In social and human sciences, we have experienced "linguistic turn" (1960-1980) and "cultural turn" (1980-2000), that led to innovations in some disciplines. Such trends are evident on cultural anthropology, sociology, and geography both in Japan and abroad. However, nowadays, we discuss about "mobility" or "reflexive modernity" above the study of "linguistic turn" and "cultural turn". We have encountered some of those disciplinary turns in social and human sciences to understand what exactly "the social" is. This paper argues that "the social" should appear in tourism and / or as tourism, and that we thereby need to search for "touristic turn" to grasp "the social". In the end of this paper, I conclude that tourism studies should be constructed, not as a static and established discipline, but as a dynamic and generative discipline.

View full abstract

Tourism studies in sociocultural science flourished after the 1990s, as influenced by the interdisciplinary trend of the “cultural/spatial turn.” The first half of this paper discusses the features of tourism studies inspired by this tendency. The latter half considers new trends in tourism studies influenced by a shift in perspective of cultural/spatial theory after the late 1990s. With reference to the two discussions, this paper will then finally consider the significance and potential of tourism studies by focusing on the features of “mobility,” “encounter,” and “betweenness.”

View full abstract

This study examines the development of anthropology of tourism in Japanese academia by analyzingthe arguments on "cultural turn" theory. Anthropology of tourism originated in the United States in the 1970s, and was later introduced in Japan in the mid-1980s. Since the 1990s, many Japanese researchers have conducted anthropological studies using cultural turn theory, establishing an independent place in Japan’s present tourism research. Anthropologists have made several attempts to locate research under the framework of anthropology; however, to date, there has been no speculation focusing on tourism research. Therefore, this study re-frames the anthropology of tourism in Japan as a sub-discipline of tourism research, paying aclose attention to thearguments on cultural turn. The extensive review reveals that cultural turn played a key role in the introduction of anthropology of tourism in Japan. However, because of its dominant influence in the field, it unintentionally covered the potential issues discussed in tourism research. Therefore, anthropology of tourism in Japan should overcome this strong influence of the cultural turn theory and uncover the issues that were made invisible by it. The study proposes the application of various other theories and the participation of community development as measures to rebalance the anthropology of tourism in Japanese academia.

View full abstract

After the turn in the meaning of "touristic" from a social problem into a method of community promotion in the 1980s, touristic places have been found not only in "far" areas, but also in "near" ones, such as the middle of towns or places of people’s everyday lives. Re-discovering places as "here" with a touristic imagination is an emerging phenomenon initiated in the 2000s. It has become popular now in Japan to enjoy "here" as a place of "power spot" or hometown of a B-level gourmet under a new form of tourism of "here." This paper aims to analyze the form of tourism of "here." It critically considers the relationships between the media and places, as put forward by Daniel Boorstin and Joshua Meyrowitz, to scrutinize the mechanism of pleasure derivation in the tourism of "here." Regarding the tourism of "here" as an example of glocalization, a new tourism-derived pleasure is seen in the media era that allows people to experience "here" spatially and physically as well as to have an actual feeling of "me" through the tourism of "here."

View full abstract

The field trips that Taiwan’s education institutions conducted in the said country under the Japanese rule had features that distinguished them from those in the Japanese mainland in terms of ethnic characteristics and eclectic selection of destinations. These differences originated from Taiwan’s position as a colony. The schema of Japanese rulers and Taiwanese subjects formed the foundation of the field trip system from the initial stages of its introduction in Taiwan through to the 1940s. This was particularly pronounced in comparisons of the tour objectives between Taiwanese students on Japanese homeland tours and Japanese students on Taiwan island tours in the field trips that were introduced at the Taiwan Governor-General’s National Language School. In the 1910s, the middle section of the school introduced field trips to Southern China. As a result, the number of schools among secondary education institutions that conducted field trips to Southern China increased in the 1920s. Moreover, commerce- and business-related higher education institutions conducted tours to Southeast Asia, Northern China, Manchuria, and Korea. The selection of destinations outside of Taiwan for tours was a reflection of the Taiwan Governor-General’s foreign policy on field trips, and, at the same time, a reflection of relaxation in the absolute subordination of Taiwan to the Japanese homeland. With the introduction of tours to Southern China, the relationship between the Japanese homeland and Taiwan was treated as relative, making it difficult to find disparities between Taiwanese and Japanese in terms of the significance of field trips. From the 1920s onward, reaffirming the field trip to the Japanese homeland has become a deliberate goal. Secondary education institutions that have a high number of Taiwanese students, and which have conducted tours of Southern China, have now started to conduct Japanese homeland tours again. Two aspects of this phenomenon coexisted in contradiction: The Japanese homeland was no longer the mandatory choice for field trips, and the Japanese homeland tour was reinstated in order to strengthen colonial rule. In the 1930s, field trips permeated into elementary education institutions, and in this period, Japanese children were required to go on Japanese homeland tours. Taihoku City (Taipei), for example, has been holding Japanese homeland field trips for elementary school children. Because of this, the reputed dominance of Japanese children over Taiwanese children has had a noticeable decline, a development that can be attributed to the renewed relationship between “the governing” and “the governed.”

View full abstract

This paper analyzes the relationship between local residents and tourists visiting the location of scenes used in animation and manga. In this analysis, a new tourism framework called “next generation tourism” is adopted. First, the author defines next generation tourism and shows how it can be used as a valid framework for analysis. Second, a triangle-model for tourism motivated by animation is adopted. The author identifies three stages in the relationship between the local residents and animation tourists through the study of the location of scenes used in the manga “Lucky☆Star” in Washimiya, Saitama prefecture. The first stage is called “The Stage of Satisfaction for Taste,” the second is “The Stage of Understanding and Collaboration,” and the third is “The Stage of Participation and Cooperation.” Next, the author makes a study of the city of Johana in Toyama prefecture. It is used as a location in the anime “true tears.” The author chronologically lists the events in the history in Johana in the context of this anime and the local culture there. The three stages of the relationship between the local residents and animation tourists are adopted for analysis. During the course of this study, Yuushi-kai, one of the “true tears” fan groups, and P.A. Works, the maker of “true tears” were found to have contributed greatly to the local culture of Johana. This research has two main conclusions. One, we can confirm that the three stages of the relationship between the local residents and tourists in Johana described above are formed and are functioning steadily. From this relationship, we can say that next generation tourism exists in Johana. We can also confirm that the local culture, history, and traditions of Johana are influenced by three contributing factors—local residents, animation tourists, and artists/animators. Finally, the author presents a evidence for the relationship in Johana between these three actors based on the triangle-model for tourism motivated by animation.”

View full abstract