Bending history into heritage at hidden Christian sites in Nagasaki, Japan: UNESCO World Heritage site designation and tourism

IF 3 Q2 HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM

Journal of Heritage Tourism Pub Date : 2023-11-06 DOI:10.1080/1743873x.2023.2276869

Atsuko Hashimoto, David J. Telfer

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Abstract

ABSTRACTA UNESCO World Heritage site designation is seen as a pathway to developing sustainable tourism and increasing opportunities to receive funding for the maintenance and management of the site. However, the designation of sites is often highly political with criticisms raised regarding the processes used by UNESCO. The inflexibility of selection criteria and the demand for tangible evidence of authenticity are inevitably jeopardising the selection of important heritage sites that need to be preserved. Outsider interference, distortion of historical facts, staging, and the Disneyfication of heritage are other contentions raised over how applications are manipulated to achieve a UNESCO designation. Through a qualitative narrative analysis and site visits, this paper examines the case of Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region of Japan to examine how the intervention of ICOMOS significantly altered its application for World Heritage site designation and the resulting challenges the applicants faced in satisfying the selection criteria, thereby staging their heritage for tourism in the process. Greater recognition of local voices and alternative narratives is critical in the designation process to be true to history in an age dominated by heritage.KEYWORDS: UNESCO World Heritage sitesICOMOSNagasaki Hidden ChristiandistortionDisneyficationtourism Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsAtsuko HashimotoAtsuko Hashimoto is Professor in the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies at Brock University, Canada. Her areas of research include Green Tourism in rural Japan, socio-cultural issues in tourism, culinary tourism, heritage tourism, and social justice in tourism.David J. TelferDavid J. Telfer is Professor in the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies at Brock University, Canada. His areas of research include the relationship between development theory and tourism, tourism planning, heritage tourism, and Green Tourism in rural Japan.

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日本长崎隐藏的基督教遗址将历史转化为遗产:联合国教科文组织世界遗产指定和旅游

联合国教科文组织世界遗产名录被视为发展可持续旅游业和增加获得维护和管理遗产资金机会的途径。然而，指定遗产地往往具有高度的政治性，对教科文组织使用的程序提出了批评。选择标准的缺乏灵活性和对实物证据真实性的要求不可避免地危及需要保护的重要遗产的选择。外界的干涉、历史事实的歪曲、表演和遗产的迪斯尼化是关于如何操纵申请以获得联合国教科文组织指定的其他争议。本文通过定性叙事分析和实地考察，以日本长崎地区的隐藏基督教遗址为例，研究ICOMOS的干预如何显著改变了其申请世界遗产的申请，以及申请人在满足选择标准方面面临的挑战，从而在此过程中将其遗产用于旅游。在一个以遗产为主导的时代，在指定过程中，对当地声音和另类叙述的更多认可是忠于历史的关键。关键词:联合国教科文组织世界遗产地、icomosnasaki隐藏的基督教扭曲、迪斯尼化、旅游披露声明作者未报告潜在的利益冲突。本文作者桥本敦子是加拿大布鲁克大学地理与旅游研究系的教授。她的研究领域包括日本农村的绿色旅游、旅游中的社会文化问题、烹饪旅游、遗产旅游和旅游中的社会正义。David J. Telfer，加拿大布鲁克大学地理与旅游研究系教授。他的研究领域包括发展理论与旅游的关系、旅游规划、遗产旅游和日本农村的绿色旅游。

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来源期刊

Journal of Heritage Tourism HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM-

CiteScore

6.50

自引率

11.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Heritage Tourism ( JHT ) is a peer-reviewed, international transdisciplinary journal. JHT focuses on exploring the many facets of one of the most notable and widespread types of tourism. Heritage tourism is among the very oldest forms of travel. Activities such as visits to sites of historical importance, including built environments and urban areas, rural and agricultural landscapes, natural regions, locations where historic events occurred and places where interesting and significant living cultures dominate are all forms of heritage tourism. As such, this form of tourism dominates the industry in many parts of the world and involves millions of people. During the past 20 years, the study of tourism has become highly fragmented and specialised into various theme areas, or concentrations. Within this context, heritage tourism is one of the most commonly investigated forms of tourism, and hundreds of scholars and industry workers are involved in researching its dynamics and concepts. This academic attention has resulted in the publication of hundreds of refereed articles in various scholarly media, yet, until now there has been no journal devoted specifically to heritage tourism; Journal of Heritage Tourism was launched to fill this gap. JHT seeks to critically examine all aspects of heritage tourism. Some of the topics to be explored within the context of heritage tourism will include colonial heritage, commodification, interpretation, urban renewal, religious tourism, genealogy, patriotism, nostalgia, folklore, power, funding, contested heritage, historic sites, identity, industrial heritage, marketing, conservation, ethnicity, education and indigenous heritage.