Ian Reader

Religion and Tourism in Japan (eBook, ePUB)

Intersections, Images, Policies and Problems

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

In this study, Ian Reader presents new insights into the relationship between religion and tourism more generally and into the contemporary religious situation in Japan. He counteracts scholarship that claims tourism increases religious activity, shows that tourism is a factor in increasing secularization in Japan and draws attention to the role of the state in such contexts.

Although the Japanese constitution prohibits the state from promoting religion, this book shows how state agencies nonetheless encourage people to visit religious sites, by presenting them as manifestations of a shared heritage, in ways that distance them from 'religion'. Reader examines theoretical understandings of religion and tourism and presents case studies of famed pilgrimage routes and temples. He shows how Zen monasteries are now 'tourist brands' and pilgrimages are the focus of TV entertainment programmes, portrayed as opportunities to eat sweets.

Examining the nationalistic rhetoric of nostalgia and unique heritage that underpins the promotion of religious sites, Reader also considers why priests acquiesce in such matters.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK
• Seitenzahl: 272
• Erscheinungstermin: 16. November 2023
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781350418851
• Artikelnr.: 68570427

Autorenporträt

Ian Reader is Professor Emeritus at the University of Manchester, UK.

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction: Tourist Spots
Holy Ice Creams and Zen Monastic Brands 1. Religion and Tourism: Definitions
Theoretical Perspectives and Contemporary Japanese Dynamics 2. Temples
Shrines and Play: Historical Patterns
Transport Networks and State Policies 3. When Religion is Not Religious: The State
Tourism and Constitutional Acrobatics 4. What Shall We Do on Wednesday? The Shikoku Pilgrimage
Tourism
Heritage and Economic Regeneration 5. Stations
Stamps and the Significance of Sweets in the Saikoku Pilgrimage 6. Mystical Mountains and Ascetic Training as Tourist Attractions: Spiritual Japan for Visitors Concluding Comments: Religion
Tourism
the State
Decline and Secularisation Bibliography Index