Abstract
In 2004, Japan earned a new World Heritage site: "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, and the Cultural Landscapes that Surround Them". The Heritage consists of three sacred sites and pilgrimage routes connecting them, and extends over three prefectures (Wakayama, Mie and Nara). Though the Kumano-Kodo pilgrimage routes had been long forgotten even by locals residents, many tourists came again after it was designated as a World Heritage site. However, the Typhoon No. 12 that struck West Japan at the beginning of September 2011 caused serious damage to this area, including the cultural heritage constituting this World Heritage site, restoration of which is ongoing. In this report, I analyze the narratives on cultural heritage and try to clarify the changing of narratives from pre- to post-disaster, and what such changes mean. I also analyze these narratives from the theory of recontextualization of meanings and values. I aim to show that, following the disaster, local narratives which are ordinarily suppressed in a national and global context are being revitalized.
