Sacred Places, Pilgrimage, and Tourism - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 130

Chapter 4
Sacred Places, Pilgrimage, and Tourism

Abstract This chapter discusses some modern aspects of sacred places and tour-
ism through two case studies. Section 4.1 focused on the changes in the type of
business of shops at Omotesando of the Naritasan Shinshoji-Monzenmachi, and
discussed the transformation of the commercial space at Shinshoji-Monzenmachi
that resulted from involvement in a landscape improvement project currently being
promoted at Omotesando . Sections 4.2 and 4.3 examine the revitalization of local
community through the promotion of religions tourism. Nowadays politics sur-
rounding World Heritage designations has resulted in the important challenge of
conserving and using cultural landscapes such as rural space. This chapter examines
the World Heritage registration movement of the “Nagasaki Church Group and
Christian Related Cultural Assets” as a case study and the meaning of and problems
that local faith-related heritages in rural areas and their cultural landscapes can
expect, including the attention they will be exposed to as a cultural heritage site.

Keywords Commodifi cation ￿ Pilgrimage ￿ Temple town (Monzenmachi)

￿ Tourism ￿ World Heritage

4.1 Development of Religious Tourism and the Spatial

Transformation of Sacred Places

4.1.1 Introduction

The Naritasan Shinshoji (Fig. 4.1 ), which most people know as “Narita Fudo” or
“Naritasan,” is famous throughout Japan as a place where people seek blessings for
good luck, disaster prevention, and traffi c safety. The temple attracts about three
million people who offer New Year prayers during the fi rst 3 days of the New Year.
The Meiji Jingu (Tokyo), and Kawasaki Daishi (Kanagawa) are also popular tem-
ples for New Year prayers. Narita Fudo-ko were organized throughout Japan from