourism can be a poison chalice if touristification is mismanaged. By the 2010s, the standard practice was to attract visitors to existing sites and a temporary display, either in an existing building or a temporary structure. Sometimes, these facilities are kept on well after the drama, such as the set of Ryōmaden, which was still in a “temporary” building outside Kōchi Station in 2015. However, the days of the Taiga Drama theme park are over. It is now assumed that the Taiga Drama boom is a year-long bonanza (“boom and bust contents tourism”), beyond which it is expected visitor numbers will

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return to pre-drama levels. The fates of sets of cinematic productions turned into tourist attractions have mirrored this trend. Local residents of Naruto, Tokushima prefecture, tried hard to keep open the open-air set of Baruto no gakuen (Ode an die Freude, 2006). The film depicted the friendships between local people and German POWs in the Bandō Prison Camp during World War I, and the story of the first performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Japan. There was strong local feeling to keep alive this heritage via a tourist site.30 However, after opening and closing in various forms, eventually economic realities prevailed. The open-air set closed in 2015.

Community-Building via Contents Tourism Many of the most successful cases of contents tourism have occurred within a broader machizukuri process in which the social capital of a destination is increased and touristification contributes to the identity or welfare of citizens. In this vision, contents tourism is a means of achieving non-financial goals of the community.

Monuments and Statues Communities around the world erect monuments and statues to honor people or events of local significance. In the previous section, two examples were presented of statues erected as part of a touristification process (Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin). More usually, however, monuments are erected to build a story into the local landscape and thereby into the collective memory and identity of a community. Such commemorative sites then become tourist sights attracting visitors from further afield. Most do not require staff or entrance fees and therefore do not register in tourism statistics. But, their impact can be very real. They feature on tourist maps as landmarks within suggested tour itineraries; tourists pose next to them for photos and share the stories embodied in the monuments with family and friends on their return home; and

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as sites where tourists gather, there can be shops selling souvenirs and refreshments nearby that generate economic impacts. For many monuments and statues the connection to contents tourism is obvious. There are statues to famous performers and creators. Other monuments are engraved with famous quotations, poems, or song lyrics. Then there are shooting locations, as in the town of Akime, Kagoshima prefecture, where there is a monument saying the town was a location for the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. Statues may also depict fictional characters. Such monuments are not necessarily to human characters. Doraemon, Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy), Anpanman and other characters of anime and manga are depicted in countless monuments nationwide.31 One example that gained widespread media attention in 2015 was the Godzilla monument both adorning and advertising the Toho Cinema in Shinjuku. It was unveiled to coincide with the king of monsters being named a tourism ambassador for Shinjuku. In addition to these more obvious examples, there is also the gray zone of monuments and statues to actual events and people that come under the category of heritage and/or contents tourism. These monuments and statues appear during the mutually reinforcing processes of local commemoration and representation within popular culture. In Nagaoka city, Niigata prefecture, there is a large statue commemorating the Kome Hyappyō (Hundred Sacks of Rice) story. Nagaoka was devastated in 1868 during the Boshin War. When a shipment of a hundred sacks of rice arrived to help the starving population, local administrator Kobayashi Torasaburō sold the rice to build a school. If it was distributed to the people it would be gone in a matter of days, he reasoned, but if it was sold and the proceeds used to build a school it would serve the community for generations. This allegory for the importance of education and longterm planning originally came to prominence as a novel and play written in 1943 by Yamamoto Yūzō. Under wartime conditions it was deemed an unsuitable message and suppressed. The play remained little known until it was revived in 1975 by Nagaoka city.32 Thereafter, it received

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its first performance at the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo in 1979 and was made into a film in 1993; but it really came to national prominence in 2001 when Koizumi Junichirō cited the “spirit of the Kome Hyappyō” in his inaugural speech to parliament as prime minister. Thereafter, the play was revived again at the Kabukiza Theater, the “spirit of the Kome Hyappyō” was chosen as one of the phrases of the year, and the story became well known across the country. In the midst of this, in 1991 the Kome Hyappyō monument was built in Nagaoka adjacent to the municipal Lyric Hall (concert hall) and Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art. The story is now built into the local landscape as a feature of local identity and heritage. Visitors to this monument are not necessarily fans of the film or plays, but as in most examples of heritage and/or contents tourism, the role of popular culture forms in creating the legend and its related sites cannot be ignored.

Preserving Urban and Rural Ideals Through Contents Sometimes sets of fictional contents become so significant to a particular community that they assume the status of heritage and shape a community’s sense of self-identity in ways just as real as actual history. Shibamata is a suburb of eastern Tokyo. In 1969 the identity and image of Shibamata changed irreversibly after it was selected as the location for the film Otoko wa tsurai yo (It’s Tough Being a Man). The film spawned a popular franchise and gained a Guinness World Record for the longest series of films starring the same actor (forty-eight films, 1969–1995). The plots were always variations on a theme: the central character, a traveling salesman known by his nickname Tora-san (played by Atsumi Kiyoshi), travels the country having various adventures and invariably being unlucky in love. Each film featured a Madonna who broke his heart, but part of the attraction of Tora-san was the good-natured way that he accepted his setbacks. While his travels took him to all parts of the country, generating a nationwide set of filming locations, he always returned to his family home in Shibamata.

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When director Yamada Yōji was searching for locations for the first film, he encountered the downtown (shitamachi) feel of Shibamata. Amid Tokyo’s gray urban sprawl in the 1960s, Shibamata maintained the atmosphere of old Tokyo. The It’s Tough Being a Man series stimulated a local movement to preserve that atmosphere and build a local community identity around the Tora-san films. Outside Shibamata Station, there is a statue of Tora-san in a small plaza. There are none of the ubiquitous ekimae (“in front of the station”) buildings visible in almost any city across Japan: high-rise apartments, department or convenience stores, coffee shops, and English conversation schools. Beyond the station-front plaza is a low-rise shopping street, which leads to Shibamata Taishakuten (Daikyōji Temple), a prominent location in the films. About half-way to the temple is a shop called Toraya, which was also used as a location for the films. It sells dango (sweet dumplings), as did Tora-san’s family in the series. About ten minutes’ walk from the station is the Katsushika Shibamata Tora-san Museum. The museum opened in 1997, a couple of years after the final Tora-san movie (the series ended when Atsumi Kiyoshi died). In its first year the museum had around 400,000 visitors, before dropping to around 170,000 in 2015. Sections of the exhibits are renewed every few years to encourage repeat visitors and regular reruns of the movies on television help maintain visitor numbers. Adjacent to the museum is another small museum to director Yamada Yōji. Yamada has directed many other classics of Japanese cinema but is honored in Shibamata at the site of his most famous creation. The museums and other locations combined make Shibamata a convenient half-day pilgrimage for Torasan fans within easy traveling distance of central Tokyo. The significance of the Tora-san films for Shibamata goes beyond contents tourism. According to the museum’s director, Kojima Masaaki, the films underpin an active project to preserve the Showa appearance of Shibamata. The attraction is not simply sites associated with the films but feelings of nostalgia (natsukashii) for the Showa period (1926–

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89, the reign of Emperor Hirohito) evoked by Shibamata’s cityscape. The tumultuous Showa period triggers many memories, associations, and emotions for Japanese people: total war, total defeat, occupation, recovery, the “economic miracle,” and Japan’s achievement of economic superpower status. The Tora-san movies began in the period of high growth. This period was not without its hardships, such as pollution and long working hours, but it was a forward-looking period as Japan clambered rapidly up the international economic ladder. Architecturally speaking, the Showa Japan of the early Tora-san films was still just before the high-tech, high-rise Tokyo of the bubble economy. Wandering through Shibamata today evokes a sense of nostalgia for that era during which the hard work of many Tora-sans was pulling Japan towards economic superpower status. In this sense, the main street of Shibamata is an open-air heritage site inspired by a set of fictional contents and preserved via a process of community-building through contents tourism. Rapid economic growth and urbanization did not only evoke nostalgia for more traditional downtown cityscapes. It also created nostalgia for the countryside. The dream of escaping the relentless drive for growth in Japan’s cities and returning to a rural lifestyle where there were more important things than economic growth became encapsulated in the Fuji Television drama Kita no kuni kara (From the Northern Country), which started in 1981. The drama was set in Furano, a small agricultural community in central Hokkaido. Settled by Japanese only in the late nineteenth century, Furano started gaining attention as a tourist destination in the 1970s. In 1976, a Japan National Railways calendar featured the lavender fields of Farm Tomita, which had been cultivating lavender for its oil since the late 1950s.33 This started the town’s modern tourism industry and today the lavender fields are one of the iconic images of rural Hokkaido. From the Northern Country is about a man, Gorō, who brings his two young children back to Hokkaido from Tokyo after his wife has an affair. They restart their lives in the middle of Hokkaido’s vast nature and

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throughout the many years of the drama (it aired 1981–2002, albeit not continuously) they build various houses for themselves. The From the Northern Country locations are the main contents tourism attraction in Furano today, and include Gorō’s stone house and some imaginative “recycled houses” made from ski gondolas, buses, and other recycled materials. The drama began just as the bubble economy was taking off. In a decade when people obsessed over money and success, From the Northern Country offered an alternative vision of returning to a rural idyll, reconnecting with nature, and valuing life’s simple pleasures. The drama was partly a reflection of the life of screenwriter Kuramoto Sō. He worked as a screenwriter in Tokyo during the 1950s and 1960s before falling out with NHK over the script of a Taiga Drama and moving to Hokkaido, initially to Sapporo but then to Furano in 1977. In addition to writing dramas depicting his adopted home, Kuramoto also established the Furano-juku (Furano Nature Studio), which trained aspiring actors/ actresses and theater workers. For two years, they could study at the Studio for free (and all buildings were built over time by the students themselves) and their living expenses came from working with local farmers. They aimed for self-sufficiency and reconnecting with nature. The training, therefore, included things like killing and plucking the chickens they would eat at communal dinners.34 The Studio was open for twenty-six years and under the directorship of Kuramoto established a high reputation as a touring theater troupe. Almost 400 people received their theater training at the Studio before it closed in 2010. The Studio’s philosophy and activities live on, however, in the Furano Group, formed in 2010 by Studio graduates. Kuramoto, by then in his seventies, continued to write for and be involved in the Group. The transition from a rural acting studio to celebrated theater troupe had taken another decisive step in 2000, when the Furano Theater Factory opened. This facility, as its name suggests, was conceived as a place for producing plays rather than merely watching them. Like the all-female Takarazuka Revue (based in Takarazuka city, Hyogo), this is a theater

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strongly rooted in a particular place and attracts theater aficionados on pilgrimages to Furano to see performances. Furano town, however, remains best known as a drama location and this features prominently in the town’s tourism promotion. From the Northern Country is the most famous. A museum about the drama was built in a converted warehouse in the center of town in 1995 containing extensive memorabilia and exhibits about the production. Initially open only during the summer season, it opened year round from 2003 when it had around 90,000 visitors. These numbers had dropped to 21,000 by 2015 prompting the museum to close in August 2016.35 However, the outdoor sets of From the Northern Country and the other works of the “Kuramoto trilogy” in Furano remain (Kaze no gāden, “Windy Garden,” and Yasashii jikan “Affectionate Time”). The locations for these and other dramas and films all build on Furano’s image as a rural idyll in central Hokkaido. In very different ways, therefore, both Furano and Shibamata pointed to what seemed to have been lost in the 1970s and 1980s during the nation’s rise to economic superpower. Through fictional sets of contents, both places seemed to offer an alternative vision of what Japan could be: a more wholesome rural community built on self-sufficiency and reconnecting with nature, or a less anonymous urban community in which local shopping streets did not have to be replaced by high-rise condominiums and shopping malls. Both places promote and express these community self-images through a network of contents tourism sites that speak to visitors not simply as fans of the films/dramas, but as people today who seek something more than the urban gray of Japan’s twenty-first century megacities.

Onomichi Hospitality Another city that has used contents in the construction of its self-image is Onomichi, a city of around 140,000 people on the Seto Inland Sea coast in Hiroshima prefecture. In recent times it has become known as one of the best examples of a city that has built a sustainable tourism industry

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in which contents tourism, primarily related to film and literature, plays a leading role. The secret of Onomichi’s success is a philosophy that goes beyond seeing contents tourism as simply a way to make money. Whereas many towns have built their tourism strategies around the idea of machizukuri, Onomichi has also prioritized hitozukuri (peoplebuilding), namely generating pride and a sense of identity among its inhabitants. Onomichi’s film commission works on a shoestring budget and does not actively solicit productions in the city, but through a philosophy of “Onomichi hospitality” towards filmmakers, Onomichi has become a popular location for producers by employing a variation of the tourism ideal of encouraging repeat visitors. The city also relies on wordof-mouth, which, from the very beginning, was a vital part of Onomichi’s development as a site of contents production and contents tourism. In November 1912, the novelist Shiga Naoya (1883–1971) first arrived in Onomichi. It was shortly after his estrangement from his family (due to an affair with one of the family’s maids) and he went because of a conversation with an acquaintance, who recommended Onomichi as a good place to spend some time. Shiga rented a room in a house with a view of the narrow strait between the main island of Honshu and Mukaishima island, one of the many islands that dot the Seto Inland Sea. Shiga spent only six months in the city, but it left a strong impression on him. He returned to Tokyo in November 1913, but years later, recounting his fond memories of his time in Onomichi to a friend would change Onomichi forever. The friend was film director Ozu Yasujirō. Ozu admired Shiga’s work and after hearing of his friend’s fondness for Onomichi, he wanted to use it as the location for a film. The film that Ozu produced required a location that encapsulated the ideal of furusato (hometown). Onomichi had not been bombed during the war (despite the presence of an important shipbuilding industry), so architecturally it retained a historic atmosphere. It was also famous for having many temples, one of which, Jōdoji Temple, would be a shooting location for Ozu’s film. The film was Tokyo Story,

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which has been widely acclaimed as a masterpiece of world cinema. Tokyo Story was not the first film to have been set or shot in Onomichi. That was the 1929 film Habu no minato (Harbor of Habu). But Tokyo Story put Onomichi on the global cinema map. Onomichi’s reputation as a film location grew, and by 2014 a total of forty-six films had been filmed there. Sometimes only short sections were filmed in Onomichi, or Onomichi was a runaway location for a story taking place elsewhere. But some films by the director Ōbayashi Nobuhiko, himself a native of Onomichi, were set entirely in Onomichi. The city has produced a locations map for three films—Futari (Chizuko’s Younger Sister, 1991), Ashita (Goodbye for Tomorrow, 1995), and Ano natsu no hi (One Summer’s Day, 1999)—that were set in Onomichi. These films generated film tourism and industry interest in the “local film,” and started the trend for establishing local film commissions across the country.36 Onomichi is not simply a city of film-location tourism. In the manner of Matsuyama (chapter 2), it is a site of complex contents tourism. Onomichi also promotes itself as a literary town. The house where Shiga Naoya stayed is one of three “houses of literature” (Onomichi bungaku no yakata) on Mount Senkōji. The second, the Commemorative Hall of Literature, profiles seven more famous authors and poets, five of whom were born and raised in Onomichi and two of whom spent time living in the city: Nakamura Kenkichi (1889–1934) and Hayashi Fumiko (1903– 1951). The third house was where Nakamura, a tanka poet, lived after moving to Onomichi to recuperate from illness shortly before his untimely death aged forty-six. The house where Hayashi lived, meanwhile, is in the Onomichi Hondori Shopping Street. She spent her school years in Onomichi and is most famous as the author of the autobiographical Hōrōki (Diary of a Vagabond), which has been adapted for television, screen, and stage on many occasions. Literature is also the theme of a hiking route up Mount Senkōji, which passes by the best known of Onomichi’s many temples: Senkōji Temple. The Path of Literature features poems or quotations from twenty-five

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authors/poets who have some connection with Onomichi. They include a poem by Matsuo Bashō and a quotation from Jippensha Ikku, both of whom visited Onomichi during the Edo period. Taking the cable car to the top of the mountain, from where there are spectacular views over the Seto Inland Sea, and then walking back down the Path of Literature via Senkōji Temple is considered the number one attraction in Onomichi. Onomichi, therefore, has a rich and varied cultural heritage, although touristification is a relatively recent phenomenon. The Path of Literature was originally created in the 1960s. The three houses of literature were refurbished as part of the city’s centenary in 1998 and reopened in 1999. The following year, the Onomichi City Museum of Cinema was opened in a converted warehouse in the waterfront area. This museum showcases the city’s history of film production, particularly Tokyo Story. Today, all these sites and the walking course connecting Onomichi’s many temples constitute the foundations of the city’s cultural tourism. Into the 2000s, Onomichi benefitted from two contents tourism booms. The first came in 2005. As described in chapter 2, there was a blockbuster film produced for the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II called Otokotachi no Yamato (Yamato, 2005). Onomichi had no direct connections to the real battleship Yamato, but was chosen as the site for the full-scale set of the battleship’s deck. Originally, there was no plan to open the set to members of the public, but after filming ended the set was opened to visitors on a trial basis from July 2005. The number of visitors confounded all expectations, so the period was extended. By the time the set was closed to the public and removed in May 2006, it had received 1,003,657 visitors. Onomichi’s limited hotel sector was not in a position to accommodate the thousands of extra visitors who visited the set each day, but car parks, restaurants, and ferries across to Mukaishima island were packed with visitors. A rough estimate of the impact of this boom (based on an average expenditure per person of 4,000 yen) is around forty million dollars.

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The second boom came in 2011 when part of NHK’s Morning Drama Teppan was set in the city. The story was about a young woman who had been adopted as a child. Her biological grandmother suddenly shows up and, despite not getting along together at first, they decide to open a restaurant in Osaka. The title, literally “steel plate,” refers to a hot plate used for cooking. The drama (as with other NHK Taiga and Morning Dramas) precipitated a tourism boom. The Teppan boom also generated a shift in local food culture. Okonomiyaki (often called a “Japanese omelet”) is a famous local dish in Hiroshima, but the drama spawned a new dish called Onomichiyaki, which was then served by a number of restaurants in the city. Onomichi is not the only city to have new culture created by a fictional drama, as examples in chapter 4 will also show. These two booms aside, Onomichi has a stable contents tourism sector woven into a broader tourism strategy, which also includes its picturesque location on the Seto Inland Sea and outdoor activities (particularly the Shimanami Kaidō coastal cycling route). The big name productions are just the tip of the iceberg. In 2014, the Onomichi Film Commission assisted seventy-three projects. Most were not big films or television dramas but smaller-scale productions including television commercials, “variety” television programs (especially travel and food shows), music videos, and corporate PR videos. All such production supports the local economy and tourism industry because, regardless of the production type, film crews stay in local hotels and spend money locally; furthermore, variety shows introducing tourist sites are infomercials that can induce further tourism. Onomichi’s policy of being an easy place for film crews to operate extends not only to logistical support from the city government, but also to the local population’s willingness to cooperate with film crews. The municipal identity of being a “city of film” means that issues such as recruiting extras, redirecting traffic, and securing “difficult” locations (such as school buildings) are handled relatively smoothly. This cooperative working relationship is encapsulated in the ethos of “Onomichi hospitality,” which, local officials believe, is why Onomichi has film producers approaching the film commission on a regular basis

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even though it spends little time and money on advertising itself as a location.37 Onomichi could only reach this situation by taking an approach to contents tourism that looks beyond financial gain. Rather than simply machizukuri (community-building), Onomichi aspires to hitozukuri (people-building) through contents tourism. In this vision, residents feel pride and attachment towards Onomichi because their city has a reputation as a site of important cultural production, and all residents can actively promote that reputation by adopting a welcoming attitude towards visitors. The value of contents tourism to Onomichi, therefore, goes beyond what can be quantified in terms of visitor numbers and economic impacts. The lesson that Onomichi offers to others is that while contents tourism has much financial potential, the municipalities that manage contents tourism strategies most effectively are those that operate within affordable financial means and with due consideration of non-financial goals.

The Beginnings of Manga and Anime Tourism This chapter ends with the beginnings of manga and anime tourism. The image of contents tourism in the 2000s is heavily associated with these quintessential Japanese popular culture forms. However, manga, anime, and the tourism they inspire have always had strong international dimensions. Whereas the word manga dates back to the 1770s, popular usage of the word only dates from the 1930s.38 Some scholars stress its roots in woodblock prints and other early forms of art, but others note influences from abroad. For example, the practice of writing speech balloons was imported from Western cartoonists during the Meiji period (1868–1912).39 Jacqueline Berndt, therefore, cites both the continuities and discontinuities with earlier forms of artwork and argues that “manga is historically (as well as aesthetically and culturally) ambiguous.”40 Less ambiguous is the massive influence, culturally and financially, of

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manga and anime in the Japanese and global entertainment markets in the postwar era. Manga and anime, like literature and film, are diverse mediums with numerous genres and target audiences. Manga are consumed by both children and adults; they cover the full spectrum of subject matter from non-fiction to realistic fiction to fantasy; they can be niche or populist; their production values range from ultra-low-budget kitsch to exquisitely crafted art; and they can be distributed in various formats from fanproduced comics to mass-release publications. Craig Norris presents six forms of manga: 1) four cell manga (for gag or nonsense stories), 2) story manga (which is novelistic or cinematic), 3) children’s manga (cuter and influenced by Disney), 4) gekiga manga (dramatic and realistic, often with adult themes), 5) shōnen manga (action-based plots, aimed at boys), and 6) shōjo manga (fantasy- or romance-based plots, aimed at girls).41 Anime also has many genres. Okamoto Takeshi subdivides the trends in anime into four main periods.42 The first postwar anime boom was in the 1960s, with the beginning of television anime and cinematic anime. Most productions were aimed at children. The second boom was in the 1970s and 1980s. Anime diversified, was aimed at adults as well as children, and the emergence of original video animation (OVA) after 1983 created a market for niche, straight-to-video works. The third boom was from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. A number of influential anime were released, such as Evangelion. By this time, otaku culture had shifted from subculture to relatively mainstream culture. Azuma Hiroki has referred to this period as the start of “database consumption,” in other words, fans were not consuming “a work (a small narrative), … a worldview behind it (a grand narrative) … [or] characters and settings (a grand non-narrative),” but rather “the database of otaku culture as a whole.”43 Finally, the fourth boom in the 2000s is when “slice of life” anime become very popular. Given the popularity of manga and anime both domestically and abroad, their potential to induce tourism is vast. It is hard to say with

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precision exactly when travel induced by manga and anime began, but the answer to this question exists in two stages. The latter stage is when museums and monuments to manga artists and animators (“contents businesses”) begin appearing. Such sites emerged in significant numbers from the 1990s. The Association of Japanese Animations has an online Manga and Anime Museum national map that lists the main facilities across the country (table 64). The earliest museum in terms of the contents is the Tagawa Suihō, Norakuro Hall in the Morishita Cultural Center, Kōtō Ward, Tokyo. Norakuro was a black and white dog character who served in Japan’s prewar military. Manga and anime versions were produced in the 1930s and again in the 1970s. The earliest tourist facility by opening date is the Hasegawa Machiko Art Museum. However, when this museum opened in 1985 it displayed the private art collection of the Hasegawa sisters, Machiko and Mariko, and only later after Machiko’s death in 1992 did the museum start displays about the sisters’ manga (Machiko is best known as the author of Sazaesan). Manga/anime museums, therefore, mirror the broader trend in Japan of museum planning and construction during the bubble economy years and opening in the 1990s. The former stage in the process is when fans start traveling to the locations of manga/anime or sites related to the characters or story. As discussed earlier, Taiga-Dramas-induced tourism in the 1960s persuaded local authorities and corporations to invest in touristification. The pattern with manga/anime is the same. Okamoto identifies examples of anime pilgrimage occurring in the early 1990s, even though it was not until 2008 that the term gained attention in the media.44 Such “otaku tourism” probably extends back even further, although there is little media record of the phenomenon and in pre-Internet days reminiscences of such travel did not make their way into the public domain as they do today. The oldest unambiguous evidence of manga/anime-induced tourism dates back to the 1970s; and befitting manga/anime’s “ambiguous” history with considerable foreign influence, the travel induced was not within

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Japan, but abroad. Furthermore, it was young women, not otaku men, who were doing the traveling. In 1969, a new animation series started on Japanese television called World Masterpiece Theater. This TV series offered Japanese children sophisticated world children’s literature in animation format. The series ran until 1997 (and then enjoyed a revival 2007–2009) and was broadcast during Sunday prime time (from 19:30 to 20:00) on the Fuji TV network. Earlier in the chapter, it was described how Anne of Green Gables, both the novel and World Masterpiece Theater anime, induced tourism to Canada. Another example of anime-induced tourism among young Japanese women was triggered by Heidi: Girl from the Alps (Arupusu no shōjo Haiji), which was broadcast in Japan in 1974. Heidi was based on Johanna Spyri’s novel of the same title (1880). Japanese tours to Maienfeld, Switzerland, where the story is set, became popular among women who grew up in the late 1970s as well as younger people who consumed the contents of Heidi and others as mascot characters. Today, Heidi is also known as an early work of the Japanese anime maestros, Miyazaki Hayao and Takahata Isao. The beautiful scenery of Switzerland depicted in the anime made a strong impression on children in the 1970s, when rapid economic growth caused pollution and de-greening of urban areas. Slow food culture also raised admiration for Switzerland among children. The Heidi Foundation was established in 1999 to promote and publicize Spyri’s novel. Although it promotes the world of Spyri’s Heidi, the webpage and signs in Maienfeld use the Japanese anime characters to promote tourism, obviously targeting Japanese tourists. According to the 1998 White Paper on Tourism, the number of female tourists abroad in their twenties surpassed that of male tourists in 1986 for the first time.45 Young women who had jobs but few family commitments pre-marriage emerged as a key tourism demographic in 1980s Japan. While the increasing numbers of women traveling overseas in the 1980s certainly cannot all be attributed to World Masterpiece Theater, some of these women were anime-induced tourists (directly interested in one of the stories) or

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genre-based contents tourists (possessing a desire to visit Europe or the Americas based on positive images gained via anime). Another case of tourism to Europe induced by a World Masterpiece Theatre anime is A Dog of Flanders (1975), which is set in Antwerp, Belgium. It is based on a work of British children’s literature of the same title by Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramee) (1872). The Japanese adaptation focuses on a poor ten-year-old boy called Nello and his dog Patrache. Nello saved Patrache, who was dying from malnutrition and abuse by his former master. Although they were poor, they had a happy life until Nello’s grandfather, who was raising him, died. After his grandfather’s death, Nello was falsely accused of stealing money and ended up dying from hunger and cold with Patrache in front of P. P. Rubens’ famous painting “The Elevation of the Cross” at Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, which Nello had longed to see. This tragic story tremendously moved Japanese audiences in its anime version. Unlike Heidi, this novel was almost unknown to local people in the place where it was set. In the documentary Patrache, A Dog of Flanders, Jan Corteel describes how he was working at the Antwerp tourism office in 1981 when he was asked about A Dog of Flanders by a Japanese tourist. Only then did he “discover” that Antwerp was incredibly famous in Japan due to the anime based on the novel set in his town.46 In 1984, the popular local cartoon series Suske en Wiske featured A Dog of Flanders, although it converted the tragic story into a comedy. The increase in numbers of Japanese tourists to Antwerp stimulated local people’s pride and identity. The publisher of Suske en Wiske, de Standdard, sponsored a statue of Nello and Patrasche in Hoboken village in 1985. However, the statue barely resembles the anime characters that the Japanese tourists expected to see. Therefore, it disappoints most, especially female tourists, who love the round-faced Nello, cute-eyed Patrache, and the tragic story. Representations of Europe and European children’s literature have been significant driving forces in the construction of Japanese girls’ culture since the 1920s. Before World War II, numerous illustrations

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related to European fairy tales appeared in girls’ magazines such as Friends of Girls (Shōjo no tomo) and The World of Ladies (Reijokai). Since the war, Europe has been positively represented in girls’ manga magazines, women’s fashion magazines, and TV animation.47 This helped Europe become one of the most popular destinations for female tourists in the 1980s and constitutes a clear example of international contents tourism dating back to the 1970s. The process reflects the situation described by Clothilde Sabre in her study of French tourists visiting Japan because of the “nostalgia” they felt for the Japanese anime that they watched on French television in the 1970s.48 As Japan entered the twenty-first century, therefore, patterns of contents tourism already contained a significant international dimension. But, these international dimensions took center stage in the new millennium as Japan, at both national and local levels, increasingly branded itself in terms of its popular culture and placed contents tourism at the heart of tourism and touristification strategies. This is the story of the final chapter.

Figure 62. Sites of contents tourism in Chapter 3.

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Community-Building Through Contents: 1945–2000 Figure 63a. Chronology of postwar history, media, and tourism.

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Figure 63b. Chronology of postwar history, media, and tourism (continued).

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Figure 63c. Chronology of postwar history, media, and tourism (continued).

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Figure 63d. Chronology of postwar history, media, and tourism (continued).

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Figure 64. Chronology of the opening of the main manga/anime tourist facilities.

Source. Association of Japanese Animations. Manga and Anime Museum national map, accessed May 25, 2016, http://sam.or.jp/map/.

Note. * denotes libraries, or facilities where manga/anime displays are not the primary function. The names of some facilities have changed since opening.

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Figure 65. Ozu Yasujirō exhibition.

There are many financial models for sites of contents tourism. In some cases the local authority wholly subsidizes a site because it is an important part of local heritage. An example is the Ozu Yasujirō exhibition in the Furuishiba Culture Center, Tokyo, which is in a municipal community center and free to enter.

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Figure 66. Asahi Television visitor center.

A free site might also be a PR front for a media company. The Asahi Television visitor center in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, has displays about the television channel’s most popular programs, such as Crayon Shinchan.

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Figure 67. Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum.

Many literary museums (bungakukan) are multipurpose public sector sites. The Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum in Niseko, a town in Hokkaido best known as an international skiing resort, combines the functions of literary museum and local community center.

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Figure 68. Yujiro Memorial Hall.

Other sites have to work on a break-even or for-profit basis. The Yujiro Memorial Hall in Otaru commemorates one of the entertainment industry megastars of postwar Japan. However, escalating maintenance costs and an aging fandom caused the museum to change its business model in 2017 from permanent museum to traveling exhibition.

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Figure 69. Ultraman Stadium.

Photo Credit. ©TSUBURAYA PROD.

The secret of a sustainable site is a set of contents whose popularity transcends generations. The Ultraman Stadium in Nomi city, Ishikawa prefecture, is a site to the sci-fi television series (Ultra series) that started with Ultraman in 1966 and is still going strong in 2016. Visitors can enjoy interacting with Ultra heroes, viewing displays about the history of the Ultra series, and purchasing original goods. The Stadium opened in 2004, closed temporarily in 2007, and reopened the following year.

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Figure 70. Ultraman Stadium shop.

Photo Credit. ©TSUBURAYA PROD.

Merchandize sales are key to site sustainability. Most sites have gift shops, which sell not only souvenirs for sightseeing tourists but also merchandize for fans such as DVDs, collectible items, and clothing. Many are increasingly involved in online retail as a means of sustaining the site.

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Figure 71. Kita no Kuni Kara Museum.

It might be the level of running costs rather than the popularity of the contents that determines site survival. The Kita no Kuni Kara Museum in Furano, Hokkaido, closed in August 2016. It required heating, lighting, building maintenance, and staffing.

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Figure 72. Gorō’s stone house.

Meanwhile, the open-air sets used in the filming of the long-running drama remain key attractions in the town. Gorō’s stone house and other sites remain open to the public in 2016.

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Figure 73. Taiga Drama pavilion for Yae no sakura.

The annual Taiga Drama on NHK has been a major driver of heritage and/or contents tourism since the 1960s. There was much trial and even more error in the way many sites were managed. The spectacular failure of some resort development projects in the 1990s has led to a cautious approach in the 2000s. The Taiga Drama pavilion Yae no sakura was in a converted public building. It had 593,388 visitors while open in 2013.

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Figure 74. Taiga Drama pavilion for Gunshi Kanbee.

The Taiga Drama pavilion in 2014 for the drama Gunshi Kanbee was a temporary structure on a lawn outside Himeji Castle. It was removed as soon as the drama finished.

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Figure 75. The set of Ryōmaden.

The 2010 Taiga Drama Ryōmaden triggered the largest ever tourism boom (in terms of economic impact) for a Taiga Drama according to Bank of Japan estimates. A pavilion in front of Kōchi Station that contains the set for the drama (and now doubles as a tourist information center) is something of an exception in that it remains open in 2016, six years after the drama. This is largely due to the massive presence of Sakamoto Ryōma in Kōchi’s regional branding.

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Figure 76. Toei Kyoto Studio Park.

Contents tourism is not simply an activity for the fan. Many sites of contents tourism cater to the sightseeing or casual tourist. The high entry prices of many theme parks mean that tourists are typically “purposeful” in choosing the attraction, but many sites are popular because they offer “something for everyone in the family” rather than being just a “sacred site” for pilgrims. In this photo, a group of tourists poses with a kimono-clad employee at Toei Kyoto Studio Park.

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Figure 77. Botchan Square.

This photo captures a moment of casual sightseeing. Tourists are taking a group photo by Botchan characters in Botchan Square, Matsuyama. Perhaps they were Natsume Sōseki fans who were in Matsuyama specifically to see related sights. Or perhaps they were just wandering around Dōgo onsen and happened to see a good spot for a family photo.

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Figure 78. Thomas Land.

For many contents tourists, their connection with the contents is of secondary importance to their connection with the people they accompany to a site of contents tourism. A couple on a date may decide to go somewhere of particular interest to one partner this time, and the other partner next time. And at children’s theme parks, most adult visitors are there only because they are accompanying children. Visitation to Thomas Land at Fuji-Q Highland near Mount Fuji is a representative example of contents tourism for kids, and their guardians mainly enjoy the enjoyment of the children.

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Figure 79. Hokkaido Greenland.

The complex issue of visitor motivation is encapsulated in this photo taken at Hokkaido Greenland, an amusement park in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido. A crowd sits on a grassy hillside watching a play with characters from Kamen Raidā (Masked Rider). To their right is a temporary attraction for the game/manga/anime Yōkai Watch. Are they there primarily for these limited period attractions or for the roller coasters? Are they there as fans or guardians of fans? Or have they simply found a sunny spot to eat lunch?

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Figure 80. Hundred Sacks of Rice Monument.

Towns often build monuments to build a narrative into the landscape and identity of their community. In Nagaoka, Niigata prefecture, the Hundred Sacks of Rice Monument reminds citizens and tourists alike of a parable about the importance of longterm investment in education.

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Figure 81. Toraya dumpling shop.

In Shibamata, Tokyo, the series of films It’s Tough Being a Man was used as an opportunity to preserve the atmosphere of traditional downtown Tokyo. People visit for the atmosphere of the main street as well as for the shooting locations and museum connected to the films. This shop, Toraya, was used as a location for the film and sells sweet dumplings as Tora-san’s family did in the films.

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Figure 82. The Path of Literature.

Onomichi in Hiroshima prefecture has developed a complex contents tourism industry based around a diverse literary and cinematic heritage, but has also used this cultural heritage to build an ethos of “Onomichi hospitality” and “people-building.” The Path of Literature leads up the summit of Mount Senkōji. It passes a number of small museums to famous local authors and excerpts from literature and poetry are inscribed on monuments.

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Figure 83. Onomichi City Museum of Cinema.

The Onomichi City Museum of Cinema commemorates the many films shot in Onomichi, although the exhibits focus on Ozu Yasujirō’s classic film Tokyo Story, which established Onomichi’s position in Japan’s cinematic history.

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Figure 84. Set of Otokotachi no Yamato.

Photo Credit. Onomichi Film Commission

Successful machizukuri (community-building) relies on consideration of financial benefits of tourism in average years rather than boom years, and how tourism builds the community’s identity on a day-to-day basis. However, municipalities still hope for the occasional contents tourism boom. Onomichi experienced one such boom in 2005, when over a million visitors went to the set of the blockbuster World War II film Otokotachi no Yamato.

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Notes 1. Yasufuku et al., “Kankō machizukuri” saikō, 14, 19, 33, 114; Yamamura, Anime, manga de chiiki shinkō, 57. 2. Sugawa-Shimada, “Rekijo, pilgrimage and ‘pop-spiritualism’,” 41. 3. Yamamura, “Kankō jōhō kakumei jidai no tsūrizumu”, 3–5. 4. Funck and Cooper, Japanese Tourism, 46. 5. Gerow, “The Akira Kurosawa Memorial Museum memorial.” 6. Yujiro Memorial Hall, “Ishihara Yūjirō kinenkan;” Honma Jun, interview at the Yujiro Memorial Hall and personal correspondence, September 19 and 21, 2016. 7. Okano, “Gaidobukku wo mochiita ‘bungakukan’ gainen no henyō ni kansuru yobi kōsatsu,” 16; Okano, “Toshokan to bungakukan no renkei,” 237. 8. Chicago Tribune, “Japan plans to open national manga museum.” 9. Japan External Trade Organization, “Industrial tourism in Japan.” 10. Hendry, “Fantasy travel in time and space.” 11. Hendry, “Old gods, new pilgrimages?,” 89. 12. Toyoda, “Recontextualizing Disney,” 212. 13. Graburn, “The past and the other in the present.” Sites include the Little World Museum of Man in Inuyama, Aichi prefecture, which has replica buildings from around the world. 14. Rea, “A furusato away from home.” 15. Kawanishi, “Chiiki keiei ni okeru daisan sekutā katsuyō senryaku no shippai,” 101. 16. Nakamura, “Kankō ni okeru masumedia no eikyō,” 90. 17. Asahi Shinbun, “Ōarai kaigan de Ichi no Tani no Kassen.” 18. Lee, “‘Taiga dorama’ jyanru no tōjō to sono shakaiteki imi no keiseikatei,” 162. 19. Asahi Shinbun, “Momi no ki ippon ni ichinichi jūmannin.” 20. Asahi Shinbun, “Momi no ki ippon ni ichinichi jūmannin.” 21. Shūkan TV Gaido, “Genchi repōto terebi ga tsukutta kankō no yume no ato ‘Momi no ki’ ga owatte shakkin ga nokotta.” 22. Nakamura, “Kankō ni okeru masumedia no eikyō,” 94–96. 23. Asahi Shinbun, “Momi no ki ippon ni ichinichi jūmannin.” 24. Beeton, Film-Induced Tourism, 184. 25. Nakamura, “Kankō ni okeru masumedia no eikyō,” 90.

Community-Building Through Contents: 1945–2000 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48.

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Figal, Beachheads, 150–158. Ryūkyū Nippō, “‘Ryūkyū no kaze’ kongetsu de heikan.” Okinawa prefecture, Sōgō hoyō chiiki no seibi ni kansuru kihon kōsō, 20. Tsukubamirai city, “Media Park City seibi kōsō no kongo ni tsuite,” 6. Yamaguchi, “Eiga kankō to jūmin undō,” 28–35. Sumi, Dōzō rekishi sanpo, 112–130. Yamamoto, One Hundred Sacks of Rice, 96–100. Farm Tomita, “Fāmu Tomita no rekishi.” Kuramoto, Furano juku, 18–19. Asahi Shinbun, “Jun to Hotaru no omoide.” Toyama Kindaishi Kenkyūkai, Rekishi to kankō, 71. Shintaku Yasuo and Nakahama Shoji, interview conducted by the authors at Onomichi city hall, March 25, 2016. Norris, “Manga, anime and visual art culture,” 240. Ito, “Manga in Japanese history,” 30. Berndt, “Considering manga discourse,” 305. Norris, “Manga, anime and visual art culture,” 239. Okamoto, n-th Creation Tourism, 60–61. Azuma, Otaku, 54. Okamoto, “Otaku tourism and the anime pilgrimage phenomenon in Japan,” 22. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, “Heisei 10nen-ban: kankō hakusho no gaiyō.” Volckaert, Patrache, A Dog of Flanders. Sugawa, Shōjo to mahō, 24–30. Sabre, “French manga and anime fans in Japan.”

Chapter 4

Digital Age Contents Tourism: 2000–2015 Japan’s economic bubble burst in 1990 precipitating the “lost decade.” Into the 2000s, the lost decade became “lost decades” amid persistent economic stagnation. At the beginning of the new millennium, the Japanese model that had worked during the “miracle” (namely, export of high-quality manufactured goods) seemed outdated as other countries in Asia took over as the world’s factory. Structural rigidities in the labor market and corporate culture left Japan ill-equipped to adapt in the post-growth era. The government’s periodic attempts to prime the economy with investments in public works or other initiatives faced the challenge of engineering economic growth amidst demographic decline. After peaking at 128,084,000 in 2008, the population started shrinking and is projected to reach around 100 million by mid-century.1 Combined with ruralurban migration to Tokyo and regional hubs such as Sapporo and Osaka, population decline has led to a chronic situation of “shrinking regions.”2 Japan’s population is also aging, which places further economic burdens on struggling local authorities to fund the health and welfare requirements of a proportionately larger retiree population with the revenues from a

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proportionately smaller number of working-age taxpayers. By the 2010s many municipalities were in severe financial trouble and in 2015 Japan’s national government debt was about 230 percent of GDP. Alongside community-building, the buzzword for local authorities became “revitalization.” Initially, tourism was seen as one way of offsetting the compound effects of depopulation, aging, and economic stagnation. However, a number of towns saw attempts at revitalization through tourism backfire disastrously. Yūbari in central Hokkaido, for example, is a former coal-mining town that tried to arrest a collapsing population (from a peak of 116,908 in 1960 down to under 10,000 in 2015) with a strategy dubbed “tankō kara kankō e” (from mines to tourism). But, in 2006, saddled with enormous debt from an unprofitable tourism sector, the city declared financial collapse. While the failed tourism venture was not the only cause of the city’s collapse (depopulation, financial mismanagement, and neoliberal fiscal policies were also factors), tourism was not the promised savior.3 Since the 1990s, Japan’s municipalities have become increasingly cautious of investing in tourism infrastructure. Given the aging population, there is local pressure to provide health and welfare facilities rather than resorts. However, the aging population did open up new opportunities for tourism in the so-called “silver market.” Retirees with time on their hands and a measure of financial security became important new customers in domestic markets from hot-spring resorts to hiking tours. Retirees also traveled abroad in increasing numbers, often in “longstay tourism” to places such as Malaysia, where their pensions have more purchasing power; the focus is on “staying,” and the “distinction between tourism and migration is blurred.”4 Central government tourism policy in 2000–2015 prioiritized two issues: contents tourism and inbound tourism. As Japanese pop culture gained more fans globally, the government initiated the “Cool Japan” strategy. It was inspired by the Cool Britannia policy in the UK in the 1990s and triggered by a widely cited 2002 article by Douglas McGray

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in Foreign Policy titled “Japan’s Gross National Cool.” “Cool Japan” was not a tourism policy. Its main aim was to promote cultural exports for economic gain and to enhance Japan’s soft power.5 However, as noted at the beginning of this book, the potential of popular culture to trigger tourism by imbuing regions with “narrative quality” was officially recognized in 2005. In the 1980s municipalities were encouraged to build resorts; in the 2000s they were encouraged to build narratives. After the 2005 report, using contents within local tourism strategies became prevalent. Those municipalities possessing usable sets of contents positioned those contents more clearly within their local brand. Those municipalities wanting to generate new contents sought tie-ups with contents creators, showcased local creators’ work, established film commissions, and lobbied production companies to get dramas and movies made or set in their area. Learning from the bitter lessons of failed theme parks in the 1990s, municipalities largely abandoned the construction of permanent tourist facilities related to a particular work. The focus switched to low-investment and low-maintenance sites. Ordinary sights (such as a nondescript street corner) possessing narrative quality could induce tourism by fans with very little expense and effort on the part of local authorities. For fans, too—many of whom were younger, of limited economic means, or in insecure employment—contents tourism was appealing as a form of budget travel. Japan’s declining population means that growth is difficult to achieve solely via the domestic market. One solution is large-scale immigration, although this idea faces considerable resistance. Inbound tourists, however, could be welcomed in large numbers with relatively fewer implications for Japanese society and culture. The goal of welcoming more international tourists has been enthusiastically promoted by the government. In 2003, Prime Minister Koizumi made his Tourism Nation Declaration and pledged to double the number of inbound tourists to ten million people per year. The policy was formalized in the Japan Tourism Action Plan (Kankō rikkoku kōdō keikaku) in which the Cabinet Secre-

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tariat and MLIT played the key role.6 The policy appeared in the White Paper on Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Japan (2003). “Making Japan a Tourism-based Country; A beautiful country” set out a strategy to promote inbound tourism, establish “national and regional charms,” promote the “Japan brand” via the Visit Japan Campaign, and create an “attractive tourism environment.” “Attractive tourism environment” meant making Japan an easier place to visit by providing more information in foreign languages for visitors (on signs, websites, and publicity materials) and streamlining visa procedures.7 The impact of Koizumi’s initiative is evident in figure 86, which shows inbound and outbound travel, 1964–2015. The story of postwar international tourism really begins in 1964, when restrictions on foreign travel for leisure by Japanese were lifted and the Olympics were held in Tokyo. Over the next five decades, foreign tourists to Japan increased fifty-six-fold from 352,832 to 19,737,379, while foreign travel by Japanese increased 127-fold, from 127,749 to 16,213,763. Macro trends—including economic fluctuations, tourism policies, and shocks—were the major influences on visitor numbers. From the mid-1980s to 2000, outbound travel by Japanese surged to around 16 million people annually, although there were dips in 1991 (bursting of the bubble) and 1998 (Asian financial crisis). Into the new millennium, outbound travel numbers have been sensitive to shocks. The biggest have included the SARS epidemic (2003), the Lehman Shock (2008), and the 3/11 disaster (2011). Inbound tourism, meanwhile, rose gradually. The Lehman Shock and 3/11 interrupted the trend, but liberalization of visa restrictions for travelers from Asia (particularly from China in 2011) combined with the growing numbers of wealthy travelers across Asia triggered exponential growth from 2012. Inbound tourism was helped by a significant depreciation in the value of the yen against other currencies as a result of the Japanese government’s quantitative easing policy (Abenomics). In 2015, inbound visitors exceeded Japanese traveling abroad for the first time since 1971 and in March 2016 the government set ambitious new targets of 40 million foreign visitors in 2020 and 60 million visitors in 2030.

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The exact role of contents tourism in these dramatic changes is unknowable. However, Japan’s emergence as a pop culture superpower suggests a significant role. This includes genre-based contents tourism, when a general interest in a destination cultivated via popular culture eventually results (perhaps many years later) in a trip to that destination. The point at which Japanese pop culture started triggering tourism to Japan varies according to the nation. Susan Napier writes “in many ways [Akira] can be seen as the film that started the anime boom in the West.”8 But in many countries anime were broadcast on television from an earlier stage, albeit dubbed and not clearly identified as Japanese anime. Nevertheless, anime broadcast in the 1970s has underpinned tourism in the 2000s by French adults nostalgic for the anime of their youth.9 In South Korea, by contrast, restrictions on Japanese cultural imports (a hangover from the period of Japanese colonial rule over the peninsula) were only lifted in 1998. The period 1998–2002 saw a rise in Japanese-Korean interest in their respective popular cultures as they collaborated to co-host the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Then, in 2004 the Korean drama Winter Sonata triggered a tourism boom by Japanese to Korea, which was a deciding factor in the government’s decision to formalize contents tourism policy in 2005. Chinese visitors, meanwhile, flocked to locations in eastern Hokkaido after the 2008 Chinese hit movie If You Are the One. However, the primary reason for the surge in Chinese visitor numbers in the 2010s is the growth of China’s wealthy and middle classes. Their tourism experience revolves around shopping as much as sightseeing; and in 2015, bakugai (explosive shopping) became a buzzword as images of Chinese travelers returning home laden with purchases of electronics and cosmetics featured regularly in the news. However, historical and territorial tensions between China and Japan always have the potential to dent tourist numbers. This was demonstrated in 2010 when a diplomatic spat triggered by a clash between a Chinese fishing trawler and the Japanese Coast Guard near the Senkaku Islands (which China claims) led to widespread cancellations of tours by Chinese to Japan.

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Amid the growing global interest in Japanese popular culture, largescale conventions started up around the world showcasing “Cool Japan.” The largest event outside Japan is Japan Expo, which is held in Paris each July. It attracted 3,200 visitors when it was first held in 1999, but by 2015 it attracted a quarter of a million people. There are now dozens of events taking place each year around the world. They trigger domestic (sometimes even international) event tourism induced by Japanese contents in the countries hosting the conventions. Often Japanese pop culture events overlap with special interest conventions, such as gaming or comic conventions, and the recognition of the contents as Japanese (as opposed to “East Asian”) is not always clear among convention attendees.10 Nevertheless, Japanese (and also South Korean) pop culture has spawned arguably the most vibrant network of festivals and fan conventions held abroad of any national culture worldwide. The Internet, digital technology, and social media are central to the story of Japanese pop culture’s global fandom and contents tourism. The social media revolution took place between 2004 and 2007 when Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and their Japanese siblings mixi and Nico Nico Dōga were launched. Japanese pop culture was disseminated worldwide via the Internet (whether via legal distribution platforms or illegal copies) and discussion proliferated in fan websites and social media. The Internet and digital age also revolutionized the way that people planned and undertook tourism. Prior to departure, tourists became just as likely to seek information from unofficial sites such as TripAdvisor or fan pages as they were from official sites such as national/local tourism organizations. Armed with mobile devices, tourists began sharing their travel experiences in real time via social media, and, as will be discussed below, GPS-enabled contents tourism emerged whereby playing online games or consuming anime contents actually required travel to a specific location. Responding to these rapid developments in media technology, contents businesses accelerated their mixed media strategy and developed productions in multimedia formats. They also started considering localities as an important media (namely a means of conveying contents

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to consumers), and they developed collaborative projects with local authorities to promote their contents and licensing businesses. In this environment, the study of contents tourism in Japan developed into a major sub-field within media and tourism studies. As discussed in chapter 3, media and industry discussion of tourism induced by popular culture emerged out of Taiga Drama tourism in the 1960s. There was a timelag in scholarly discourse, largely due to academic prejudices against “vocational” subjects like tourism (historically concentrated in courses such as hotel management at smaller private universities) and “lightweight” subjects such as manga and anime studies. Eventually, government policy and large-scale economic impacts made pop culture too big a topic to ignore. International interest in Japanese pop culture has also helped legitimize serious academic inquiry. By the mid-2010s, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology was actively pushing for a stronger tourism research and teaching environment at Japan’s universities on the grounds that tourism was a subject of strategic national interest. Academics responded by developing networks researching contents tourism. The Japanese Association for Contents History Studies (Kontentsu bunkashi gakkai) was established in 2009 and publishes the Journal of Contents History Studies, although it focuses more on historical narratives in popular culture than tourism. The Academy of Contents Tourism, led by Hōsei University professor Masubuchi Toshiyuki, was established in 2011. This group has largely analyzed contents tourism within media-based categories (such as film, literature, anime) in the manner of English-language scholarship. At the Center for Advanced Tourism Studies (CATS), Hokkaido University, Yamamura Takayoshi and his students (notably Okamoto Takeshi) published the key early case studies of anime-induced tourism in 2009.11 CATS also launched the International Journal of Contents Tourism in 2015. In 2014 another group was formed in Toyama, the Japanese Research Association for Contents Tourism (Kontentsu tsūrizumu kenkyū gakkai). The people active in

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these academic circles sat in key positions on the government advisory committees that shaped tourism policy during the early 2000s. Finally, as the volume of research, policies, and tourists increased, the media paid increasing attention, too. Regular reports in both Japaneseand English-language media appear whenever a new tourism boom or trend emerges. By 2015, therefore, the key players in contents tourism— fans, local authorities, and contents businesses—as well as the journalists and researchers covering their activities, had all become aware of their respective roles within an established and growing social phenomenon.

Regional Revitalization, Recovery, and Regeneration As the commercial potential of contents tourism became more recognized, many communities tried to use contents tourism to improve the fortunes of their flagging local economies. This blurs the distinctions between contents tourism and advertising because popular culture was increasingly produced with tourism promotion as an implicit, if not explicit, aim.

Revitalization: Tie-ups Between Communities and Anime Producers The key to economic revitalization via new works of popular culture and contents tourism is the creation of a mutually beneficial relationship between contents businesses and the regions that feature the contents. From the late 2000s, anime producers and local communities developed various collaborative approaches, mainly through trial and error, to create mutually beneficial tie-ups. For anime producers, incorporating a region’s landscape, history, and culture into their works enhanced the authenticity and realism of the contents. For regions, if their local resources were attractively presented in stories, fans obtained positive impressions of the area and the regional brand was strengthened. Many anime fans are extremely loyal to their favorite works. Such customers with high brand loyalty are valuable not only to producers but also to regions.

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Technological developments also affected producer-community tie-ups. Digital technology enabled local landscapes to be realistically incorporated into anime. For producers aspiring to realism, such technology was revolutionary. Furthermore, digital editing software and social media enabled anyone to become a contents producer and actively exchange information through images and videos. Fans began sharing information about anime sacred sites almost as soon as works were aired. Fans visited anime locations well before the advent of digital technology, but from the mid-2000s the existence of anime pilgrimage became well known and guidebooks list dozens of sites.12 Some cases had strong impacts on the development of subsequent tie-ups during four main phases. Phase one was the fan-driven phase (the eve of the sacred site pilgrimage boom) and continued to around 2006. In this phase it became common practice for anime fans to make pilgrimages to anime sacred sites. A catalyst for this was the wide distribution of home video recorders in the 1980s and the availability of original video animation (OVA) for sale and for rental. Individuals could watch animated works at home whenever they wanted and pause scenes to study the background images. It became easier for individuals to identify scenes and locations. Producers did not usually disclose the locations that were used as backdrops and tie-ups between producers and areas were uncommon. Fans tended to identify the locations themselves and secretly travel to these locations. The number of travelers was small and the economic impacts were limited. Producers did not acknowledge these impacts and the pilgrimages were not discussed in the media. Phase two, tie-ups through trial and error, was from around 2007 to 2009. Regions and producers began to engage each other actively and various tie-up methods were developed. Anime’s potential contributions to municipal revitalization and the economic impacts of sacred site pilgrimage began to gain attention. Two successful examples that influenced subsequent tie-ups were Washimiya town in Saitama prefecture and Johana town in Toyama prefecture.

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In Washimiya, there was no contact prior to the broadcast between the producers of Lucky Star (TV anime, 2007) and the locality, which was normal practice at the time. The municipality became aware of the show after fans made pilgrimages following the broadcast. Representatives of Washimiya Chamber of Commerce (now Kuki City Chamber of Commerce) decided to contact the producer, Kadokawa Shoten Co., Ltd. Washimiya was a groundbreaking example of long-term mutual benefit gained from a tie-up in which the locality and producer built a strong relationship of trust. Copyright negotiations proceeded smoothly and a “regional development + sales promotion” model was created in addition to the more familiar licensing business. Since 2007, events and merchandise sales in the area have continued and the anime also helped revitalize the local shrine festival.13 In the second case, a pre-production relationship of trust was created between the producers of True Tears (TV anime, 2008) and Johana town (now Nanto city). The production company, P.A. WORKS Co., Ltd., was based in Johana, which was also the location of the anime. The producers established a relationship of trust with the local community as a local business and through careful depictions of local traditional culture. Collaboration between P.A. WORKS and Nanto city continued in subsequent productions, such as KOITABI~True Tours Nanto in 2013 (discussed more below). Phase three lasted from around 2009 to 2011. Three main tie-up methods emerged based on the lessons learned in phase two. The first method was licensing collaboration. The anime series based on the game Sengoku BASARA (chapter 2) precipitated a successful tie-up focusing on the licensing business. In February 2009, prior to the April broadcast of Sengoku BASARA, the production company’s staff visited Miyagi prefecture, which was associated with some of the show’s main characters including Date Masamune. They held a sales strategy seminar on the use of animation by a prefectural government. Local businesses and the production company met to discuss licensing contracts and tie-

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up methods. Anime images were successfully used to market existing local products, such as beer, sake, rice, and traditional crafts.14 The second method was pre-production collaboration. Summer Wars (2009) was a theatrical animation. The film commission of Ueda city, Nagano prefecture, and the producers established a cooperative relationship during the location scouting stage. The city’s tourism office co-promoted the film, which resulted in both the film and the region becoming well known across Japan. Summer Wars demonstrated that co-promotion beginning at the production stage was possible not only for live-action films but also for animations. It also showed that copromotion benefitted both the region and work. The production company eschewed the prior practice of having few pre-production links with the region and developed a cooperative relationship at the production stage. In doing so, this film reset the standards for film production etiquette. Since then, even for TV animations, it has been customary for regions and producers to establish cooperative relationships during the location scouting and production stages. The third method was post-production collaboration. The anime Ano hi mita hana no namae o bokutachi wa mada shiranai (known as Ano Hana, TV anime, 2011) was set in Chichibu, Saitama prefecture. The Chichibu Anime Tourism Executive Committee developed a cooperative relationship with the production side, leading to various successful tieups with events and product development. The Executive Committee consisted of ten organizations, including Chichibu city (Tourism Department and Commerce and Industry Department), the Chichibu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Seibu Railway. There was no cooperation with the region during the location scouting. However, during the production stage, there was a request made by the production side to Executive Committee members for promotional cooperation during the broadcast. This led to a cooperative relationship between producers and regions prior to the broadcast. When television broadcasts began, the Executive Committee initiated co-promotion. Having one Executive

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Committee representing the region’s interests made it easy to share information and allowed the region to work with the producer in an organized manner. The region and producer were both able to spread the economic and promotional impacts to much wider areas. Phase four is the period since 2011 when growing focus on the region has coincided with diversification of tie-up methods. As awareness of the regional contribution made by anime grew among producers, many tie-ups took regional issues into consideration. Another major trigger for this was the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, which will be discussed more shortly. In sum, after 2006 significant changes occurred in the tie-ups between local communities and anime production companies. Despite some success stories, however, tie-ups remained difficult from a business perspective. Ever-larger numbers of new animations shortened the fad cycle. The popularity of shows peaks from several months to a year after the beginning of the broadcast. Unless the anime is a massive hit or develops a loyal fandom, maintaining long-term popularity is difficult. Consequently, some localities have found it difficult to sustain visitor numbers or profits from the sales of tie-up products. Hōfu city in Yamaguchi prefecture, for example, collaborated in the production of the theatrical anime Mai Mai Shinko to sennen no mahō (Mai Mai Miracle, 2009), based on an authobiographical novel by Takagi Nobuko.15 It was not a great box office success, although the anime gradually increased its fan base online and has become an unusual case of a work that grew in popularity over time. Other works were not so fortunate. As sacred site pilgrimage became more commonplace, not all productions were hits. Even if there was a boom, it most likely was the pattern of boom and bust contents tourism rather than sustainable tourism growth. The most successful case studies had three main characteristics. First, regions succeeded in turning fans of the anime into fans of the region. Tie-up products were a chance to showcase local products, but the quality of the local products needed to be competitive to achieve long-term

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increases in sales. Ultimately, generating repeat visits by people who had become fans of the region and its products, and not simply fans of the anime, became the aim. Second, regions and producers cultivated a medium- to long-term fan base by utilizing on-demand online viewing. This avoided the problems of DVD and Blu-ray disc inventory controls for producers, and prolonged the impacts of the fan pilgrimages. And third, the most successful collaborations occurred when both producers and regions understood and respected each other’s interests. When the brands of both producers and regions were enhanced, both profited through synergetic effects. The key to successful, long-term tie-ups was mutual understanding that while the anime contents were the intellectual property of the producer, the regional contents such as landscapes, buildings, and local culture were the region’s assets.

Recovery: Contents Tourism Post-3/11 At 2:46 pm on March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of the Tōhoku region in northern Honshu. Damage from the earthquake was relatively limited, but a tsunami swept into coastal areas leaving over 18,000 people dead or missing and causing a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. It was the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986 and radiation fears had a devastating effect on the local economy, including the tourism industry. In Fukushima prefecture, there was a drop of 38.4 percent in visitor numbers from 57.2 million in 2010 to 35.2 million in 2011, and even in 2014, visitor numbers (46.9 million) were still well below their pre-disaster levels.16 The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear triple disaster (“3/11”) precipitated a massive national reconstruction effort involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers, national power-saving plans, and special reconstruction budgets. Contents producers, mindful of the local economic impacts their works can have via tourism, felt they could help the afflicted areas. Sugiyama Kiyoshi, the producer of Girls und Panzer (television anime, 2012–2013), explained that Ibaraki prefecture had not received much attention compared to the areas most affected in Tōhoku region

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(namely Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate), so helping the disaster areas through anime was one reason for choosing Ōarai town as the setting of the story.17 Yamamoto Yutaka, the director of Wake Up, Girls! (television anime, 2014–2015), also said the location was chosen to help the disasteraffected areas by establishing a system for local communities to earn money through anime-related events.18 NHK also helped the disaster zones by inducing contents tourism. In 2013 two flagship dramas were set in Tōhoku. NHK’s Morning Drama, Amachan, actually featured the earthquake in its plot. It was about an ama diver who returned to the Sanriku coastal area to help with reconstruction. This drama provided an economic boost to a region hit hard by the tsunami. The Iwate Prefecture Economic Research Center estimated the impact to be around 33 billion yen through attracting 344,000 additional tourists and creating 465 local jobs.19 NHK’s Taiga Drama for 2013, meanwhile, was set in Fukushima prefecture. In the summer of 2011, NHK announced that its Taiga Drama for 2013 would be Yae no sakura, based on the life of Niijima Yae, who had fought at the Battle of Aizu in 1868 during the Boshin War. Producer Naitō Shinsuke openly stated, “What with the nuclear crisis, we thought Fukushima Prefecture really needed all the help it can get.”20 As anticipated, there was a tourism boom in Aizuwakamatsu during 2013 (figure 88). The city contains a number of heritage tourism sites, such as Tsurugajō Castle, the site of the battles that earned Niijima the nickname “the Bakumatsu Joan of Arc,” and Mount Iimori, where the Byakkotai corps famously committed suicide during the battle. But, the boost to the local economy in 2013 was a drop in the ocean of the total reconstruction budget post-3/11. Furthermore, it was the archetypal pattern of “boom and bust contents tourism.” While Yae no sakura helped the city have its best ever tourism year in terms of simple visitor numbers since the beginning of available statistics in the early 1990s, the drop-off in numbers in 2014 took the city back to well below levels in 2009, the most recent year for a reasonable comparison because in 2010 Tsurugajō Castle was

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closed for renovations. At the municipal and prefectural level, therefore, the contents tourism boom was temporarily offsetting the significant longer-term drop off in visitor numbers to Fukushima caused by 3/11. Nevertheless, the Yae no sakura boom had a secondary effect beyond visitor numbers and economic impacts. The Boshin War pitted the forces trying to engineer an imperial restoration against those loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate, which had ruled Japan since 1603. The Aizu domain fought on the side of the Tokugawas. Its defeat in the Boshin War led to a considerable cut in its power and prestige. After the war, many people from the region were sent to colonize northern Tōhoku or Hokkaido as penance for backing the losing side. NHK’s rendition of this period of history from the point of view of Aizuwakamatsu, therefore, constituted a historical rehabilitation as well as an economic revitalization. The morale boost, while unquantifiable, was perhaps of similar significance to the economic boost. There was an ironic postscript to the Yae no sakura story when the magnitude 7.0 Kumamoto earthquakes struck on 14 and 16 April 2016. The Janes Residence, a school building from the Meiji period, which is also famous as the place where the Japanese Red Cross was founded, was used as a location in the latter part of the drama (Niijima served in the Red Cross during the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars). This historical building was completely destroyed in the earthquake. In September 2016, NHK announced that Saigō Takamori would be the hero of the 2018 Taiga Drama, a choice explained by Saigō’s important role in the Meiji Restoration that will mark its 150th anniversary that year. However, the choice of Saigō also presents the opportunity for heritage and/or contents tourism in Kumamoto relating to the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, when Saigō’s army laid seige to Kumamoto Castle from February to April 1877. In what other ways popular culture and tourism help in the reconstruction of Kumamoto, and particularly its iconic castle which sustained heavy damage in the earthquake, will be a story that unfolds in the coming years.

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Regeneration: Creating “New Traditional” Culture Contemporary pop culture has the power not only to create new events and tourism, but also to regenerate cultural events, invest in them new meaning, or even create “new traditional” culture. At the intersection of pop and traditional culture, the relationship is not always easy, as was demonstrated by the cancellation of a parade of Star Wars floats at the famous Nebuta Festival in Aomori in August 2015 on the grounds that they did not fit within the festival tradition.21 But, on occasions, the gap between pop and traditional culture is bridged to mutual benefit. The significance of the anime Lucky Star in creating a new model of relations between community and production company has already been discussed. Lucky Star was also significant for the way in which the local community embraced the anime at the local festival. After Lucky Star was broadcast on television in 2007, interaction between fans and the community deepened via a stamp-collection event and other events for fans planned by the local commerce and industry association. In 2008, the organizing committee of the Hajisai Festival, a local traditional event, expressed a desire for anime fan participation. Fans worked together with local residents to create a mikoshi (portable shrine)—commonly referred to as the Lucky Star Mikoshi—decorated with anime characters. On the day of the festival in September 2008, more than 120 anime fans from across Japan gathered to carry the mikoshi around the town with the traditional mikoshi of the region. This interaction was still continuing in 2016, and after 2013 the Hajisai Festival organizers entrusted fans with full responsibility for operating the Lucky Star Mikoshi.22 On other occasions, pop culture has succeeded in generating “new traditional” culture. Yuwaku onsen is a quiet hot spring resort nestled in the mountains near Kanazawa. In 2011, a new festival called the Bonbori (paper lantern) Festival was created. The festival has two main events: the lighting ceremony in mid-July, when the local community first turns on the lights in the paper lanterns on both side of the approach to Yuwaku Inari Shrine, and the main festival in mid-October. Between these two

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events the paper lanterns are lit every evening. In its first year, these two events attracted around 5,500 visitors combined. This had increased to over 13,000 people by the fourth festival in 2014. While this festival looks and feels like a traditional festival, it is actually a reproduction of a fictional festival depicted in the anime Hanasaku iroha, which was broadcast in 2011 and set in a hot spring resort modeled on Yuwaku onsen. The organizers hoped that the Bonbori Festival would pass as an authentic regional festival for anyone who did not know about its roots in the anime. The schedule was prepared with close attention to detail of other local festivals, and a Shinto priest was asked to create the rituals of the main festival. Even before this stage, the anime production company had depicted a festival within the anime that both adhered to local mythology and the wishes of the tourist association. Both the anime production company and local region, therefore, recognized the value of authenticity in the creation of this fictional festival. Furthermore, the town decided that it was not going to conspicuously promote anime-related events. The aim was to make fans of the anime into fans of the region, and not to entice them with special events. Fans, therefore, were invited to enjoy the pleasures of a stay at a hot spring resort in the same way as all other guests. The local tourism board did not help fans find anime locations. This was out of consideration to fans, who had the pleasure of finding the locations themselves rather than simply being told where they were. Both in terms of the creation of “new tradition” and the decisions on the part of the town and production company not to have a prominent marketing campaign, the Bonbori Festival has attracted considerable attention.23

The Itinerary as Behavior Representative on-site behaviors of fans, such as photographic recreations of iconic scenes from films, have already been discussed in some detail. However, the choices of itinerary and travel partners are

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also forms of behavior. Okamoto Takeshi has identified three forms of pilgrimage in otaku tourism: location hunting by pioneers known as butai tanbō (“finding and visiting the stage”), pilgrimage undertaken using the information posted on fan websites, and pilgrimage based on reports in mass media.24 Nelson Graburn, meanwhile, notes the differences between solo travel, in which “the self is shorn of the protective circle of ‘society’ or the group,” and group travel, in which “interaction between the members of the social group, rather than between the tourists and the people encountered,” is most significant.25 Combining these concepts, contents tourism itineraries may be categorized as free, semi-structured, and structured, with solo tourism typically toward the free end and group travel toward the structured end. Free itineraries are when travelers independently seek out places of interest to them based on their particular interest in the contents. Semi-structured itineraries are when people undertake independent travel but more or less follow model courses recommended by promotional literature, guidebooks, or other travelers. Structured itineraries are tours with places for visitation stipulated by guides or companies. The behaviors and experiences of individual tourists on free itineraries are extremely diverse. Examples in this book have included anime fans seeking locations, fans of historical games/dramas taking part in battle re-enactments, literature fans visiting an author’s hometown museum, and children enjoying themed attractions at theme parks. An alternative lens through which to view individual behavior is travel etiquette, which frames the acceptable forms of travel behavior by fans. In Japan, meiwaku (causing inconvenience to others) is an important concept in day-to-day social relations. Apologies for causing inconvenience to others (whether deeply felt or formulaic) are common in everyday conversation. Notions of meiwaku are also a key reason why Japanese leisure travel tends to be short (typically a few nights to one week) and concentrated around national holidays: enjoying a long holiday while colleagues have to cover one’s job is considered meiwaku.

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The idea of meiwaku also underpins fan codes of conduct while they are traveling. There are various ways in which fans cause meiwaku as contents tourists. They include trespassing while searching for locations, obstructing people’s daily lives, anti-social behavior, invasion of privacy (particularly when taking/sharing photos), and unintended damage. These behaviors have sometimes triggered direct appeals to fans to behave properly. After police questioned a fan who was behaving suspiciously near a school in Hamamatsu that had been the location for Ichigo mashimaro, an appeal to fans for appropriate behavior was made in the manga series on which the anime was based; Nishinomiya Kita Senior High School, the location for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, had to appeal to fans to desist after incidents of trespassing; and messages were sent to fans in the closing credits of the anime Silver Spoon, set in an agricultural school in Hokkaido, asking them not to visit certain sites to prevent the spread of livestock diseases.26 Fans and communities are sensitized to meiwaku by fans because of broader stereotypes about fans, particularly of anime and manga. In 1988–1989, notorious childkiller Miyazaki Tsutomu was revealed to be an anime fan and gave the term otaku “a particularly negative connotation.”27 While the term otaku has lost many of its dangerous connotations since then, and received a considerable positive makeover in Train Man when the otaku hero saves a woman from harrassment by drunks on a train, it nevertheless maintains many negative associations with social misfits. Fans are easily assumed to be obsessively pursuing their interest while being oblivious to the inconvenience they cause others. Fan communities have worked hard to dispell such images and ensure they are welcomed in communities as travelers. In one guidebook to anime sacred sites, the authors present a full-page code of conduct: 1) investigate the destination in advance and observe site opening times, 2) do nothing to obstruct the daily lives of people in the community, 3) avoid trespassing, 4) obtain permission to take photos and avoid taking pictures of others, and 5) avoid anything that damages the environment of the site, such as littering or taking away objects as souvenirs.28 There

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are also unwritten rules of fan behavior. Fans are careful to blank out faces and car number plates when they post photographs online to protect people’s privacy. The attention to etiquette of many fans has lead Okamoto Takeshi to write positively of the way that anime tourism has created new forms of communication between travelers and the communities they visit.29 Another form of fan behavior that has generated codes of conduct is cosplay. Unlike cosplay in many places outside of Japan, in Japan cosplayers do not travel to venues in costume but get changed on site. This is to avoid causing meiwaku to others on public transport. Whereas cosplayers typically enjoy being photographed by others, it is considered impolite to photograph without having asked permission first. This is partly respect for privacy and partly to allow the cosplayer to assume their preferred pose in their costume. And cosplay is typically consigned to sites where the local authorities have given prior permission for such an event to be held. In Japan, the observance of all such forms of travel etiquette is seen as important, not only as an extension of broader social practices, but as a way of ensuring the ongoing welcome extended by host communities to large numbers of individuals traveling on free itineraries. Fan travel is potentially chaotic as many individual fans converge on a particular site to take part in a specific group activity that involves considerably more intereaction between the visiting “group” and host community than the traditional package tour. In the context of semi-structured itineraries, there are two main patterns: official and unofficial. An official itinerary exists when sets of contents have been embraced by a community and the local authority provides promotional literature guiding tourists between related sites. Examples include tour maps relating to contents distributed by the local tourism information office and stamp rallies. Many municipalities have sections of their tourism promotion websites dedicated to contents tourism (for example, Matsuyama city’s page about film tourism, chapter

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2). A stamp rally, meanwhile, is when rubber stamps are left on a desk at tourist sites for visitors to put stamps on a card. There is no prize for completing the card, but stamp rallies nevertheless incentivize visitation to all the recommended sites. This format is also popular among railway enthusiasts, who collect stamps from the stations they have visited. Michele M. Mason has described her experience of doing the stamp rally for the anime Silver Spoon in Hokkaido.30 This anime was particularly suited to a stamp rally because, as mentioned above, the local community was concerned about the environmental impacts of tourists wandering freely around a farming community in search of locations. The stamp rally acts to herd tourists to places where they may enjoy the contents tourism experience and to limit the negative impacts. A recent technological development that builds on the stamp rally concept and taps into fans’ penchant for collecting items relating to their favorite contents is GPSenabled contents tourism, which is discussed in more detail shortly. The second form of semi-structured itinerary is unofficial and is provided in guidebooks or by the contents businesses themselves without necessarily receiving the approval of the local community. These unofficial model courses are often similar to the official ones, but there is latitude to include sites of which the community does not approve. Contents businesses may also publicize locations and model courses of related sites as part of their efforts to engage with fans of the work. An example of an unofficial semi-structured itinerary is for the 2009 film Oppai Barē, which translates as “Breasts Volleyball.” The story, purportedly based on a real story from 1979, is about a young female schoolteacher who is assigned to coach the hopeless boys’ volleyball team. As an incentive to practice, she (foolishly) promises to do anything they request if they win. The boys request to see her breasts. Despite the lurid title and plot straight out of a schoolboy fantasy, the film is promoted as a moving sports drama/comedy and stars one of Japan’s best-known actresses (Ayase Haruka). The film’s interactive website contains a location map of sites in Kitakyūshū city, Fukuoka prefecture.31

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However, with that title and scenario (effectively sexual harrassment of a teacher), unsurprisingly it is not promoted as local contents by Kitakyushu city. Whatever the narrative or production merits of the film, from a tourism and branding perspective it is undesirable contents, a topic discussed below in relation to horror/sexual contents. The final pattern of travel itinerary is structured, namely the tour. These exist in various forms. Many package tours for international visitors to Japan now include sites related to popular culture, and there are also specialized tours for fans of Japanese popular culture that focus on Akihabara, Studio Ghibli, and other sacred sites. International tours have also revolved around a specific work, whether Japanese or from the country of the tourists. For example, since 2014 Thai tourists have flocked to Saga prefecture on tours because the 2013 film Timeline and the 2014 dramas STAY and Kol Kimono were filmed at Yutoku Inari Shrine and other locations around the prefecture.32 Domestic tours for Japanese fans revolving around a particular work are relatively uncommon. Many fans prefer the free or semi-structured itinerary, and the volatile demand for organized tours in the rapidly changing world of pop culture contents makes them risky ventures for tour companies. If tours are organized, they are timed to coincide with predictable peaks in interest, such as a festival or a date of significance for the fandom. However, one example of a long-running, scheduled tour relating to a specific set of contents is the Detective Conan Mystery Tour.33 Detective Conan (Meitantei Konan, also known as Case Closed) by Aoyama Gōshō began as a manga series in January 1994 and became an international hit. The mystery tour started in 2001. It is run by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and combines a transportation pass and detective story. JR West chooses the destination from within its network area and in conjunction with the prefectural government devises a tour itinerary. It is proposed to the Detective Conan production committee, which writes the story for the mystery tour based on the destination. In

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2016, people who took the tour searched for clues while staying in the onsen town of Beppu, Oita prefecture. Tourists purchase the tour (transportation and hotels) and receive a tour book, which contains the story and some clues. They visit usually four or five locations where they gain additional clues and thereby complete the story. There is no fixed order for visiting the locations so tourists decide their own itinerary. Once participants have all the clues, they solve the mystery. There are domestic and international versions of the Detective Conan Mystery Tour. Tours were added for fans from Taiwan and Korea in 2013 and from Hong Kong in 2014. The course and style of the tours for non-Japanese are slightly different. While the domestic version has an entirely new course and story each year, the overseas version uses courses and stories from the domestic course in previous years. Also, the answer of the domestic version is presented officially in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday and broadcast as a special episode of the Detective Conan anime series at the end of the year. However, in the overseas version the solution is provided at the end of the tour. The number of participants varies from year to year, but approximately 10,000 to 15,000 people take the domestic version while 4,000 people take the overseas version annually.

GPS-enabled Contents Tourism The majority of case studies of contents tourism are of people who first consume the contents and then embark on travel to further their interest in those contents. On occasions, however, people travel in order to consume the contents. This is not a new phenomenon. People who attend a film festival, for example, travel to a destination to consume contents. However, GPS (Global Positioning System) technology has enabled location-specific contents consumption to be taken out of theaters and concert halls and to be dispersed around the landmarks of a community, often creating new landmarks that were not previously considered to be

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tourist sights. The development of smart phones and tablets has been key to the emergence of GPS-enabled contents tourism. Ingress is a multiplayer, location-based, augmented reality mobile phone game released in 2012 by Google startup Niantic Labs.34 The game turns (real) landmarks and street art into (virtual) portals that people can interact with on their mobile phones.35 Players choose to be part of one of two groups, Enlightened or Resistance, and strive to claim portals for their team. Players have to visit the location to claim a portal. There are official Ingress events that can be organized locally by users with the permission of Niantic.36 By the end of 2015 there had been over fourteen million downloads of the app and a quarter of a million people had attended Ingress events worldwide.37 As of late 2014, Japan was the third-ranked country worldwide in terms of the number of players.38 The popularity of the game has encouraged Japanese local administrations to use Ingress events for tourism promotion. Ebetsu is a commuter belt town of 120,000 people about fifteen kilometers from Sapporo.39 There are few tourist sights or landmarks, but the city was looking for ways to boost tourism. The city chose Ingress because it would not only require travel to Ebetsu but also be an opportunity to provide information about real landmarks via the game. Ebetsu city held an official First Saturday event on November 7, 2015. Held on every first Saturday of the month, the inaugural First Saturday was held in December 2014 at 129 places worldwide. The purpose is to give guidance to Ingress newcomers and encourage interaction between users. Participants make small groups of three or four people, which include one experienced player who demonstrates the rules to beginners. During the event, some users distribute their fan works such as illustrations or comics about Ingress. At the First Saturday event, fifty users gathered in Ebetsu Nopporo Community Center at 10:00 am. The event ended at 4:00 pm. The city provided logistical support (by providing the community center and printing materials) and helped promote the event. Volunteer guides explained the history of the portals before players spent two hours

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playing Ingress. On their return, the organizers held a quiz about the city for participants. The success of the event encouraged organizers to consider another Ingress event, which was planned to coincide with the Ebetsu pottery festival in July, the biggest event in the town. The city was also planning to secure a budget to support Ingress-related events, maintain the physical spaces around portals, and provide more information about local sites via the game. The longer-term hope is that Ingress will encourage repeat visitation and even settlement in the city. Another city that has used Ingress to attract visitors is Ishinomaki city, Iwate prefecture. Ishinomaki was badly damaged by 3/11. On May 10, 2014, an event called “Ingress Meetup in Ishinomaki” was held. Niantic Labs collaborated with local authorities and JTB Corporation (Japan’s largest travel agency) as a way of aiding local reconstruction and John Hanke, the founder of Niantic Labs, attended the event.40 Following the success of the Meetup, Iwate prefecture established the Iwate Preference Gamenomics Research Group in May 2015.41 The prefecture is now actively investigating ways to promote the region via creative tie-ups with game producers, to hold Ingress events, and to develop original mobile games. Ingress has key characteristics of contents tourism in that it encourages visitation to specific sites as part of its gameplay. Fan cultures have also developed. Miura Yoshihiro, the event organizer in Ebetsu, described how participants exchange comics and illustrations at Ingress events, a characteristic of fan behavior at manga and anime events. Furthermore, the use of Ingress to help with post-3/11 reconstruction draws on familiar practices described above relating to dramas and anime set in disasteraffected areas. However, not all GPS-enabled gaming fits the definition of contents tourism. As this book went to press, the world was in the grip of the Pokémon GO craze, but despite being built around some of Japan’s most famous characters, Pokémon GO for the most part does not generate “tourism” (most players play locally rather than organize trips away from home) and any trips that are made do not relate to the

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“narrative quality” of that region as created by contents (the monsters are “virtually” everywhere waiting to be captured). Similarly, Geocaching is app-induced movement (treasure hunt) but not contents tourism in our definition. Whereas Ingress is a game that generates GPS-enabled contents tourism, one Japanese city has used the innovative idea of producing anime that may only be viewed by visitors to the region. Nanto is a city of around 50,000 people in Toyama prefecture. It divides into two main areas: the coastal plains facing the Japan Sea and a mountainous interior. The city is most famous for the Gokayama villages, which were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 along with Shirakawago village in neighboring Gifu prefecture. The city has a policy vision to be an eco-village that rethinks the values of modern society and seeks sustainable co-existence with nature. However, alongside this embrace of traditional rural values, Nanto city has pioneered an innovative example of GPS-enabled contents tourism to promote its tourism industry. Toyama prefecture, like most regions, increasingly recognizes the importance of contents tourism. The Toyama Modern History Research Group has identified over seventy films (including anime) that have connections to the prefecture; and in an example of complex contents transport, the Doraemon train runs along the Manyosen Railway in Takaoka city: the carriages commemorate the famous robotic cat dreamed up by manga artist Fujiko F. Fujio, who was from Takaoka, and the line commemorates the Man’yōshū poetry collection discussed in chapter 1. Another well-known Toyama creator is the anime company P.A. WORKS, which is based in Nanto city. In 2008 it produced the anime True Tears using locations modeled on local scenery. This turned the town, including the P.A. WORKS studio, into a sacred site for anime fans.42 Following the success of True Tears, Nanto city and P.A. WORKS collaborated to produce a new form of contents tourism whereby the anime could only be viewed by visitors to the town.43 The Tourism Promotion Division at Nanto City Hall had two objectives: to encourage

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visitors to explore parts of the town other than the Gokayama villages, and to encourage repeat visits. The result was KOITABI~True Tours Nanto.44 Three short anime were produced, and while the trailer was available online, each anime could only be seen in a specific region of Nanto. Travelers could access the anime as television programs on car navigation systems or phones via localized broadcasting (the anime plays three times an hour); or they could download the anime via an app and watch it when in the right place because GPS data unlocked the anime’s playback. To see all three parts of the anime, therefore, tourists needed to visit three areas of Nanto. The app also offered interactive features. For example, when standing in a particular spot (again determined by GPS), people could take a picture that included an anime character superimposed on the photo. Some photos had a time restriction, encouraging people to visit at specific times, for example during a local festival. This format played to some core fan behaviors, for example the desire to collect (in this case, photos at specific places with anime characters) and the desire to recreate scenes from the anime in a photo. None of the behaviors in themselves were totally new and many have non-GPS equivalents. Analog equivalents include stamp rallies (such as the one in Hokkaido for the anime Silver Spoon) and the cardboard cutouts of characters at tourist sites for people to pose next to. The originality and simplicity of Koitabi was to create a mobile, digital version of such tourism incentives for anime fans. By doing so, Koitabi entered the gray zone between “organic” contents (produced without the involvement of the tourism industry) and advertising. Both induce tourism, but we have distinguished them in terms of the absence or presence of an explicit aim to induce tourism. Koitabi exemplifies how that distinction has been eroded as local authorities become more aware of the power of contents to advertise a destination. However, Koitabi is not simply advertising, whose job is done when tourists start their trip to the destination. Koitabi integrates anime narratives and characters into the tourism experience, thereby rendering

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it contents tourism. It also introduced the innovative idea of anime scenes being viewed in the place where the story is set, making fans physically present as the story unfolds on their screen. The anime also spawned a new fan behavior: the selfie at an anime location as a “twoshot” (tsūshotto) next to one of the three heroines in the anime. The success of Koitabi in attracting tourists is unclear. According to the Tourism Promotion Division in Nanto, most participants were male, in their twenties and thirties, and on day trips. The lack of female travelers was addressed by providing a guided tour for women only. However, accurate data of how many people have taken the Koitabi tour is buried in the large volume of visitor traffic to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Furthermore, for the city there are more important issues than simple economic benefits. Local craftsmen, such as wood carvers and silk artists, have produced souvenirs for travelers which helps keep local craftsmanship alive; the project is part of Nanto city’s eco-village policy, which in 2016 resulted in the opening of the Nanto City Creator Plaza SAKURA CREA located next to the new studio of P.A. WORKS, which it is hoped will be a space where young artists will meet and develop their skills; and by placing anime characters on vending machines, ski gondolas, and other public places around the town, the anime has become part of local branding. From the perspective of contents tourism, it is a pioneering model demonstrating how technology will continue to open up new patterns of tourism.

Undesirable Contents vs “Cool Japan of Desire” Contents tourism success stories have usually been built upon collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships between the three players of contents tourism: fans, contents businesses, and local authorities. However, conflicts may occur when communities do not want to be associated with the contents or their fans. Sue Beeton has described three potential sources of conflict in film-induced tourism that apply equally to contents tourism: the film creates a negative image of the region; the

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film generates negative tourism impacts such as overcrowding and loss of privacy; and unrealistic visitor expectations.45 In this section we focus on the first, when stories depicting violence, sex, drug use, depravation, or other negative images damage a local brand, discourage tourism, or encourage undesirable tourism. For example, residents of Shirakawago, Gifu prefecture, were unhappy when the murder mystery Higurashi When They Cry was set in a fictional village called Hinamizawa-mura modeled on Shirakawa-go, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous for its distinctive thatched roofing. First released as PC game software at Comiket (Comic Market) in 2002–2006, subsequently manga (2006-), anime (2006, 2007, 2009, 2011–12, 2013), and live-action film versions (2008) were also released. The fictional story centered on a series of suspicious deaths and disappearances. Many fans visited Shirakawago, but they were not welcomed by the local community. Murder was not an image residents wanted associated with their community.46 As this example indicates, when the Japanese government launched the “Cool Japan” strategy it took something of a risk. It assumed the national and local brands would be enhanced by the combination of “refined” traditional culture and “cool” pop culture. Yet in contrast to the innocuous “cute” (kawaii) of Hello Kitty and “cool” of heart-throb idol groups, Japanese pop culture also produces contents undesirable for branding, particularly adult contents whose explicit depictions of sex and violence incur a restrictive rating (since 2009 R15+ for violence and R18+ for pornography). Other countries have produced characteristic genres, too, for example Italian cannibal movies and American slasher movies. In Japan there are pornographic manga and anime; a vast adult movie industry; and horror films—whether dark psychological thrillers such as The Ring or ultra-violent adaptations of manga such as Ichi the Killer—renowned for their shock value. All these potentially undesirable (from a community branding perspective) genres have fandoms, and fans may further their interest via contents tourism. At a superficial level, horror/sexual contents induce tourism in

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the same way as other contents: they generate a broader interest in the nation/region that results in travel (genre-based contents tourism), or specific works induce tourism to related sites such as filming locations. The voyeuristic appeal of these contents lies in the intense physical reaction (arousal or fear) caused by graphic depictions of sex and horror/ violence. They are arguably weaker in terms of inducing mainstream tourism because the contents offend many people and place relatively little emphasis on the elements that typically induce contents tourism: engaging narratives, empathetic characters, and appealing locations. However, works with a cult following do induce tourism. Out of sex and violence, violence is probably less problematic from a branding perspective. Violence is ubiquitous in global popular culture (even children’s stories), the on-screen violence is simulated rather than real, and many horror fans admire J-Horror’s ability to push the limits of on-screen terror. Within academic studies, horror contents have typically been treated as a genre within film-induced tourism, for example, Stijn Reijnders’ analysis of Dracula.47 There is no particular stigma attached to being a horror fan. In Japan, zombie cosplayers mix with other cosplayers at the annual Halloween celebrations; Universal Studios Japan had a Resident Evil attraction as part of its Cool Japan 2016 attractions; horror film shooting locations are listed on fan websites; and those who like to be scared while being tourists visit obakeyashiki, haunted houses, in which the scenarios can be borrowed from movies.48 As Mike Robinson observes, fear as an emotion within a “secure and managed” environment, such as while watching a film or on a theme park ride, may be “swiftly negated by that of joy” and recounted with “particular relish” after the event.49 Consumption of pornography, however, is stigmatized. The on-screen sex is real sex, the pornography industry itself generates serious issues related to the degrading objectification of women, and accusations abound of exploitative/coercive employment practices particularly for actresses but also actors. People rarely self-identify as “porn fans.” Nevertheless,

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adult (pornographic) contents are widely consumed and induce tourism.50 In addition to the large domestic market for adult contents, Japanese pornography has significant numbers of overseas fans, especially in China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. Consequently, TDC Fujiki coopts the language of the Japanese government’s strategy to describe Japanese adult contents as “Cool Japan of desire.”51 The adult contents industry also has recently developed its own form of media mix across print media, videos, and games, particularly when adult movies are based on adult games. The roots of the contemporary Japanese adult film industry can be traced to pink movies, particularly Nikkatsu Roman Porn movies, which started production in 1971.52 When numbers of cinemagoers slumped with the advent of television, film production companies needed to adjust quickly to the new market conditions. Toho Co., Ltd used genres such as the kaijū eiga (monster movie) and its greatest icon Godzilla.53 Nikkatsu turned to softcore adult movies. Its website states: When cinema attendance began to drop, Japanese studios slashed their annual film production. Nikkatsu, however, took a unique turn in 1971 when it launched the “Nikkatsu Roman Porn” brand, namely films for the adult audience. As one director recalls, “I had total creative freedom, as long as I kept some nudity in the film”, the brand enabled Nikkatsu to be the only major studio in Japan at the time to continue producing films and hire young film makers.54 Roman Porn, therefore, is an important part of the corporate history. Stars of the genre assumed equal status to other Nikkatsu actors judging by the “Chōfu, town of film” display at Tobitakyū Station, where the hand prints of the most popular Roman Porn actresses are side by side with the stars of cinema’s Golden Age in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Ishihara Yūjirō. Among the tourists attracted to Chōfu because of its Nikkatsu connections, there will probably be some tourists there primarily as fans of Roman Porn.

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However, in Japan pink is not porn. Pink is the “soft-core, independent cinema of Japan. … It contitutes a parallel industry, with its own production companies, theater chains, actors and staff. Its sex is simulated; … The films are resolutely narrative.”55 Porn by contrast is hardcore and was made commercially viable by video. The first adult video (AV) was released in 1981.56 Since then, the AV industry has grown rapidly on the back of video rental, DVD sales, pay-per-view on satellite and cable television, and Internet streaming.57 Although precise data is unavailable, in 2002 the AV industry was worth an estimated one trillion yen (one billion dollars) per year.58 Furthermore, adult contents tourism is not sex tourism, namely travel for the purpose of engaging in sex. In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of sex museums called Hihōkan (literally “Secret Jewel Halls”) opened, mainly in onsen towns, but these too are only of tangential relevance for contents tourism in that some of them had displays or waxwork figure re-creations of famous sex scenes in the movies.59 Instead, contents tourism presupposes that the narratives, characters, locations and other creative elements generate tourism behavior. Within AV and, to a lesser extent, pink movies the contents seem unrelated to potential tourism. The viewer primarily consumes the sexual performances of the actresses. Many locations in AV are studios or other locations within buildings (hotels, private residences) that make finding locations impossible. It might be possible to determine the location, and even visit it, if the AV has been shot at an onsen resort or outside. Even so, cheap production values and the primary function of instant gratification mitigate against most tourism-inducing potential. However, there are a few cases of AV generating location tourism. The most famous is a swimming pool in Shinjuku, Tokyo, called Rei no pūru (managed by pstudio Co. Ltd), that gained a following among fans as an AV location.60 The most important development for tourism linked to adult contents was the advent of adult games. These first appeared in the 1980s but became popular in the 1990s. According to the website ErogameScape, an

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adult game community and database in Japan, the total number of new adult games a year increased from 104 in 1997 to 409 in 2000. Annual production since 2000 has been about 450 to 500 titles per year.61 Unlike AVs, narratives and locations have significant roles in adult games. Although it depends on the game, one common format is a story in which the player meets and seduces the female character(s) in the town where the player lives. Until the 1990s, the backgrounds of adult games were fictional locations. Since the 2000s, games have used digital photos of real locations as backgrounds. These digital backgrounds generate a set of potential locations for fans of adult games to visit. In sum, there are three patterns of contents tourism relating to AV and adult games. First, location tourism is mainly connected to adult gaming. There is almost no location tourism relating to AVs because the actresses, not locations, are central to AV productions. However, on rare occasions such as the Rei no pūru swimming pool, pilgrimages can be observed. The second pattern is attending adult conventions. The Intellectual Property Promotion Association holds the Japan Adult Expo every year for fans. In 2015, sixty-nine production companies, 154 actresses, and five actors attended the convention. It was attended by fans from across east Asia. According to one blog, the main purpose of the attendants was to meet famous Japanese AV actresses.62 There are also overseas adult conventions, such as Taiwan’s annual adult expo. In 2015, seven Japanese AV actresses attended this event as special guests. The third pattern is special fan meetings at which individual actresses travel to meet their fans. Japanese AV actresses have started direct communication with their fans via social media, and some actresses have become famous outside Japan. For example, Aoi Sora has over 16 million followers on Weibo (the Chinese version of Twitter), and Meguri has 57,000 followers on Twitter, many of whom are Korean. These actresses are studying Chinese and Korean to be able to communicate with fans directly. These communications shorten the distance between actresses and fans, which then increases the likelihood that fans will travel to

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meet them when they hold fan meetings in Japan or overseas (usually in Taiwan and Hong Kong). Despite this evidence of contents tourism, however, gauging the extent and nature of adult contents tourism is problematic. Fans are reticent to publicize locations and their travel because of the taboos surrounding pornography consumption. Local authorities want nothing to do with adult contents. Contents tourism is difficult to quantify at the best of times, but never more so than when it is taboo.

Fans of Japan Despite the existence of some “undesirable contents” for tourism and nation branding (of which nations inevitably produce some), Japan has created a strong brand image as a destination rich in both traditional and modern culture for visitors to enjoy. Its icons—sushi, manga, kimono, ukiyo-e, Mount Fuji, the bullet train, samurai—are immediately recognized worldwide and Japan as a nation has generated an extraordinary global fandom. There are few countries with such a worldwide network of annual conventions celebrating the national culture. These often started as fan conventions of particular pop culture genres (comics, anime, games), but by 2015 many conventions had grown into broader celebrations of Japanese culture: pop, traditional, culinary, and historical. In discussions of regional revitalization, we have noted the importance of fans of a work of popular culture becoming fans of the region for ensuring the sustainability of benefits from contents tourism to communities. In the ideal international version of this process, fans of a work or genre become fans of Japan and repeat inbound visitors. However, before many fans of Japanese pop culture ever get the chance to visit Japan, they become tourists in their own countries induced by Japanese contents. The Lucca Comic & Games convention is held in the picturesque medieval walled city of Lucca, Tuscany, for five days during October. It started in 1966 as the International Comics Salon

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but has since developed into a major event attracting a quarter of a million visitors. The event is not dedicated to Japanese culture—there are various genres including American and European Comics, games, films (mostly Hollywood science fiction), and popular music—but Japanese pop culture features prominently and there is a cosplay competition. During fieldwork at this event in 2015, one of the authors met fans cosplaying as characters from One Piece (manga 1997–, anime 1999–) who were friends from high school. They live in different regions of Italy and use Lucca Comics & Games for annual reunions. They selected One Piece characters for their cosplay in 2015 because they loved the work and the characters fitted the dispositions of the friends. This example is a microcosm of how Japanese popular culture can become a means of communication among friends and motivation for domestic travel in a society on the other side of the world from Japan. Similar examples were observed at Japan Expo, which is held every July in Paris. Both pop and traditional culture are showcased, so the event attracts a wide variety of participants. During fieldwork at Japan Expo in 2014, one of the authors met a French family in which the children loved anime and games, and the father liked Kurosawa Akira’s films and samurai. An interest in Japan can be shared within the family, developed by attendance at events such as Japan Expo, and then perhaps result in a family trip to Japan. A survey of attendees at Japan Expo in 2014 indicated that a number of people living outside Paris had taken a weeklong trip to the capital to combine visitation to Japan Expo with other tourism.63 They stayed in a hotel or cottage depending on their budget and commuted to Japan Expo for some or all of the four days. The scale of Japan Expo also means that Japanese contents generate international tourism within Europe, particularly from neighboring countries: Holland, Belgium, and the UK. Not all conventions, however, trigger such levels of tourism. Fieldwork at Japanicon, an event in Poznań, Poland, indicated that most participants were young, lived locally, and stayed overnight in the event venue (a school borrowed for the weekend). The tourism impacts of this event, therefore, were minimal.64

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Such events generate domestic tourism outside Japan induced by Japanese contents, but they are also a stepping-stone toward visitation to the ultimate “sacred site,” Japan itself. A number of booths at the Hyper Japan event in London in 2015 were promoting travel: British tour companies sold manga/anime-themed tours; CLAIR (Council of Local Authorities for International Relations) had a booth for local authorities to distribute tourism publicity materials; one prefecture (Okinawa) had its own booth; Japan’s major airlines were selling flights; and JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) was promoting contents industry tours (discussed in chapter 3) and Japan’s major rock festivals. These four events in Europe are the tip of the Japan-festival iceberg. There are dozens more across other continents including Anime Festival Asia (various countries), Anime Expo (USA), Anime Friends (Brazil), AVCon (Australia), and JET (Japanese Events in Tunisia). Particularly since 2000, there has been an explosion in the number of such events. The Internet and social media have helped generate a truly global Japan fandom, which gathers at these events worldwide. In Japan, the historical heart of this fan network is Comiket, the original fan event which started in 1975 with a few hundred attendees and is now held twice a year in Tokyo with half a million attendees. However, at the apex of the current global network of fan conventions is the World Cosplay Summit, held in Nagoya. It was previously a local cosplay event, but in 2003 five cosplayers were invited from Europe to take part in a meeting and discussion with Japanese cosplayers (hence “Cosplay Summit”). The next year, the Ōsu Festival in Ōsu district, Nagoya, added a cosplay stage at Ōsu Kannon Temple and parade in the shopping mall to its festival. From 2005, the World Cosplay Championship was held with participants selected from those who had won competitions to attend in their own countries at festivals such as Japan Expo. By 2015, participants from twenty-six countries were competing in the Cosplay Championship having won through the rounds in their home countries first (and the events hosting World Cosplay Championship qualifying rounds have

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become the flagship Japanese pop culture events in participating nations). The Summit itself has become a major tourist attraction, with 1.2 million participants and attendees in 2015.65 In 2007 the event was officially recognized as part of the Visit Japan Campaign by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to promote inbound tourism. In 2009 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nagoya Convention and Visitors Bureau joined the Executive Committee, highlighting how the World Cosplay Summit had become an important means of attracting inbound contents tourists for the government. In addition to cosplay summitry, Japan has engaged in other forms of pop culture diplomacy. In 2008, Doraemon was named as an anime ambassador, and Hello Kitty was named as an ambassador to China and Hong Kong. Such uses of soft power, particularly when directed at East Asia, take the edge off raw memories of Japan’s use of hard power against its neighbors in the first half of the twentieth century. It also reveals the broader politics at play in cultural diplomacy. While the international Japan fandom is encouraged to be fans of Japan via the “Cool Japan” strategy, government strategy in the domestic market is to emphasize the narrative quality given to localities (municipalities or prefectures) by contents. Encouraging Japanese people to be fans of Japan via pop culture flirts too much with nationalism. When Prime Minister Mori Yoshirō described Japan as “a land of the gods (kami no kuni) with the emperor at its center” in 2000 he sparked domestic and international controversy. He was refering to the foundational myths of Shinto, which we presented in chapter 2, but the episode revealed the sensitivity regarding expressions of nationalistic sentiment. “Japan as a sacred site,” therefore, is divisive rhetoric domestically, however effective it is internationally. These issues reveal the challenge within national and local branding and the development of narrative quality for regions. Contents have the ability to stifle as well as promote tourism, and to divide as well as to unite. National and local government have an important role in supporting and promoting the nation’s culture industries, but ultimately

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the narrative quality of regions rests on the creative energies of the people and whether they choose to incorporate particular narratives, characters, and locations as defining elements into their local cultural heritage.

Figure 85. Sites of contents tourism in Chapter 4 and Conclusion.

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Figure 86. Inbound and outbound travel, 1964–2015.

Source. Compiled by the authors from the statistics available at JTB Tourism Research & Consulting Co., accessed September 29, 2016, http:// www.tourism.jp/en/statistics/.

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Figure 87a. Chronology of key events, 2000–2015.

Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).

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Figure 87b. Chronology of key events, 2000–2015 (continued).

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Figure 88. Total visitors to Aizuwakamatsu.

Source. Aizuwakamatsu city tourism statistics, accessed May 13, 2016, http:// www.city.aizuwakamatsu.fukushima.jp/docs/2016030100014/files/suii.pdf

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Figure 89. Summer Wars and Ueda city.

Photo Credit. ©2009 SUMMERWARS FILM PARTNERS

Summer Wars, the 2009 feature-length anime film that set the precedent for anime producers to coordinate with localities regarding locations in the same way as for liveaction films.

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Figure 90. The Hajisai Festival.

Photo Credit. Washinomiya Branch, Kuki City Commerce and Industry Association, September 2010. The Lucky Star Mikoshi (left) and traditional mikoshi at the Hajisai Festival. Lucky Star is one of the textbook cases in which an anime created a long-term relationship of trust between fans and local community. The Lucky Star Mikoshi was a collaborative effort between fans and local people and has become a fixture at the Hajisai Festival.

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Figure 91. Yuwaku Bonbori Festival.

Photo Credit. ©Hanairo Committee

The poster for the second Yuwaku Bonbori Festival in 2012. This festival was designed with careful attention to detail, so that it would pass as an “authentic” festival for anyone unaware that it was actually based on a fictionalized festival in an anime.

Digital Age Contents Tourism: 2000–2015 Figure 92. The lighting ceremony at the Bonbori Festival.

Fans attend the third lighting ceremony at the Bonbori Festival on July 21, 2013.

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Figure 93. The Lucky Star stamp rally.

Photo Credit. ©Kagami YOSHIMIZU/Lucky Paradise

Collecting stamps from various locations incentivizes visitation to certain sites and may be particularly useful as a semi-structured tour to help less knowledgeable fans, or as a means of shepherding fans along a particular route to minimize any negative impacts of contents tourism.

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Figure 94. Comiket.

Hundreds of fans queue to gain admission to Comiket (Comic Market) in 2009. There are now many Japanese pop culture conventions worldwide that attract tens or hundreds of thousands of people every year.

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Figure 95. Hyper Japan.

One such event is Hyper Japan, which has been held once or twice a year in London since 2010. Hyper Japan hosts one of the World Cosplay Summit preliminary rounds, and the winners get to represent the UK at WCS in Nagoya. This photo is the cosplay parade at Hyper Japan, London, in July 2015.

Digital Age Contents Tourism: 2000–2015 Figure 96. A cosplayer asking to be photographed.

Photo Credit. Aleksandra Jaworowicz-Zimny.

There are various forms of etiquette in fans’ tourist behavior. One rule is to ask cosplayers if it alright to take a photograph, although as this photograph from Comiket (Comic Market) shows, some cosplayers actively seek the attention of photographers.

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Figure 97. Cosplaying friends in Italy.

Japanese popular culture triggers domestic tourism and brings people together in many countries other than Japan. This group of cosplaying school friends has its annual reunion at the Lucca Comics & Games convention each year.

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Figure 98. Japan Events in Tunisia.

Japan’s global fandom truly is global. Cosplay at the Japanese Events in Tunisia (JET) convention.

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Figure 99. Akihabara.

Akihabara is the most important “sacred site” in otaku culture. Here, Akihabara’s two faces appear side by side: pop culture (the Gundam Café and AKB48 Café) and electronics (the Akiba branch of the electronics chain Yodobashi Camera).

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Figure 100. Ichinokura-sawa.

Photo Credit. Christopher P. Hood.

In the Japan Alps, Ichinokura-sawa is renowned as a tough hiking course, but is also known as a location for the film/drama Climber’s High about a journalist covering the crash of flight JL123 in 1985. This final example of contents tourism from Gunma prefecture means that we have presented examples from each of Japan’s forty-seven prefectures. Contents tourism is a truly national phenomenon, engaged in by mainly the young but also the elderly, in both urban and rural settings, and induced by a wide variety of media. Contents tourism is an integral part of the tourism landscape in the twenty-first century.

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Notes 1. Statistics Bureau, Japan Statistical Yearbook, 37–38. 2. Matanle, Rausch, and the Shrinking Regions Research Group, Japan’s Shrinking Regions. 3. Matanle, Rausch, and the Shrinking Regions Research Group, Japan’s Shrinking Regions, 255–263. 4. Ono, “Long-stay tourism,” 96. 5. Valaskivi, “A brand new future?,” 485–486. 6. Kankō Rikkoku Kankei Kakuryō Kaigi, “Kankō rikkoku kōdō keikaku.” 7. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, “White paper on land, infrastructure and transport in Japan (2003).” 8. Napier, Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke, 41. 9. Sabre, “French manga and anime fans in Japan.” 10. Jaworowicz-Zimny, “Manga/anime conventions in Poland,” 24. 11. Cultural Resource Management Research Team, Media kontentsu to tsūrizumu. 12. For example, Kanzen Corporation, Anime tanbō. 13. Yamamura, “Contents tourism and local community response,” 74–75. 14. Yamamura, Anime, manga de chiiki shinkō, 28–34. 15. Mai Mai Miracle website, “Mai mai shinko to sennen no mahō.” 16. Fukushima prefecture, “Fukushima ken kankōkyaku irikomi jōkyō.” 17. Sugiyama, “Jieitai to Ōarai,” 30–41. 18. Wake Up Girls website, “Yamamoto Yutaka kantoku vs. ‘Wake Up Girls!’” 19. Iwate Keizai Kenkyūjo, “NHK renzoku terebi shōsetsu ‘Amachan’ no hōei ni tomonau Iwate-ken keizai e no hakyū kōka.” 20. Corkhill, “NHK spotlights gunslinging daughter of the north in yearlong Sunday drama.” 21. Japan Times, The, “Aomori festival won’t let ‘Star Wars’ floats join parade.” 22. See also Jang, “The Anohana rocket at the Ryūsei Festival and Menma’s wish.” 23. Yamamura, “A fictitious festival as a traditional event.” 24. Okamoto, “Otaku tourism and the anime pilgrimage phenomenon in Japan,” 22–23. 25. Graburn, “The dark is on the inside,” 58.

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26. Yamamura, “Contents tourism and local community response,” 76; Okamoto, “Otaku tourism and the anime pilgrimage phenomenon in Japan,” 27. 27. Azuma, Otaku, 4. 28. Kanzen Corporation, Anime tanbō, 6. 29. Okamoto, “Otaku tourism.” 30. Mason, “Dishing out Silver spoon.” 31. Warner Brothers Japan, “OPV.” 32. Saga Trip Genius, “Must see place in Saga, Yutoku Inari Shrine.” 33. Detective Conan Mystery Tour, “Detective Conan mystery tour.” 34. Stark, “Playful places,” 150. 35. Sun, “The importance of play in digital placemaking,” 24. 36. Ingress, “Ingress events.” 37. Hanke, “Three years of Ingress and the road for Niantic.” 38. Murai, “Iwate taps Google’s ‘Ingress’ to boost tourism.” 39. Miura Yoshihiro (president of Ebetsu Ingress club), interview conducted by the authors, March 23, 2016. 40. Kētai Watch, “Ishinomaki wo butai ni shita ‘Ingress Meetup’ kaisai.” 41. Iwate prefecture, “Iwate kenchō gēmunomikusu kenkyūkai chūkan hōkokusho.” 42. Toyama Kindaishi Kenkyūkai, Rekishi to kankō, 69–81. 43. Yamaguchi, “Nanto-shi ni okeru Koitabi no jirei.” 44. Nanto city, “KOITABI~True Tours Nanto.” 45. Beeton, Film-Induced Tourism, 154–155. 46. Kanda, “Shirakawa-gō e no anime seichi junrei to genchi no hannō,” 23– 28. 47. Reijnders, Places of the Imagination, 81–101. 48. Nagamura, “Dead reckoning in the haunts of Honancho.” 49. Robinson, “The emotional tourist,” 39. 50. There is insufficient evidence of a connection between adult contents aimed at the female/LGBT markets and travel, so in this section we concentrate on adult contents aimed at a heterosexual male audience. 51. Fujiki, Nippon AV saisentan. 52. Terawaki, Roman poruno no jidai, 14. 53. Tsutsumi, Godzilla on My Mind, 51–52. 54. Nikkatsu, “About us.” 55. Abé Mark Nornes, “The pink book,” 3. 56. Inoue, AV sangyō, 11–13. 57. Ogiue, Sekkusu media 30-nen-shi, 166.

262 58. 59. 60. 61. 62.

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Inoue, AV sangyō, 35. Myōki, Hihōkan to iu bunka sōchi. Rei no Pūru Kenkyūkai, Rei no pūru. ErogameScape, “ErogameScape.” MLB Park Community, “Japan adult expo 2014 & AV open 2014 sisangsik hugi.” 63. The authors are currently undertaking extensive surveys at many of these Japanese popular culture events. These comments are based on preliminary analysis of results that are unpublished at present. 64. Jaworowicz-Zimny, “Manga/anime conventions in Poland,” 26. 65. World Cosplay Summit, “WCS homepage;” Oguri, “Sekai kosupure samitto no igi, kanōsei, kadai.”

Conclusion Contents tourism is travel behavior motivated fully or partially by narratives, characters, locations, and other creative elements of popular culture forms, including film, television dramas, manga, anime, novels, and computer games. It entered the official lexicon of government tourism policy in 2005 and scholarly discourse in the early 2000s. Prior to this, drama-induced tourism had been debated in the media at least back to discussion of Taiga Drama tourism in the 1960s. The retrospective naming of behaviors as contents tourism can even date back to the eighth century, although there is no consensus among scholars on the appropriateness of such retrospective naming. Where there is no debate, however, is regarding the long historical connections in Japan between tourism, pilgrimage, and popular culture that are the antecedents of the modern phenomenon of contents tourism. Almost any place can become a site of contents tourism. The site may be extremely famous already, or it may be a nondescript location that gains narrative quality and becomes a sacred site to fans through its appearance in a work of popular culture. The key to determining whether visitation to that site is contents tourism is the motivation of the tourist. At Tokyo Disneyland, one can safely assume most visitors are purposeful contents tourists with prior interest in the contents. However, there can be exceptions: a grandmother with no prior interest in Disney who is just accompanying her granddaughter on a family day out counts as a visitor to Disneyland, not as a contents tourist. At other sites, there may be an even balance of contents tourists and other categories of tourists. Heritage sites tend to have some visitors interested in the history (heritage tourists)

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and some in works of popular culture depicting the history (contents tourists). In average years, there is little way of distinguishing them. But, booms triggered by works of popular culture constitute definitive evidence that contents tourism occurs at heritage sites, for example the unmistakable boom in visitor numbers at the Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum in 2010, the year the Taiga Drama Ryōmaden was broadcast. At other sites, contents tourists may be greatly outnumbered by other categories of tourists. Figure 100 shows Ichinokura-sawa, part of Mount Tanigawa in Gunma prefecture. For most visitors, this would be a spectacular hike and view of the Japan Alps, but for some it is a location for the novel, drama (2005), and film (2008) Climber’s High about a journalist who covers the crash of Flight JL123 in 1985.1 At this site, as with all others, the meanings and stories attached to the place by the consumption of works of popular culture and the decision to visit the place to further interest in those contents are what make the travel contents tourism. Even so, motivation is not always clear-cut even within the individual. Very few tourism experiences rest on one motivation to the exclusion of everything else. As presented in chapter 1, contents tourism experiences may be categorized as purposeful, sightseeing, casual, or incidental; or they may be serendipitous in stimulating unexpected interest in contents. We have also used the term genre-based contents tourism to convey the idea that popular culture indirectly creates a broad interest in visiting a destination, even if the place visited has no direct links to the popular culture. Given all these definitional problems, we have eschewed attempts to quantify contents tourism, either in terms of visitor numbers or economic impacts. We have on occasion cited estimates of economic impact, but they are at best guesstimates of something that is fundamentally unknowable. There is no agreed-upon methodology for allocating expenditures to a particular activity: so, for example, if a fan visits a town and spends the morning seeing anime locations and the afternoon shopping, is the value

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of the shopping included or excluded from the estimate of the economic impact of the contents tourism? Multiply these issues across tens of thousands of fans and the problem of quantification becomes apparent. This is not to say that contents tourism is a hopelessly vague concept with few practical applications. Contents tourism is so entangled with other forms of tourism behavior that it cannot always be studied in isolation, but at the same time it permeates so much tourism behavior that it simply cannot be ignored. An online survey (1000 valid responses, age range twenty to sixty) conducted by the Academy of Contents Tourism found that 38.1 percent of respondents had undertaken contents tourism at some time in their life, and 23.8 percent had done so within the last three years. This included visits to places we have not included in this book, such as buildings by favorite architects.2 As a young field of inquiry, definitional and methodological issues persist. But, the indisputable conclusion is that contents tourism is a widespread social phenomenon with major cultural, economic, and political impacts, and it will remain an important field of inquiry. Finally, the key concepts, methods, and conclusions of this study may be summarized as follows: 1) A focus on contents rather than media formats: The Englishlanguage literature has been largely based in media-format categories such as film tourism and literature tourism. As the media mix has diversified and contents producers release contents in multiple formats simultaneously, format-based analysis has run into limitations. Contents tourism as an approach is better suited to explaining the travel behaviors of fans who have a strong interest in a particular set of contents or “world”—comprising narratives, characters, locations, and other creative elements— that is created by franchises, artists, genres, and contents businesses and is disseminated across various media formats. Contents tourism is not simply media tourism, which also includes tourism induced by advertising, travel shows, and current affairs.

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2) A long-term historical perspective: Touristification is often a long process, as demonstrated by examples such as The Tale of Genji. When examples of contents tourism are found, tourism trends over the long run are the best way to gauge volumes and patterns of contents tourism. The long run focuses attention on the lifecycle and lifespan of contents and attractions, and the transition of certain contents from popular culture to cultural heritage within a community. Long run data also issues warning signals regarding extraneous factors, such as increases in tourist numbers caused by favorable exchange rates, or decreases caused by inclement weather. 3) A national case study: Many studies analyze contents tourism or its close relatives (film-induced tourism, literary tourism, and so on) through detailed case studies of particular works. Ultimately the nation of Japan has been our subject of inquiry. We have deliberately included examples of contents tourism from all fortyseven of Japan’s prefectures, some in great detail and some just in passing. This approach demonstrates that contents tourism does not take place in isolated pockets dotted around the nation. Contents tourism is ubiquitous across Japan, albeit sometimes obvious and sometimes obscured, and is deeply embedded within the tourism culture of the nation. 4) A focus on the technologies available to fans/travelers rather than to contents businesses: Media technology has changed enormously, particularly in the last century. Each additional format has diversified the media mix. But contents tourism revolves around fan motivations and as a modern form of fan behavior is a product of the Internet, digital, and social media age. These technologies have revolutionized the way fans obtain information and plan or carry out their trips. However, under our working definition of contents tourism, poetry tourism from the eighth century onwards meets the definition. We have called both contents tourism, but the potential of the Internet and mobile technology makes “predigital-age contents tourism” and “digital-age contents tourism” fundamentally different in nature.

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5) Treating the site as a form of media: Within a contents tourism approach, the destination is also a form of media that disseminates information about the contents to fans. Being a fan of a particular set of contents is expressed via a combination of passive media consumption, active production of derivative works or objects (such as cosplay costumes), and the physical experience of traveling. Contents businesses and local authorities often collaborate in the development and dissemination of the contents. Tourism may induce further popular cultural production/consumption, just as popular culture may induce tourism. 6) A theory that traverses generations and cultures: Contents tourism as a concept has developed in Japan, but it is not culture-specific (or gender-, religion-, generation- or any other form of “specific”). It focuses on universal human characteristics: telling stories, being moved by them to engage in travel, and using tourist sites as a way of preserving important narratives within the memory and heritage of the community. The fine details of contents tourism change from country to country. Leaving ema votive plaques at shrines is a form of fan behavior characteristic to Japan, but the broader behavior, such as leaving a memento (offering), is universal. In the coming years, works of popular culture, sets of contents, the technologies used to produce and consume them, and forms of travel will undergo major transitions. Patterns of contents tourism will evolve too, but its essence will remain rooted in the centuries-old human behavior of “traveling a story.”

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Notes 1. Hood, Dealing with Disaster in Japan, 181–188. 2. Yoshiguchi, “Ichiba chōsa kara yomitoku kontentsu tsūrizumu,” 183.

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Index

academic associations and journals, 246 Academy of Contents Tourism, 211, 265 International Journal of Contents Tourism, 11–12, 211 Japanese Research Association for Contents Tourism, 211 Journal of Contents History Studies, 211 actors, 18, 25–26, 31, 164, 234, 236–237 Atsumi Kiyoshi, 161–162 Ishihara Yūjirō, 142–144, 185, 202, 235 Watanabe Ken, 4, 14 actresses, 18, 164, 234–236 Aoi Sora, 237 Ayase Haruka, 225 Meguri, 237 Misora Hibari, 142–143, 146 actual sites, 28, 30, 76, 81, 154, 156 adults, 171, 195, 209, 237, 262 adult contents, 233, 235–236, 238, 261 advertising, 5, 23–24, 141, 160, 170, 212, 231, 265 Agency for Cultural Affairs, 2, 81, 245 aging society, 143, 185, 205–206 airports Kochi Ryoma Airport, 12, 64, 89 Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport, 35, 64 Yonago Kitaro Airport, 64

Americas, the, 174 Brazil, 240 Canada, 34, 60, 151–152, 173 United States of America, 150, 233, 239 amusement parks, 149–150, 152–153 Hokkaido Greenland, 196 animation, 98, 139–140, 148, 171, 173, 175, 213–215 anime, 2–3, 6, 10–12, 15–16, 20, 25, 33, 35, 42–44, 64–66, 78, 85–86, 92, 115, 126, 148–149, 160, 170, 172, 175, 181, 202, 210–212, 216, 222, 224, 227, 229, 233, 238–241, 248, 250, 262–264 Akira, 180, 209, 260 Ano Hana, 215 Astro Boy, 24, 177 Dog of Flanders, A, 174, 203 Evangelion, 152, 171, 180 Fullmetal Alchemist, 56 Gintama, 47 Girls und Panzer, 217 Hanasaku iroha, 221 Heidi: Girl from the Alps, 173, 178 Hetalia, 127 Ichigo mashimaro, 223 Koitabi, 1, 5, 57, 214, 231–232, 261 Lucky Star, 23, 37, 54–55, 214, 220, 245, 249, 252 Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, The, 223

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anime (continued) original video animation, 140, 171, 179–180, 213 Sengoku BASARA, 214 Silver Spoon, 223, 225, 231, 261 Space Battleship Yamato, 95 Star Blazers 2199, 94–95 True Tears, 214, 230, 245 Wake Up, Girls!, 218 World Masterpiece Theater, 151, 173 Yōkai Watch, 73, 196 apps, 4, 96 Geocaching, 230 Ingress, 228–230, 261 Koitabi Camera, 1, 5, 57 Pokémon GO, 229 Asia-Pacific countries and regions Australia, 240 China, 3, 20, 69–70, 97, 208–209, 235, 237, 241 Hong Kong, 227, 235, 238, 241 South Korea, 2, 6–7, 15–16, 37, 69, 137, 180, 209–210, 227, 235, 237 Malaysia, 206 Taiwan, 227, 235, 237–238 Thailand, 226 Association of Japanese Animations, 172, 181 authenticity, 28–31, 65–66, 81, 91, 141, 212, 221, 250 authors and writers Arishima Takeo, 146, 184 Hayashi Fumiko, 167 Hearn, Lafcadio, 72–74 Ishihara Shintarō, 142 Jippensha Ikku, 68, 82–83, 134, 168 Kaibara Ekiken, 25

authors and writers (continued) Kuramoto Sō, 164 Murasaki Shikibu, 78–79, 110 Nakamura Kenkichi, 167 Natsume Sōseki, 36, 97, 99, 130, 194 Shiba Ryōtarō, 30–31, 36, 90, 96, 129, 145, 154 Shiga Naoya, 166–167 Shimazaki Tōson, 145 Takagi Nobuko, 216 Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, 79 Uchida Yasuo, 35 Yamamoto Shūgorō, 155 Yamamoto Yūzō, 160 blogs, 8–9, 12, 237 branding, 1–2, 15, 23, 35, 62–64, 72, 74, 76, 95–96, 98, 138, 147, 153, 192, 207–208, 212, 217, 226, 232–235, 238, 241, 260 bubble economy, 137–138, 149, 156, 163–164, 172, 205, 208 Buddhism, 69, 96 budget travel, 207 campaigns, 31, 79, 84, 99 Discover Japan campaign, 139, 155 Visit Japan Campaign, 208, 241, 245 canonization, 11, 20, 25–26, 31–33, 58, 67, 74, 76, 78–79, 81–82, 84, 97, 114, 144 castles, 36, 85 Aoba Castle, 86, 116 Edo Castle, 87 Funaoka Castle, 155 Himeji Castle, 191 Iga Ueno Castle, 106 Kumamoto Castle, 219 Matsuyama Castle, 96, 98 Shiroishi Castle, 86, 118–119

Index castles (continued) Shuri Castle, 157 Sumpu Castle, 83, 113 Tsurugajō Castle, 218 characters (fictional), 1–3, 5, 7–10, 16, 18, 20, 28, 30, 32, 44, 70–71, 73–74, 85–86, 94–95, 97, 126, 148, 171–172, 194, 214, 220, 229, 231–232, 234, 236, 239, 242, 263, 265 Anpanman, 151, 160 Astro Boy, 24, 160 Crayon Shinchan, 183 Detective Conan, 35, 64, 226–227, 261 Doraemon, 160, 230, 241, 245 Gundam, 258 Hamutarō, 152 Heidi, 173–174 Hello Kitty, 34, 51, 150, 178, 233, 241 Kaiketsu Zorori, 152 Lisa and Gaspard, 152–153 Maes Hughes, 56 Masked Rider, 196 Momotarō, 72, 133 Nello and Patrasche, 174 Thomas the Tank Engine, 152–153 Tora-san, 50, 161–163, 198 Ultraman, 178, 186–187 Yaji and Kita, 83–84, 113 children, 36, 68, 73–74, 77–78, 103, 145, 147–148, 151–153, 163, 169, 171, 173–174, 195, 222–223, 234, 239 Comiket, 18, 148, 179, 233, 240, 253, 255 community, 23, 27–29, 33, 65–66, 73, 81, 86, 92, 96, 137–139, 144–146, 152, 157, 159–163,

289 community (continued), 165, 170, 182, 184, 197, 201, 206, 213–214, 220, 223–225, 227–228, 233, 237, 249, 260–262, 266–267 computers, 1–4, 25, 44, 85–86, 115, 139, 263 consumers, 18, 141, 211 contents, sets of (see “apps”, “anime”, “dramas”, “films”, “games”, “manga”, “music”, “novels”, “poetry”, “Taiga Dramas”), 4, 11, 23–24, 27, 32, 36, 95, 98–99, 128, 153, 165, 207, 224, 267 contents businesses (see also “authors” and “manga artists”), 11, 17, 23, 25–27, 30, 39, 140, 146, 149, 172, 210, 212, 225, 265–267 Capcom, 85–86, 115 Disney, 150, 171, 202, 263 Kadokawa, 24, 62, 147, 214 Niantic Labs, 228–229 Nikkatsu, 24, 62, 147, 235, 261 P.A. WORKS, 1, 214, 230, 232 Sanrio, 34, 51, 60, 150 Studio Ghibli, 24, 148, 226 Toho Co., 235 contents tourism, forms and definition of boom and bust contents tourism, 32–34, 59, 79, 156, 158, 216, 218 canonized contents tourism, 31–33, 58, 81 complex contents tourism, 32, 36–64, 95, 98–99, 128, 167, 199 casual contents tourism, 21–22, 40, 194 definitions of, 2–4, 266

290

Contents Tourism in Japan

contents tourism, forms and definition of (continued) essence of contents tourism, 2, 99 genre-based contents tourism, 32, 36, 92, 209, 234, 264 heritage and/or contents tourism, 10, 31–33, 58, 84, 87–89, 91, 93, 125, 147, 160–161, 190, 219 incidental contents tourism, 40 organic contents tourism, 5, 25, 231 purposeful contents tourism, 17, 21, 40, 151, 193, 263–264 serendipitous contents tourism, 40, 98, 264 sightseeing contents tourism, 40, 79, 112 supply-driven contents tourism, 32, 34–35, 60, 149, 153 tourism to regions branded by contents, 35, 62 war-related contents tourism, 92, 135 contents transport, 41, 153, 230 itasha, 42 wrapping, 18 Cool Britannia, 206 Cool Japan, 1, 4, 6, 36, 150, 206, 210, 232–235, 241 Japan’s Gross National Cool, 207, 245 copyright, 25–26, 30, 214 corporations, 23, 51, 62, 85, 138, 140–141, 146–148, 150, 169, 172, 205, 229, 235, 260–261 cosplay, 18, 35, 56, 61, 95, 121, 126–127, 224, 234, 239–241, 254–255, 257, 262, 267 creative elements, 2–5, 9, 24, 94,

creative elements (continued), 236, 263, 265 cultural tourism, 15, 30, 40, 65, 168 cultural tourists, 4, 15, 21, 40 cute, 51, 106, 174, 233 derivative works, 8, 18, 24, 267 destinations, 3, 5, 7, 9, 16, 18–19, 22, 36–37, 41, 75, 86, 99, 128, 138, 151, 153, 155–156, 159, 163, 175, 209, 223, 226–227, 231, 238, 264, 267 devotion, 43, 46 directors, 141 Kurosawa Akira, 142, 144, 177, 179, 202, 239 Miyazaki Hayao, 93, 98–99, 128, 148, 173, 245 Ōbayashi Nobuhiko, 167 Ozu Yasujirō, 144, 166, 182, 200 Takahata Isao, 148, 173 Yamada Yōji, 162 Yamamoto Yutaka, 218, 260 domestic tourism, 7, 68, 256 domestic tourism outside Japan, 240 dramas, 1, 3, 10, 16, 33, 44, 66, 85, 87, 92, 96, 134, 146, 153–154, 156, 169, 172, 207, 218, 222, 229, 263 Climber’s High, 259, 264 From the Northern Country, 163–165, 179, 188 Kol Kimono, 226 STAY, 226 Tokyo Love Story, 98–99 Winter Sonata, 2, 6–7, 209, 245 earthquakes, 86, 119 Great East Japan Earthquake, 11, 208, 216–219, 229, 246 Hanshin Earthquake, 180

Index earthquakes (continued) Kumamoto earthquakes, 219 economic impacts, 7, 37, 160, 168, 170, 192, 211, 213, 217–219, 233, 239, 264–265 ema, 22, 45–47, 117, 267 emotion, 5, 8, 18, 29, 92, 163, 234, 261 emperor, 90, 98, 163, 241 etiquette, 215, 255 meiwaku (causing inconvenience), 222–224 European countries Belgium, 174, 239 France, 16, 65, 69, 152, 175, 203, 209–210, 239, 260 Germany, 159 Italy, 233, 238–239, 256 Poland, 239, 260, 262 Russia, 30, 36, 69, 90, 96, 129, 219 Switzerland, 173 United Kingdom, 7, 16, 68–69, 174, 206, 239–240, 254 events and conventions, 10, 12, 18, 28, 33–34, 60, 72, 78, 80, 84, 105, 111, 115, 118, 133, 145, 154, 159–160, 214–215, 218, 220–221, 228–229, 245–246, 253, 256, 260–261 Anime Expo, 240 Anime Festival Asia, 240 Anime Friends, 240 AVCon, 240 Hyper Japan, 240, 254 Japan Adult Expo, 237, 262 Japan Expo, 210, 239–240 Japanese Events in Tunisia, 240, 257 Japanicon, 239 Lucca Comic & Games, 238

291 events and conventions (continued) Toyako Manga-Anime Festa, 42, 56, 126–127 World Cosplay Summit, 35, 61, 240–241, 254, 262 exchange rates, 37, 137, 266 exhibitions, 28, 51, 78, 83, 121, 145–149, 185 Taiga Drama pavilions, 190–192 Ozu Yasujirō exhibition, 144, 182 exports, 1, 6, 137, 205, 207 fans, 1–2, 4–5, 7–12, 16–24, 26, 28–31, 33–34, 37, 39–40, 43–47, 54–56, 65, 73–74, 78, 85–86, 92, 96, 98, 105, 115, 117–118, 120, 126–127, 140, 142–143, 146–147, 149–152, 154, 161–162, 165, 171–172, 185, 187, 193–194, 196, 203, 206–207, 210, 212–214, 220, 222–237, 260, 263–267 fans of Japan, 36, 238–259 fans of the region, 216–217, 221, 238 fantasy, 94–95, 150, 171, 202, 225 festivals, 23, 90, 210, 214, 226–227, 229, 231, 240, 260 Bonbori Festival, 220–221, 250–251 Hajisai Festival, 220, 249 Kappa Festival, 74 Man’yō Festival, 76 Masamune-kou Matsuri, 115 Momotarō Festival, 72 Namahage Festival, 73 Nebuta Festival, 220 Oni Kojūrō Matsuri Festival, 86 Shingen-kō Matsuri Festival, 155 fiction, 8, 10, 24, 28, 30, 32–34, 44, 84, 105, 153, 160–161, 163, 165, 169, 171, 221, 233, 237, 239

292

Contents Tourism in Japan

film commissions, 23, 166–167, 207, 215, 245 Onomichi Film Commission, 169, 201 films, 7–8, 24, 36, 54, 78, 85, 87, 123, 140, 142, 146–147, 149, 169, 221, 230, 235–236, 239 Chizuko’s Younger Sister, 167 Eternal Zero, The, 93–94 Fireflies, 93, 124, 148 For Those We Love, 93, 124 Goodbye for Tomorrow, 167 Ichi the Killer, 233 If You Are the One, 245 It’s Tough Being a Man, 50, 161–163, 165, 178, 198 Kimi no na wa, 92 Last Samurai, The, 4, 14, 20–21, 65 Love Letter, 37 Mai Mai Miracle, 216 Manatsu no hōteishiki, 98 Ode an die Freude, 159 One Summer’s Day, 167 Oppai Barē, 225 Ring, The, 233 Spirited Away, 98–99, 128, 245 Summer Wars, 215, 248 Timeline, 226 Tokyo Story, 144, 166–168, 177, 200 Wind Rises, The, 93 Yamato, 93–95, 168, 201 You Only Live Twice, 160 film-induced tourism, 2, 6–8, 15–16, 65, 98, 135, 167, 202, 224, 232, 234, 261, 265–266 film-location tourism, 8, 167 folklore, 70 Namahage, 72–73, 103

folklore (continued) yōkai, 73–74, 104, 133, 196 food, 4, 20, 22, 72, 138, 149, 169, 173, 238 foundations, 140–141, 144, 173 Akira Kurosawa Foundation, 142 franchise, 85–86, 151, 153, 161, 265 furusato (hometown), 70, 82, 151, 166, 202 games, 1–3, 6, 44, 73, 139, 149, 179, 196, 210, 222, 228–230, 238–239, 256, 263 adult games, 235–237 Higurashi When They Cry, 233 Kantai Collection, 94, 125–126 karuta, 76–78 Resident Evil, 234 Sengoku BASARA, 11, 84–87, 115, 118–119, 156, 214, 246 gardens, 75–76 Man’yōen Botanical Garden, 97, 131 genre, 17–18, 25, 32, 36, 92, 174, 209, 234–235, 238, 264 government, local, 1, 28, 34, 71, 155–158, 169, 214, 226, 241 government of Japan, 1–2, 5, 36, 91, 139–140, 148–149, 205–206, 209, 211–212, 233, 235 Abenomics, 208 Koizumi Junichirō, Prime Minister, 161, 207–208 Mori Yoshirō, Prime Minister, 241 GPS, 1, 210, 225, 227–231 graves, 19, 21, 44, 88, 90–91, 114, 148 guidebooks, 5, 68, 70, 83, 99, 213, 222–223, 225

Index heritage, 11, 27–29, 32, 58, 67, 74–75, 79, 83–84, 89, 91, 93–95, 112–113, 125, 134, 144, 157–161, 163, 168, 182, 190, 199, 219, 230, 233, 242, 266–267 heritage sites, 10, 33, 87, 114, 154–156, 232, 263–264 heritage tourism, 30–31, 33, 66, 69–70, 88, 98, 147, 218 historical contents, pre-modern Amaterasu, 49, 71 Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), 48, 67, 70–71, 133 Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan), 48, 67, 70, 133 Tale of the Heike, The, 33 historical figures (Japanese) Akiyama Saneyuki, 30–31, 129 Akiyama Yoshifuru, 30–31 Asano Naganori, 87–88 Date Masamune, 86, 115–117, 156, 214 forty-seven ronin, the, 68, 87–88, 114 Fujiwara no Teika, 76 Harada Kai, 155 Hijikata Toshizō, 120 Katakura Kojūrō, 86, 118 Kira Yoshihisa, 87 Kobayashi Torasaburō, 160 Kūkai, 96 Kuroda Kanbee, 145 Minamoto no Yoshitsune, 154 Muraoka Hanako, 151–152 Niijima Yae, 218 Okita Sōji, 46 Ōtomo no Yakamochi, 75–76 Saigō Takamori, 20–21, 33, 44, 219 Saitō Hajime, 46 Sakamoto Ryōma, 12, 33–34, 59,

293 historical figures (Japanese) Sakamoto Ryōma (continued), 64, 89–91, 120–122, 134, 154, 192, 264 Shinsengumi, 39, 45–47, 120 Takeda Shingen, 155, 159 Tokugawa Ieyasu, 85, 158 Torihama Tome, 93 Uesugi Kenshin, 155, 159 hometown sites, 28, 30, 35, 76, 81, 88, 108, 138 Honshu, 35, 80, 166, 217 horror, 226, 233 zombies, 234 hospitality, 165–166, 169, 199 host and guest, 3, 9, 17, 22–23, 34, 133, 139, 145, 147, 209, 221, 224, 237, 254 houses (of authors, poets and actors/actresses), 73, 142, 152, 164, 234 Basho’s Birth House, 108 Gudabutsuan, 97 Hibari Misora Memorial House, 143 Minomushi-An, 82 Onomichi houses of literature, 167–168 Shiki-dō, 97 humor, 83–84 idols, 143, 233 AKB48, 6, 258 image, 7 imaginary, 5, 28 imagination places of the imagination, 16, 27, 31, 65, 261 Imperial Japanese Navy, 3, 30, 90, 93–94 inbound tourism, 7, 137, 139, 206–208, 226, 238, 241, 244, 246

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Internet, 6, 9–10, 12, 22, 25, 49, 70–72, 74, 95, 119, 139, 142, 172, 208, 210, 222, 224–225, 234–236, 240, 260, 266 itineraries, 159 free itineraries, 222, 224 official itineraries, 224 semi-structured itineraries, 222, 224, 252 structured itineraries, 222, 224 unofficial model courses, 225 Japan Association of Travel Agents, 245 Japan External Trade Organization, 149, 240, 245 Japan National Tourism Organization, 10, 16, 149, 178, 245 Japan Tourism Agency, 245 Japan Travel Bureau (JTB), 69, 158, 229, 244 JL123 crash, 179, 259, 264 kamikaze, 93, 123–124 Kyushu, 70, 82, 93 lakes Lake Ashino-ko, 152 Lake Kawaguchi-ko, 152 landscape, 3, 71, 159, 161, 197, 212–213, 217, 259 leisure, 3, 67, 138–139, 149, 154, 208, 222 bathing, 69, 97 cycling, 169 skiing, 69, 146, 184 libraries, 25, 145, 148, 181 licensing, 24, 30, 153, 211, 214 literary museums (bungakukan, see also “museums”), 140, 145, 148, 184 local authorities, 5, 11, 17, 23–24, 26–32, 34–37, 39, 75, 85, 99,

local authorities (continued), 138–140, 142, 144, 147–149, 155, 157, 170, 172, 182, 201, 205–207, 210–212, 214–216, 224, 229, 231–232, 238, 240–241, 248, 267 locations, 1–5, 7–10, 14, 16, 22–24, 26, 28, 30, 32–35, 54, 56, 65, 70, 72, 79, 81, 94–95, 98–99, 134, 143–144, 147, 149, 151–152, 154–156, 160–162, 164–167, 169–170, 172, 198, 209–210, 213–215, 218, 221, 223, 225–228, 230, 232, 234, 238, 242, 248, 252, 259, 263–265 Janes Residence, The, 219 location hunting, 222 Rei no pūru, 236–237, 262 machizukuri (community-building), 31, 96, 137–138, 146, 159, 163, 201–202, 206 hitozukuri (people-building), 166, 170, 199 magazines, 79, 154 an-an, 139, 156, 178 Friends of Girls, 175 non-no, 139, 156, 178 Weekly Shōnen Sunday, 227 World of Ladies, The, 175 manga, 1–4, 6, 10, 16, 22, 24, 36, 42, 44, 54, 56, 65–66, 85, 92–93, 104, 126–127, 134, 139, 148, 160, 170–172, 175, 181, 196, 202–203, 211, 223, 229–230, 233, 238, 240, 260, 262–263 Asaki yume mishi, 79 Chihayafuru, 78, 133 Detective Conan, 35, 64, 226–227, 261 dōjinshi, 18 Gegege no Kitarō, 41, 64, 73–74

Index manga (continued) One Piece, 239 manga and anime tourism, 170 manga artists Fujiko F. Fujio, 230 Hasegawa Machiko, 172 Tagawa Suihō, 172 Tezuka Osamu, 24, 148 mascots, 106, 153, 173 mass tourism, 9, 68, 139 media mix, 15, 24–26, 65, 78, 139, 148, 235, 265–266 media tourism, 5–8, 16, 27, 265 Meiji Restoration, 89–90, 131, 219 memorials, 19, 21, 27, 34, 44–45, 59, 81–83, 91–93, 96–97, 142–143, 145, 148, 151, 184–185, 202, 264 memory, 22, 28, 66, 92, 99, 135, 141, 159, 163, 166, 241, 267 realms of memory, 27, 31, 65, 134 merchandise, 86, 146, 151, 214 ministries Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2, 245 Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 211 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4, 241, 245 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 2, 260 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, 2, 15, 203, 208, 241, 245 monsters, 73, 104, 230 Daimajin, 147 Godzilla, 16, 65, 105, 160, 177, 235, 261 Morning Dramas, 177 Amachan, 218

295 Morning Dramas (continued) Gegege no nyōbo, 73 Hanako to An, 152 Teppan, 169 motivation, 4, 8, 17, 19, 21–22, 25, 27, 36–37, 40, 74, 76, 92–93, 98–99, 144, 149, 196, 239, 263–264, 266 mountains, 220 hiking, 167, 206, 259 Mount Tanigawa, 259, 264 Mount Fuji, 53, 84, 152–153, 195, 238 Mount Senkōji, 167, 199 multiuse, 2, 25–26 municipalities (provincial towns and major cities, excluding Tokyo), 138, 207 Aizuwakamatsu, 218–219, 247 Akime, 160 Ashibetsu, 34, 151 Beppu, 227 Chichibu, 215 Chōfu, 24, 62, 74, 147, 235 Ebetsu, 228–229, 261 Echizen, 79 Fujiyoshida, 152 Furano, 151, 163–165, 188, 203 Hakone, 84, 152 Himeji, 4, 14, 145, 191 Hōfu, 216 Iga, 81–82, 106, 108 Imari, 142 Ise, 48–49, 68–70, 83 Ishinomaki, 229, 261 Jōetsu, 155 Kami, 19, 77, 151, 241 Kanazawa, 220 Kitakyūshū, 225–226 Kobe, 154

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municipalities (provincial towns and major cities, excluding Tokyo) (continued) Kōchi, 12, 59, 64, 89–91, 121, 151, 158, 192 Kōfu, 155 Kuki, 23, 54, 214, 249 Kumamoto, 133, 219 Kyoto, 12, 37, 45, 77, 79, 90–91, 120, 134, 143, 146–148, 154, 193 Matsue, 72 Matsuyama, 30, 36, 95–99, 128, 132, 135, 167, 194, 224 Mitaka, 24, 148 Nagaoka, 160–161, 197 Nagasaki, 91 Nagoya, 35, 151, 240–241, 254 Nakatsugawa, 145 Nanto, 1, 5, 57, 214, 230–232, 261 Naruto, 159 Nikkō, 35 Niseko, 146, 184 Nishio, 88, 134 Nomi, 186 Ōarai, 154, 202, 218, 260 Okayama, 72, 133 Onomichi, 94, 165–170, 199–201, 203 Osaka, 69, 82–85, 95, 150, 169, 205 Ōshū, 157 Otaru, 37, 142–143, 185 Ōtsu, 76, 78, 82 Oume, 74, 133 Sakaiminato, 41, 73–74, 104, 133 Sapporo, 164, 205, 228 Sendai, 86, 115, 117, 151, 155 Shibata, 155 Shirakawa-go, 230, 233, 261 Shizuoka, 83, 113

municipalities (provincial towns and major cities, excluding Tokyo) (continued) Shōdoshima, 92 Sukagawa, 81 Takaoka, 76–77, 133, 230 Takarazuka, 24, 79, 85, 148, 164 Tama, 51, 150 Tōya, 42 Tsukubamirai, 158, 203 Ueda, 134, 215, 248 Uji, 79–80, 110–111 Ushiku, 74 Washimiya, 23, 37, 54, 213–214 Yokohama, 151 Yomitan, 157 Yūbari, 206 museums, 28, 31, 70, 72, 88, 121, 133, 140–141, 144, 149, 155, 161, 181, 198–199, 222, 236 Akiyama Brothers’ Birthplace Museum, 30, 129 Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum, 146, 184 Basho Memorial Museum (Iga), 81–82 Basho Museum (Tokyo), 81, 109 Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots, 93, 123 Clouds Above the Hill Museum, 97 Commemorative Hall of Literature, 167 Ghibli Museum, 24, 148, 245 Hasegawa Machiko Art Museum, 172 Himeji City Museum of Literature, 145 Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum, 92

Index museums (continued) Katsushika Shibamata Tora-san Museum, 162 Kita no Kuni Kara Museum, 165, 188 Kure Maritime Museum, 93–94, 125, 135 Kyoto International Manga Museum, 148 Man’yō Historical Museum, 76–77 Museum of Modern Japanese Literature, 145 Niigata Manga Animation Museum, 148 Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum, 73, 103 Onomichi City Museum of Cinema, 168, 200 Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum, 180 Ryozen Museum of History, 91, 120 Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum, 34, 59, 91, 264 Shiba Ryōtarō Memorial Room, 145 Shigureden, 77–78 Shiki Museum, The, 96 Shizuoka Cultural Heritage Museum, 83 Sukagawa City Basho Memorial Museum, 81 Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum, 93 Tagawa Suihō, Norakuro Hall, 172 Tale of Genji Museum, 79, 111–112, 134 Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum, 148

297 museums (continued) Tomiya Cafe, 93, 124 Toson Memorial Museum, 145 Ultraman Stadium, 186–187 Yamadera Basho Museum, 81 Yanase Takashi Memorial Museum, 151 Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library, 148 Yujiro Memorial Hall, 142–143, 185, 202 music, 1, 4–5, 8, 143, 146, 169, 239 Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, 159 musicals, 79, 85 Tsugaru Straits, 35 musicians Ishikawa Sayuri, 35 myths, 11, 33, 48, 63, 66, 70–74, 221, 241 narrative, 3, 7, 9, 15–16, 24–25, 30, 32, 68, 71–72, 83, 92–95, 98, 197, 211, 218, 225–226, 231, 234, 236–237, 267 narrative quality, 2, 4–5, 35, 53, 63, 70, 77, 84, 88, 96, 99, 207, 230, 241–242, 263 narrative world, 5, 8, 28, 106, 152, 171, 265 new tourism, 9 newspapers Asahi Shinbun, 69, 156, 202–203 Japan Times, The, 12, 71, 260 Sankei Shinbun, 90, 93 next generation tourism, 9 NHK, 7, 31, 33, 59, 73, 89–90, 129, 145, 152, 154, 156–158, 164, 169, 190, 218–219, 260 NHK Studio Park, 147 nostalgia, 82, 108, 133, 162–163,

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nostalgia (continued), 175, 209 novels, 3, 8, 18, 53, 68, 85, 263 Anne of Green Gables, 34, 60, 151–152, 173 Botchan, 36, 97, 130, 194 Clouds Above the Hill, 30, 36, 96–98, 129 Diary of a Vagabond, 167 Hundred Sacks of Rice story, 160, 197, 203 Kwaidan, 73 Momi no ki wa nokotta, 155 Nikkō Murder Mystery, 35 Nise Murasaki inaka Genji, 78 Ryōma ga yuku, 90–91, 154 Tale of Genji, The, 25, 32, 65, 78–80, 110, 134, 266 Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige, 32, 82–84, 113, 134 Train Man, 6, 16, 223 Twenty-Four Eyes, 92 Yuki onna, 74 official sites, 28, 30, 81, 140, 210 onsen, 35, 42, 67–68, 133, 152–153, 227, 236 Dōgo onsen, 36, 96–99, 128, 194 Yuwaku onsen, 220–221 otaku, 6, 12, 16, 22, 65–66, 171–173, 203, 222–223, 258, 260–261 outbound tourism by Japanese, 68, 137, 139, 208, 244 Antwerp, 174 South Korea ("Winter Sonata"), 2, 6, 209 Maienfeld, 173 Prince Edward Island, 151 United Kingdom, 7 package tours, 69, 139, 224 Detective Conan Mystery Tour, 226–227, 261

parks (related to contents), 28, 34, 60, 75, 138, 149–153, 156, 168, 193, 195, 207, 222 Murasaki Shikibu Park, 79 Ondo no Seto Park, 94 parody, 78 periods of Japanese history Bakumatsu period, 69, 89–91, 102, 120, 218 Edo period, 3, 9, 25, 32, 68, 75, 78, 80, 82, 88, 102, 168 Heian period, 25, 32–33, 65–66, 78–80, 101, 110–112, 134, 266 Kamakura period, 101 Meiji period, 25, 72, 96, 98, 102, 132, 170, 219 Muromachi period, 68, 78, 101 Nara period, 9, 75, 101 Sengoku period, 11, 84–85, 87, 91, 101 Showa period, 102, 142, 162–163 Taisho period, 3, 102 photography, 1, 5, 12, 16, 22, 25, 31, 42, 45, 51, 53–57, 63–64, 82, 95, 103, 109, 115, 118, 120–121, 147, 186–187, 193–194, 196, 201, 231–232, 248–250, 252, 254–255, 258–259 pilgrimage, 7, 10, 12, 16, 19–21, 39–40, 44, 49, 65–69, 74, 92, 96, 98, 134, 143, 150, 152, 162, 165, 172, 193, 202–203, 213–214, 216–217, 222, 237, 260–261, 263 players of contents tourism (see also “fans”, “contents businesses” and “local authorities”), 39 poetry, 5, 25, 67–68, 78, 97–98, 131, 199, 230, 266 haiku, 9, 36, 75, 82, 96, 134 meishō (famous place), 75–77,

Index poetry meishō (famous place) (continued), 80–81 tanka, 75, 77, 167 utamakura (poetic place), 80–81 poetry collections Hyakunin Isshu, 75–77 Man’yōshū, 67, 75–76, 78, 97, 131, 133, 230 Narrow Road to the Deep North, 80–82, 109 poets, 75, 77, 167 Masaoka Shiki, 36, 96, 98, 131–132 Matsuo Bashō, 9, 68, 80–82, 97, 106–109, 134, 168 Yosano Akiko, 69, 79 policy, 2, 5, 7, 31, 69, 89, 138, 169, 206, 208–209, 211–212, 230, 232, 246, 263 Japan Tourism Action Plan, 207 Tourism Nation Declaration, 207, 245 popular culture, 1–5, 7, 10–12, 15, 18–20, 22–23, 25, 27–28, 30, 33, 36, 40, 58, 68, 73–74, 78, 84–85, 87–88, 90–95, 114, 134, 140, 144, 147, 150, 160–161, 170, 175, 206–207, 209–212, 219–220, 226, 233–234, 238–239, 241, 253, 256, 258, 262–264, 266–267 pornography, 5, 233–234, 238 Nikkatsu Roman Porn, 235 power spots, 19, 48–49 prefectures (except Tokyo), 13 Aomori, 35, 220, 260 Aichi, 35, 88, 151, 202, 240–241, 254 Akita, 73, 103 Chiba, 150

299 prefectures (except Tokyo) (continued) Ehime, 30, 36, 95–99, 128, 131–132, 135, 167, 194, 224 Fukui, 79 Fukuoka, 151, 225 Fukushima, 81, 217–219, 247, 260 Gifu, 145, 157, 230, 233 Gunma, 259, 264 Hiroshima, 125, 135, 165, 169, 199 Hokkaido, 12, 21, 34–35, 37, 42, 56, 60, 142, 146, 151, 163–165, 184, 188, 196, 206, 209, 211, 219, 223, 225, 231 Hyogo, 24, 80, 148, 164 Ibaraki, 74, 154, 158, 217 Ishikawa, 35, 154, 186 Iwate, 154, 157, 218, 229, 260–261 Kagawa, 15, 92 Kagoshima, 21, 93, 160 Kanagawa, 47, 152 Kochi, 12, 59, 64, 89–91, 121, 151, 158, 192 Kumamoto, 133, 219 Kyoto, 12, 37, 45, 77, 79, 90–91, 120, 134, 143, 146–148, 154, 193 Mie, 48, 70, 81, 107–108 Miyagi, 80, 86, 117, 214, 218 Miyazaki, 63, 70–71, 93, 98–99, 128, 148, 173, 223 Nagano, 215 Nagasaki, 91 Nara, 9, 70, 75, 77 Niigata, 148, 160–161, 197 Oita, 227 Okayama, 72, 133 Okinawa, 92–93, 157, 203, 240

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prefectures (except Tokyo) (continued) Osaka, 69, 82–85, 95, 150, 169, 205 Saga, 88, 142, 226, 261 Saitama, 213, 215 Shiga, 76, 82 Shimane, 70–72, 133 Shizuoka, 83, 113 Tochigi, 35 Tokushima, 159 Tottori, 35, 41, 64, 73, 104 Toyama, 1, 57, 76, 203, 211, 213, 230, 261 Wakayama, 95, 135 Yamagata, 80–81, 154 Yamaguchi, 203, 216, 261 Yamanashi, 67, 152, 158 privacy, 223–224, 233 producers, film and television Naitō Shinsuke, 218 Sugiyama Kiyoshi, 217 proxy sites, 28, 81 railways, 68–69, 76, 97, 130, 133, 155, 162, 178–179, 225 bullet train, 139, 154, 238 Fujikyū line, 153 Japan National Railways, 139, 163 Japan Railways, 226 Manyosen Railway, 230 Seibu Railway, 215 realism (of contents), 212–213 recovery, post-war and postdisaster, 11, 163, 212, 217 rekijo (history fan girl), 65, 86, 118, 120, 134, 202 repeat visitors, 153, 162, 166 resorts, 96, 146, 150, 153, 157, 184, 190, 206–207, 220–221, 236 Fuji-Q Highland Resort, 152

resorts (continued) Resort Law, 137, 149, 156, 179 revitalization, 134, 138, 180, 206, 212–213, 219, 238 rite of passage, 20 rivers, 72, 153 Iwato River, 71 Sumidagawa River, 81 Takachiho Gorge, 63, 70–71 Tatsutagawa River, 77 roads and trails Mizuki Shigeru Road, 180 Path of Literature, The, 167–168, 199 Tōkaidō road, 32, 53, 80, 83–84, 134 sacralization, 27–28 sacred sites, 21, 36, 40, 43, 45, 48, 51, 54, 71, 74, 78, 98, 114, 149–150, 193, 213, 216, 223, 226, 230, 240–241, 258, 263 seichi junrei, 10, 20 samurai, 4, 14, 20–21, 25, 33, 45, 65, 68, 87–89, 114–115, 158, 238–239 scenery, 8, 19, 63, 68, 70, 173, 230 Satta Pass, 52–53, 84 Seto Inland Sea, 92, 94, 165–166, 168–169 Three Views of Japan, 81, 95 sets, 156 Baruto no gakuen set, 159 Esashi-Fujiwara Heritage Park, 157–158 Fūrinkazan Kan, 158 Gorō’s stone house, 164, 189 Media Park Tsukuba, 158 Otokotachi no Yamato set, 168, 201 Toei Kyoto Studio Park, 143, 146–147, 179, 193

Index sets (continued) Twenty-Four Eyes Movie Studio, 92 Warp Station Edo, 158 sexual contents, 226, 233–234, 236 Shikoku, 96 Shinto, 19, 22, 45, 48, 70–71, 74, 221, 241 shocks, 137, 208, 233 shrines, 19, 22, 45, 74–75, 79, 98, 214, 267 Amano Iwato Shrine, 71 Ehime-ken Gokoku Shrine, 97, 131 Ise Shrine, 49, 68–70, 83 Izumo Taisha, 71–72, 133 Kyōto Ryōzen Gokoku Shrine, 90 Lucky Star Mikoshi, 23, 220, 249 Miyagi-ken Gokoku Shrine, 86, 117 Nanshū Shrine, 21, 44 Ōishi Shrine, 88 Ōmi Shrine, 76, 78 Sarume Shrine, 48 Yutoku Inari Shrine, 226, 261 Yuwaku Inari Shrine, 220 sight vs site, 28 sightseeing, 3, 21, 72, 79, 112, 187, 193–194, 209, 264 social media, 9, 16, 22, 84, 95–96, 213, 240, 245, 266 Facebook, 210 mixi, 210 Nico Nico Dōga, 210 TripAdvisor, 210 Twitter, 210, 237 Weibo, 237 YouTube, 210 soft power, 2, 6, 207, 241 souvenirs, 72, 82, 109, 146–147, 150,

301 souvenirs (continued), 160, 223, 232 gifts, 68, 187 stamp rally, 220, 224–225, 231, 252 statues, 30, 50, 72–74, 76, 81, 83, 86, 90–91, 104, 107, 110, 113, 116, 129, 140, 155, 159–160, 162, 174 studios, 24, 28, 92, 141–143, 146–150, 164, 193, 226, 230, 232, 234–236 sustainability, 23, 32, 34, 141–142, 144–145, 158, 164–165, 186–187, 216, 230, 238 Taiga Dramas, 7, 16, 33, 66, 134, 145, 153, 164, 177, 211, 263 Aoi Tokugawa Sandai, 158 Clouds Above the Hill, 30–31, 36, 96–98, 129 Dokuganryū Masamune, 156 Fūrinkazan, 158 Gunshi Kanbee, 191 Homura tatsu, 157 Minamoto no Yoshitsune, 154 Momi noki wa nokotta, 155 Nobunaga King of Zipangu, 157 Ryōmaden, 34, 59, 89–91, 121, 158, 192, 264 Ryōma ga yuku, 90–91, 154 Ryūkyū no kaze, 157 Taira no Kiyomori, 94, 125 Ten to chi to, 155 Tenchijin, 86 Tobu ga gotoku, 21 Yae no sakura, 11, 190, 218–219 technology, 25, 57, 65, 69, 80, 94, 139, 210–211, 213, 225, 227, 232, 266 television (see also “NHK”), 1–3, 6–8, 10, 16, 25, 28, 31, 35, 73, 85–86, 93, 98, 139–140, 146, 148, 151, 153–154, 162–163, 167,

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television (see also “NHK”) (continued), 169, 171, 173, 175, 183, 186, 202, 209, 214–215, 217–218, 220, 231, 235–236, 263 Asahi Television, 147 Fuji Television, 147 temples, 22, 75, 96, 167–168 Byōdōin Temple, 79 Daikyōji Temple, 162 Engyōji Temple, 4, 14 Gichūji Temple, 82 Jōdoji Temple, 166 Kagakuji Temple, 88 Mibudera Temple, 45, 47 Minami Midō Temple, 82 Mount Kōya, 69 Ōsu Kannon Temple, 240 Risshakuji temple complex, 81 Sengakuji Temple, 88, 114 Zuisenji Temple, 1, 5 theater, 6, 25, 151, 154, 161, 165, 173, 236 Chūshingura, 68, 87–88, 114 Furano Nature Studio, 164 kabuki, 68, 78, 87, 155 Takarazuka Revue, 79, 85, 164 theme parks, 28, 138, 147, 149, 193, 207, 222 Canadian World, 34, 60, 151–152 foreign themed parks, 151 mono-theme parks, 150–152 multi-theme parks, 150 Sanrio Puroland, 34, 51, 60, 150, 180 semi-themed parks, 150, 152 Thomas Land, 152–153, 195 Tokyo Disney Resort, 150, 156, 179, 245, 263 Universal Studios Japan, 150, 234

theme parks (continued) Winds of the Ryūkyūs Park, 157–158 third-sector, 151, 157–158 tie-ups, 30, 86, 153, 207, 212–217, 229 Tōhoku, 158, 217–219 Tokugawa shogunate, 3, 45, 80, 85, 87, 89, 158, 219 Tokyo, 16, 18, 24, 51, 62, 69, 74, 88, 92, 97–99, 109, 114, 133, 139, 143, 145, 148–150, 154, 156, 164, 166–168, 182, 200, 205, 208, 240, 263 Akihabara, 6, 226, 258 Edo, 84 Kōtō, 81, 144, 172 Roppongi, 147, 183 Shibamata, 50, 161–163, 165, 198 Shibuya, 147 Shinjuku, 105, 160, 236 Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC), 33–34 tourism promotion, 36, 70–72, 74, 89, 95–96, 99, 165, 212, 224, 228, 230, 232 tourist gaze, 4, 15, 29, 65–66 touristification, 21, 26–29, 31, 33, 35, 71, 73, 76, 79, 82, 89–92, 138, 140–142, 144, 147, 149, 154, 158–159, 168, 172, 175, 266 travel writers, 80 UNESCO World Heritage, 69, 79, 112, 230, 232–233 universities Hokkaido University, 12, 211 Hōsei University, 211 University of Tokyo, 97 videos, 25, 139, 169, 235 adult video, 236–237, 261–262

Index videos (continued) original video animation (see “anime”), 140, 171, 213 violence (in contents), 89, 233–234 visitor numbers, 2, 22, 34, 37, 59, 73–74, 79–80, 83, 86, 91, 94, 111–112, 118–119, 123, 125, 143, 145, 150–151, 157–158, 162, 170, 190, 208–210, 216–219, 221, 227, 229, 253, 264, 266 wars, 19, 70, 74, 84, 93–94, 98, 123, 125, 134–135, 137, 139, 148, 157, 163, 166, 175, 215, 220, 248, 260

303 wars (continued) Boshin War, 160, 218–219 Russo-Japanese War, 30, 36, 69, 90, 96, 129, 219 Satsuma Rebellion, 20, 219 Sino-Japanese War, 97, 219 World War I, 159 World War II, 88, 90–92, 95, 127, 131, 168, 174, 201 women travelers, 139, 151, 156, 173–175 woodblock prints, 25, 53, 68, 83–84, 170, 238 shunga, 78

About the Authors

Philip Seaton is a professor in the Research Faculty of Media and Communication, Hokkaido University, where he is the convenor of the Modern Japanese Studies Program. He holds a DPhil and MA from the University of Sussex and a BA from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Seaton’s previous publications include Japan’s Contested War Memories, Voices from the Shifting Russo-Japanese Border: Karafuto/Sakhalin, and Local History and War Memories in Hokkaido. He coedited a special issue of Japan Forum in 2015 “Japanese Popular Culture and Contents Tourism” and is editor-in-chief (along with Takayoshi Yamamura) of the International Journal of Contents Tourism. His website is www.philipseaton.net. Takayoshi Yamamura is a professor in the Center for Advanced Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University and holds a PhD in urban engineering from the University of Tokyo. He is one of the pioneering researchers of ‘contents tourism’ and ‘anime induced tourism’ studies in Japan. He has served as the Chair of several governmental advisory boards, such as the Meeting of International Tourism Promotion through Animation Contents of The Japan Tourism Agency and the ANIMETourism Committee of Saitama Prefecture. In addition to numerous publications in Japanese on contents tourism, Dr. Yamamura’s English publications include “Contents Tourism and Local Community Response,” Japan Forum (2015), and “The Mediatisation of Culture: Japanese contents tourism and popular culture” (with Sue Beeton and Philip Seaton) in Mediating the Tourist Experience: From Brochures to Virtual Encounters. His website is http://yamamuratakayoshi.com/en/ Akiko Sugawa-Shimada is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Urban Innovation at Yokohama National University. She holds a PhD from University of Warwick and an MA from the University of Chicago. Dr. Sugawa-Shimada is the author of a number of books and

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articles on anime, manga, and cultural studies, including Girls and Magic: How Have Girl Heroes Been Accepted?, chapters in Japanese Animation: East Asian Perspectives and Teaching Japanese Popular Culture, and “Rekijo, Pilgrimage and ‘Pop-Spiritualism’: Pop-culture-induced Heritage Tourism of/for Young Women” in Japan Forum and “Interplay with Fantasy: 2.5dimensional Culture as Performance, and Imagination” in Eureka. Her website is www.akikosugawa.2-d.jp. Kyungjae Jang is a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Advanced Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University. He holds a PhD and MA in tourism studies from Hokkaido University, and a BA from Korea University. Dr. Jang has conducted participatory research on transnational Japanese contents tourism, focusing on popular culture-related tourism and events in the USA, France, Tunisia, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Dr. Jang was also the keynote speaker at the 2016 Tourism Summit Forum, China.