Spirituality and Tourism in Japanese Pilgrimage Sites
Exploring the Intersection through the Case of Kumano Kodo
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.36137Keywords:
Spiritual tourism, Contemporary spirituality, Tourism development, Kumano, JapanAbstract
Contemporary society understands spirituality as an individualized "quest of self-discovery and reflection" that combines eclectic elements, while disregarding traditional religious organizations. This social context has shaped how sacred sites are managed and promoted in tourism, as well as tourist motivation and behaviour. Still, the information on religious and spiritual-related tourism remains Euro-centric, although around half of an estimated 600 million religious and spiritual travels take place in Asia and the Pacific (UNWTO 2011). In order to contribute to studies on the area, the purpose of this article is to explore the intersection of spirituality and tourism in a non-Western pilgrimage site utilizing the three categories of Olsen (2015) to interpret and organize research materials in a coherent format. The Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails in Japan were selected as case study. Results showed a variety of Japanese-specific research materials related to contemporary spirituality and tourism that still draw some parallels to the West. Following Olsen's categories, the case study showed mainly elements from spiritual tourism, with some from New Age tourism as well. Wellness was a particularly emphasized characteristic. Further research is suggested to develop Olsen's categorization and to deepen the study of non-Western tourism contexts of contemporary spirituality in different areas.
References
Amada, A. 2012 Kumano. In Sacred Pilgrimage Tourism (Seichijunrei tsuurizumu), edited by R. Okamoto, E. Hoshino and H. Yamanaka, 94–97. Tokyo: Kobundo.
Attix, S. A. 2015 New Age-Oriented Special Interest Travel: An Exploratory Study. Tourism Recreation Research 27(2): 51–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2002.11081220
Blom, T., M. Nilson, and X. Santos 2015 The Way to Santiago beyond Santiago: Fisterra and the Pilgrimage’s Post-secular Meaning. European Journal of Tourism Research 12: 133–46.
Borup, J. 2015 Easternization of the East? Zen and Spirituality as Distinct Cultural Narratives in Japan. Journal of Global Buddhism 16: 70–93.
Bruce, S. 2006 Secularization and the Impotence of Individualized Religion. The Hedgehog Review 8(1-2): 35–45.
Casanova, J. 2006 Rethinking Secularization: A Global Comparative Perspective. The Hedgehog Review 8(1-2): 7–22.
Collins-Kreiner, N. 2010 The Geography of Pilgrimage and Tourism: Transformations and Implications for Applied Geography. Applied Geography 30: 153–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2009.02.001
----- 2016 The Lifecycle of Concepts: The Case of “Pilgrimage Tourism”. Tourism Geographies 18(3): 322–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2016.1155077
Connell, J. 2011 Medical Tourism. Wallingford, UK: CABI. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781845936600.0000
Damari, C., and Y. Mansfeld 2016 Reflections on Pilgrims’ Identity, Role and Interplay with the Pilgrimage Environment. Current Issues of Tourism 19(3): 199–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2014.957660
Devereux, C., and E. Carnegie 2006 Pilgrimage: Journeying Beyond Self. Tourism Recreation Research 31(1): 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2006.11081246
Funck, C., and M. Cooper 2013 Japanese Tourism: Spaces, Places and Structures. New York: Berghahn Books.
Gorai, S. 2004 Kumano Pilgrimage (Kumano Mode). Tokyo: Kodansha Gakujutsubunko.
Guichard-Anguis, S. 2009 The Culture of Travel (tabi no bunka) and Japanese Tourism. In Japanese Tourism and Travel Culture, edited by S. Guichard-Anguis and O. Moon, 1–15. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203886670.ch0
Hanegraaff, W. J. 2000 New Age Religion and Secularization. Numen 47(3): 288–312. https://doi.org/10.1163/156852700511568
Heelas, P. 2006 Challenging Secularization Theory: The Growth of “New Age” Spiritualities of Life. The Hedgehog Review 8(1-2): 46–58.
Higashi, M. 2014 Image Production in Postmodern Tourism: From a Remark Analysis about Powerspot (Posutomodan Tsuuzirumu niokeru Imeji no Seisan: Pawasupotto womeguru Gensetsu no Bunseki wo Tegakari toshite). Ryutsu Keizai Daigaku Shakaigakubu Ronso 24(2): 23–53.
Horie, N. 2009 Spirituality and the Spiritual in Japan: Translation and Transformation. Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies 5: n.p.
Houtman, D., and P. Manscini 2002 Why do Churches become Empty, while New Age Grows? Secularization and Religious Change in the Netherlands. Journal for Scientific Study of Religion 41(3): 455–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5906.00130
Ito, M. 2003 Contemporary Society and Spirituality (Gendai shakai to Supirichuaritei). Tokyo: Keisuisha.
Kadota, T. 2012 Shikoku Henro. In Sacred Pilgrimage Tourism (Seichijunrei tsuurizumu), edited by R. Okamoto, E. Hoshino and H. Yamanaka, 14–19. Tokyo: Kobundo.
Kotera, A. 2011 What is Powerspot? Preliminary Research on the Study of its Social Background and its Reception (Pawasupotto toha nanika – Shakaiteki Haikei no Kentou to sono Juyou nitsuite no Yobiteki Chousa). Touyou Eiwa Jogakuin Daigaku Jinbun Shakaigakka Ronshu 29: 87–110.
Koyama, Y. 2000 Kumano Kodo. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
Lehto, X. Y., S. Brown, Y. Chen, and A. M. Morrison 2006 Yoga Tourism as a Niche within the Wellness Tourism Market. Tourism Recreation Research 31(1): 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2006.11081244
Matsui, T. 2013 Language and Marketing: A Social History of the “Healing Boom” in Japan (Kotoba to Maaketeingu: Iyashibuummu no Shouhishakaisi). Tokyo: Sekigakusha.
McGuire, M. P. 2013 What’s at Stake in Designating Japan’s Sacred Mountains as UNESCO World Heritage Sites? – Shugendo Practices in the Kii Peninsula. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 40(2): 323–54. https://doi.org/10.18874/jjrs.40.2.2013.323-354
Miyake, H. 2001 Shugendo. Japan: Kodansha Gakujutsubunko. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.18465
Moerman, D. M. 2005 Localizing Paradise: Kumano Pilgrimage and the Religious Landscape of Premodern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1tg5mth
Mori, M. 2005 The Modernization of Shikoku Henro: From a “Modern Pilgrimage” to a “Healing Journey” (Shikoku Henro no Kindaika: Modan Henro kara Iyashi no Tabi made). Tokyo: Sogensha.
Nakai, J. 2011 The Nostalgic Value of Travelling Kumano Kodo (Kumano Kodou wo Meguru Nosutarujia no Kachi). Bulletin of the Faculty of Sociology, Ryukoku University 39: 43–53.
Norman, A. 2004 Spiritual Tourism: Religion and Spirituality in Contemporary Travel. Bachelor of Arts (Honours) thesis, University of Sydney. Online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265362236_SPIRITUAL_TOURISM_RELIGION_AND_SPIRITUALITY_IN_CONTEMPORARY_TRAVEL (accessed June 23, 2016).
----- 2009 The Unexpected Real: Negotiating Fantasy and Reality on the Road to Santiago. Literature and Aesthetics 19(2): 50–71.
----- 2012 The Varieties of the Spiritual Tourist Experience. Literature and Aesthetics 22(1): 20–37.
Okamoto, R. 2015 Pilgrimage to Sacred Sites: From World Heritage to Anime Setting (Seichi Junrei: Sekai Isan kara Anime Butai made). Tokyo: Chuokoron Shinsha.
Okamoto, R., and N. Kawasaki 2012 Meiji Jingu – Kiyomasa no Ido. In Sacred Pilgrimage Tourism (Seichijunrei tsuurizumu), edited by R. Okamoto, E. Hoshino and H. Yamanaka, 142–45. Tokyo: Kobundo.
Okao, M. 2014 Change and Continuance of Folk Religious Practices on the Urban Periphery: Shugendo Revival at Shinteiji Mountain Temple in Ikoma (Osaka Prefecture) (Toshi Shuuhen Sanchi niokeru Minzokushukyo no Hen’yo to Geizoku: Ikoma Sanroku Shinteiji niokeru Shugendou no Fukkyou). Osaka Sangyo Daigaku Ronshuu Jinbun Shakaigakka Hen 23: 45–65.
Olsen, D. 2015 Definitions, Motivations and Sustainability: The Case of Spiritual Tourism. In First UNWTO International Conference on Spiritual Tourism for Sustainable Development, Ninh Binh Province, Viet Nam, 21–22 November 2013, World Tourism Organization, 35–46. Madrid: UNTWO.
Pravdova, H., and J. Radosinska 2013 Media Culture in the Context of Transformation of Contemporary Spiritual Values and Spirituality. European Journal of Science and Theology 9(6): 169–78.
Prayag, G., P. Mura, C. M. Hall, and J. Fontaine 2016 Spirituality, Drugs, and Tourism: Tourists’ and Shamans’ Experiences of ayahuasca in Iquitos, Peru. Tourism Recreation Research 41(3): 314–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2016.1192237
Reader, I. 2012 Secularisation, R.I.P.? Nonsense! The “Rush Hour Away from the Gods” and the Decline of Religion in Contemporary Japan. Journal of Religion in Japan 1: 7–36. https://doi.org/10.1163/221183412X628370
Reader, I., and P. L. Swanson 1997 Pilgrimage in the Japanese Religious Tradition. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 24(3-4): 225–70.
Reed, S. T. 2007 Analyzing Secularization and Religiosity in Asia. Japanese Journal of Political Science 8(3): 327–39. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1468109907002691
Rinschede, G. 1992 Forms of Religious Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 19: 51–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(92)90106-Y
Ron, A. S. 2009 Towards a Typological Model of Contemporary Christian Travel. Journal of Heritage Tourism 4(4): 287–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/17438730903045548
Sepp, T. 2014 Pilgrimage and Pilgrim Hierarchies in Vernacular Discourse: Comparative Notes from the Camino de Santiago and Glastonbury. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics 8(1): 23–52.
Shackley, M. 2001 Managing Sacred Sites. London: Continuum.
Stark, R. 1999 Secularization, R.I.P. Sociology of Religion 60(3): 249–73. https://doi.org/10.2307/3711936
Stausberg, M. 2011 Religion and Tourism: Crossroads, Destinations and Encounters. London and New York: Routledge.
Stoddard, R. 1997 Defining and Classifying Pilgrimages. Geography Faculty Publications, Paper 2.
Suga, N. 2010 Shinto Shrines as Power Spots (Pawaa Supotto toshiteno Jinja). In Where is Shinto going? (Shinto ha doko he ikuka), edited by K. Ishii, 232–52. Tokyo: Perikansha.
Terada, K. 2014 Change of Tourist Information about Kumano in Wakayama Prefecture (Kumano no Kanko Meduia Gensetsu no Hendou – Gaidobukku to Ryokozasshi ni okeru Kijutsu wo Taisho toshite). Journal of Japan Institute of Tourism Research 26(1): 9–21.
Timothy, D. J., and P. J. Conover 2006 Nature Religion, Self-spirituality and New Age Tourism. In Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys, edited by D. Olsen and D. J. Timothy, 139–55. London and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203001073
Tsukada, H., and T. Omi 2011 Religious Issues in Japan 2010: A Deluge of “Religious” Information on New Religions, Power Spots, Funeral Services, and Buddhist Statues. Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture Bulletin 35: 24–47.
UNESCO 2004 Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Online: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1142
----- 2012 Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. France: UNESCO.
UNWTO 2011 Religious Tourism in Asia and the Pacific. Spain: UNWTO.
Vukonic, B. 1996 Tourism and Religion. Oxford: Pergamon.
Wakayama Health Center 2006 Health Walking in Kumano (Kumano de Kenko Wokingu), volume 1, Spring issue.
Wakayama Prefecture Tourism Agency 2015 Tourist Motivation Research Report (Kankokyaku Doki Chosa Hokokusho). Japan: Wakayama Prefecture Tourism Agency.
Watkins, L. 2008 Japanese Travel Culture: An Investigation of the Links between Early Japanese Pilgrimage and Modern Japanese Travel Behaviour. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 10(2): 93–110.
Yamanaka, H. 2012 Towards Research on Religion and Tourism (Shuukyou to Tsuurizumu Kenkyuu ni mukete). In Religion and Tourism (Shuukyou to Tsuurizumu), edited by H. Yamanaka, 3–30. Tokyo: Sekaishisosha.
Yugi, Y. 1986 Yakushi Nyourai. In Shugendo Dictionary (Shugendou Jiten), edited by H. Miyake, 378. Tokyo: Tokyo Doshupan.
