| Project category | CTR Research Project Support Program |
| Project title | Dark tourism and difficult histories: Mediating the past and the present in Japan |
| Research Unit | Development |
| Primary investigator | Richard Sharpley |
| Co investigators | Kumi Kato, Michiyo Yoshida |
| Project period | 2018/5/1～2019/3/31 |
| Project summary | This research project will focus on the mediating role of selected dark tourism sites in Japan, the overall aim being to identify and critically appraise how and to what extent they facilitate recognition, understanding and acceptance amongst present generations of the ‘difficult’ histories they represent. The overall purpose, therefore, is to compile (and publish in book form) a collection of case studies from around Japan which, framed within a conceptual exploration of the significance of dark tourism within Japanese culture, will reveal broad themes, processes and outcomes in the (re)presentation of difficult histories. |
Activity reports
The aim of this project was to explore the mediating role of selected dark tourism sites in Japan by identifying and critically appraising how and to what extent they facilitate recognition, understanding, and acceptance of the difficult histories they represent amongst the present generation. To achieve this aim, we focused on three areas: (1) war, (2) natural disaster, and (3) society, and we researched sites related to each of the areas. First, regarding war, we visited four sites where the bases of the Air Force/Navy special attack unit were located, and an island on which a poison gas manufacturing plant was located, during World War II. Second, regarding a natural disaster site, we studied a village in Fukushima that was damaged by the earthquake on 11 March 2011. Finally, regarding society, we visited two sites: an island on which a sanatorium for the treatment of people with Hansen’s disease was located and a museum at a port where Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe landed in Japan. The following are the publications based on the results of our research:
Journal Article:
- Sharpley, R., & Kato, K. (forthcoming). Confronting difficulty past. In Sharpley, R., & Kato, K. (Eds). Tourism in Japan. Regional and Community Perspectives. Routledge.
Conference presentation:
- Sharple, R. (2019) Dark heritage and dissonance: Kamikaze tourism, Japan. To be presented at the 15th annual Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland Conference, Athlone, June 2019.
- Kato, K. (2018). Slow spiritual tourism. Recovering spiritual engagement in Fukushima Community. Keynote address at 10th Annual International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conference on (27-30 June, 2018, University of Santiago de Complstela, Spain).
