There have recently developed two main directions of tourism research in the broad sense; one is the usual tourism research and the other is the semiotic research. Both have independently developed almost without the worth mentioning interactively effect. This paper surveys the characteristics of the semiotic research, which are exemplified in such situations of research as following two issues; first, the so-called controversy on MacCannell’s semiotic theory; second, the character of semiotics researching focused on “the meaning of meaning” without considering the flow of equivalent economic value, although this is a main operative factor in economics, business administration and the like. It is a reason why price (pricing） is hardly studied in the semiotics, what claims the mutually dependent development of both directions and beyond it such a further integral methodology as postdisciplinary or transdisciplinary studies of tourism.

View full abstract

Aiming to register Hidden Christian Sites as world heritage sites in 2016, ICOMOS admitted that the “universal value of Christian practices in Japan was remarkable just as a prohibited religion (hiding) period itself” and it was pointed out that registration in spite of the present condition was very difficult.
In response to this, the Japanese government was forced to take measures, such as the changing of peripheral assets, and other major changes, in the name of heritage. That is, the establishment of a narrative interpretation centering on what is called “negative history,” such as the persecution of believers, oppression, rebellion, suppression, and conflict over conversion, became the biggest barrier to registration.
Therefore, as for the tourism of related peripheral assets, development would also be inevitably seen from that angle. In that case, the technique of dark tourism focuses on the journey of the prayer for negative history, and it would be useful for tourists to obtain prior comprehension and handle those narrative aspects before the tour. On the other hand, the local community, which has shown an understanding of the activity of heritage registration based on the church construction of the revival period, is asked for consideration and their careful acceptance of the technique. In that case, tourism education would be important for mediating between hosts and guests. Based on this acknowledgment, the penetration of the term “Dark Tourism” as a form of science communication, even if dark tourism is not dared to be advocated, can help plan substantial measures. Therefore, both interactions become indispensable.

View full abstract

This article aims to explore the nature and performance of Japanese-participated orphanage volunteer tours in Cambodia. Orphanage volunteer tours are conducted so that tour participants gaze into the darkness of the orphanage, which is perceived as poor and miserable. During volunteering in the orphanage, the participants feel that the orphans always rely on them, and which leads them comfortable. This “feel good factor” is a vital for them to recover and fulfill their sense of reality that has been lost in their mundane daily lives. While orphanages are inherently welfare facilities and not connected with tourism phenomena, orphanages that accept volunteer tours and individual tourists have been organized in the tourism business system. A variety of performances were identified by participant observation research at the orphanage that conducts volunteer tours from Japan. First, tour operators and managers of the orphanages design the space of the orphanage, which enables tour participants to maximize their motivation to recover their sense of reality and to regain their sense of existence. Managers of this orphanage force orphans to entertain volunteer tour participants in order to satisfy them. Moreover, tour participants also perform themselves to adapt to the atmosphere of the orphanage, which is portrayed as altruistic and philosophical.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine and clarify the potential and problems of disaster reconstruction through tourism by analyzing the development of tourism triggered by a disaster. The case examined here is of the villages of Mt. Merapi, Indonesia, where all housings were burnt down by the eruption of the mountain in 2010. Recently, expectations regarding the potential of tourism towards disaster reconstruction has been rising in disaster locations inside and outside of Japan. However, previous studies on the topic centered on dark tourism, and have clarified only part of the relationship between disaster reconstruction and tourism, such as inheritance of memory and lessons.
This study examined the role and problems of tourism in the post-disaster movement of the affected society and the response to it by chronologically classifying the process of reconstruction and clarifying the development and influence of tourism at each phase of the process.
The result reveals that tourism is potentially able to contribute to disaster reconstruction through volunteer tourists’ direct commitment to rebuilding lives, as well as economic contributions through the profit created by tourism at a disaster area. The problem observed from this examination, on the other hand, is the existence of limitations to entering tourism businesses for those newly interested and in distributing the profit gained from the businesses. The results point out, however, that despite its problems, tourism possesses attributes that sustain the recovery of local industry during the drastic social change caused by disasters.
The conclusion of the study is that tourism at a disaster area is dynamic, composed through the encounter and mixture of various aspects and elements of tourism. What is observed as darkness at a disaster area–death or sorrow, for example–is simply one such element; its content and appearance may change at different phases of the reconstruction process.

View full abstract