Sacred Places, Pilgrimage, and Tourism - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 168

and provided a pilgrimage to the Church Group and sacred places. Sites of martyr-
dom appeal to non-Christians, but the religious aspects of Christian life of Mass and
ceremonial occasions will not be affected.
I note the use of pilgrimage as a religious expression, but also as a means of
presenting the historic cultural heritage of the area and promoting tourism. This was
heightened even more in the wake of the designation of the Church Group on the
tentative World Heritage list 2007. The Nagasaki Prefectural Tourist Federation
immediately planned to use their tourism resources in a document called
“Establishment of Nagasaki Pilgrimage, Creation of a New Cultural Entity.” The
objectives of this plan were to review the tangible and intangible Christianity-related
assets that existed in each region of Nagasaki and to create, in consultation with the
Catholic Archdiocese of Nagasaki, an offi cial Nagasaki Pilgrimage Route. These
aims were authorized by the Catholic Church and would help promote tourism in
Nagasaki. The policy also included plans to publicize pilgrimage manners and cre-
ate offi cial guides, create a Nagasaki Pilgrim Map, and disseminate information by
holding events, or through press releases. The Nagasaki Pilgrimage was modeled on
the Shikoku Pilgrimage, and the goal was to attract one million tourists a year. The
Catholic Archdiocese of Nagasaki opened and staffed the Nagasaki Pilgrimage
Center in May of 2007. They divided 390 pilgrimage and pilgrimage-related sites in
Nagasaki into six parts, designed a model pilgrimage course, and dispatched pil-
grimage guides who specialized in the history of the Catholic Church.
Consumer needs can diversify and change the value of existing tourism resources,
so the Nagasaki Prefectural Tourist Federation positioned the new Nagasaki
Pilgrimage cultural entity, not merely as a tourism resource. The creation of a cul-
tural entity provided tourists with the chance to look back on their lives while in
contact with the history and culture of the area, and promoted a sense of peace and
comfort. The expectation is that the spread of the Nagasaki Pilgrimage will lead to
more interchanges between people, the succession and creation of the historic cul-
ture in the area, and contribute to the development of a historic culture around
Nagasaki, driven by tourism.
In this way, the Nagasaki Pilgrimage has created a tour route of existing churches
and sacred martyrdom sites. It involves political and economic requests of the local
municipalities that expect an increase in the number of tourists, the religious phi-
losophy and the propagation strategy of the Catholic Church, the social, religious,
and spiritual interest in cultural heritage tourism of baby boomers approaching
retirement, and effort to create socially sacred places.
The commodifi cation of the Nagasaki Church Group and the surrounding rural
landscape by the Nagasaki Pilgrimage was driven by the local administration and
the Catholic Church. However, it is also impossible to create a new pilgrimage with-
out the authenticity of these churches and Christianity-related sites. Both actors
understand this point well, and they pay careful attention to protect the value of the
churches, and make an effort to create a sustainable relationship between tourism
development and preservation. The commodifi cation of Nagasaki Church Group
and its surrounding rural landscape has been gradually promoted.