2025 Volume 77 Issue 1 Pages 1-19
This study aims to clarify the process in which a “tourist landscape” is created,using the case study of a rural municipality that was transformed into a “sacred pilgrimage site” through the implementation of pop-cultural content. We draw on the concept of “tourist town planning” to analyze local organizations and actors engaged in this rural revitalization project,which was highly anticipated by regional governments and communities. We argue that much effort is needed for the transformation of such a rather unknown site into a sacred “tourist landscape” embracing pop-cultural content tourist resources,and furthermore that the fluid organizations lead by urban-to-rural migrants play an important role in this process. We outline three reasons:First,copyright licensing of the pop-cultural content for local usage is complex and tends to be informal. Second,the focus on short-term economic success can cause frictions among local organizations. Third,because of these frictions,people with an outside status – such as urban-to-rural migrants – are needed to mediate among the actors and to take collective administrative tasks. However,it is difficult to set urban-to-rural migrants in a steady working position with proper compensation and payment,as the rural organizational and administrative structures are commonly in flux. Therefore,although there are high expectations for the economic success of “tourism town planning” and the implementation of pop-cultural content tourist resources in rural areas,the socio-economic sustainability of such a project tends to be low.
