This book examines the phenomenon of war-related contents tourism throughout Japanese history, from conflicts described in ancient Japanese myth through to contemporary depictions of fantasy and futuristic warfare. It tackles two crucial questions: first, how does war transition from being traumatic to entertaining in the public imagination and works of popular culture; and second, how does visitation to war-related sites transition from being an act of mourning or commemorative pilgrimage into an act of devotion or fan pilgrimage? Representing the collaboration of ten expert researchers of Japanese popular culture and travel, it develops a theoretical framework for understanding war-related contents tourism and demonstrates the framework in practice via numerous short case studies across a millennium of warfare in Japan including: the tales of heroic deities in the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters, AD 712), the Edo poetry of Matsuo Basho, and the Pacific war through lens of popular media such as the animated film Grave of the Fireflies. This book will be of interest to researchers and students in tourism studies and cultural studies, as well as more general issues of war and peace in Japan, East Asia and beyond.

This book examines the phenomenon of war-related contents tourism throughout Japanese history, from conflicts described in ancient Japanese myth through to contemporary depictions of fantasy and futuristic warfare. It tackles two crucial questions: first, how does war transition from being traumatic to entertaining in the public imagination and works of popular culture; and second, how does visitation to war-related sites transition from being an act of mourning or commemorative pilgrimage into an act of devotion or fan pilgrimage? Representing the collaboration of ten expert researchers of Japanese popular culture and travel, it develops a theoretical framework for understanding war-related contents tourism and demonstrates the framework in practice via numerous short case studies across a millennium of warfare in Japan including: the tales of heroic deities in the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters, AD 712), the Edo poetry of Matsuo Basho, and the Pacific war through lens of popular media such as the animated film Grave of the Fireflies. This book will be of interest to researchers and students in tourism studies and cultural studies, as well as more general issues of war and peace in Japan, East Asia and beyond.

Contents tourism is tourism induced by the contents (narratives, characters, locations and other creative elements) of films, novels, games, manga, anime, television dramas and other forms of popular culture. Amidst the boom in global interest in Japanese popular culture, the utilization of popular culture to induce tourism domestically and internationally has been central to the "Cool Japan" strategy and, since 2005, government policy for local community revitalization. This book presents four main case studies of contents tourism: the phenomenon of "anime pilgrimage" to sites appearing in animated film; the travel behaviours and "pop-spiritualism" of female history fans to heritage sites; the collaboration between local community, fans and copyright holders that underpinned an anime-induced tourism boom in a small town north of Tokyo; and the large-scale economic impacts of tourism induced by NHK's annual samurai period drama (Taiga Drama). It is the first major collection of articles published in English about media-induced tourism in Japan using the "contents tourism" approach. This book will be of particular interest to students and researchers of media and tourism studies in Asia. This book was previously published as a special issue of Japan Forum.

Contents tourism is tourism induced by the contents (narratives, characters, locations and other creative elements) of films, novels, games, manga, anime, television dramas and other forms of popular culture. Amidst the boom in global interest in Japanese popular culture, the utilization of popular culture to induce tourism domestically and internationally has been central to the "Cool Japan" strategy and, since 2005, government policy for local community revitalization. This book presents four main case studies of contents tourism: the phenomenon of "anime pilgrimage" to sites appearing in animated film; the travel behaviours and "pop-spiritualism" of female history fans to heritage sites; the collaboration between local community, fans and copyright holders that underpinned an anime-induced tourism boom in a small town north of Tokyo; and the large-scale economic impacts of tourism induced by NHK's annual samurai period drama (Taiga Drama). It is the first major collection of articles published in English about media-induced tourism in Japan using the "contents tourism" approach. This book will be of particular interest to students and researchers of media and tourism studies in Asia. This book was previously published as a special issue of Japan Forum.

This is the first book to apply the concept of 'contents tourism' in a global context and to establish an international and interdisciplinary framework for contents tourism research. The term 'contents tourism' gained official recognition in Japan when it was defined by the Japanese government in 2005, and it has been characterised as 'travel behaviour motivated fully or partially by narratives, characters, locations, and other creative elements of popular culture forms including film, television dramas, manga, anime, novels and computer games'. The book builds on previous research from Japan and explores three main themes of contents tourism: 'the Contentsization of Literary Worlds', 'Tourist Behaviours at "Sacred Sites" of Contents Tourism' and 'Contents Tourism as Pilgrimage' and draws together these key themes to propose a set of policy implications for achieving successful and sustainable contents tourism in the 21st century.

This is the first book to apply the concept of 'contents tourism' in a global context and to establish an international and interdisciplinary framework for contents tourism research. The term 'contents tourism' gained official recognition in Japan when it was defined by the Japanese government in 2005, and it has been characterised as 'travel behaviour motivated fully or partially by narratives, characters, locations, and other creative elements of popular culture forms including film, television dramas, manga, anime, novels and computer games'. The book builds on previous research from Japan and explores three main themes of contents tourism: 'the Contentsization of Literary Worlds', 'Tourist Behaviours at "Sacred Sites" of Contents Tourism' and 'Contents Tourism as Pilgrimage' and draws together these key themes to propose a set of policy implications for achieving successful and sustainable contents tourism in the 21st century.