Spirituality and Tourism in Japanese Pilgrimage Sites

Abstract

Contemporary society understands spirituality as an individualized "quest of self-discovery and reflection" that combines eclectic elements, while disregarding traditional religious organizations. This social context has shaped how sacred sites are managed and promoted in tourism, as well as tourist motivation and behaviour. Still, the information on religious and spiritual-related tourism remains Euro-centric, although around half of an estimated 600 million religious and spiritual travels take place in Asia and the Pacific (UNWTO 2011). In order to contribute to studies on the area, the purpose of this article is to explore the intersection of spirituality and tourism in a non-Western pilgrimage site utilizing the three categories of Olsen (2015) to interpret and organize research materials in a coherent format. The Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails in Japan were selected as case study. Results showed a variety of Japanese-specific research materials related to contemporary spirituality and tourism that still draw some parallels to the West. Following Olsen's categories, the case study showed mainly elements from spiritual tourism, with some from New Age tourism as well. Wellness was a particularly emphasized characteristic. Further research is suggested to develop Olsen's categorization and to deepen the study of non-Western tourism contexts of contemporary spirituality in different areas.