Dark tourism as educational tourism: the case of ‘hope tourism’ in Fukushima, Japan

ABSTRACT

This article examines how dark tourism has been adopted and developed in Japan and suggests how it can be linked to educational tourism, through the case of a ‘Hope Tourism Guided Tour’ held in Fukushima in 2018. In Japan, dark tourism has developed into a new form, nested within educational tourism (or an educational tourism that contains elements of dark tourism within it). This is connected to the long history of educational tourism and to the cultural backlash against dark tourism. Hope tourism in Fukushima is an example of this type of new educational tourism-centred dark tourism. First, we review how the concepts of educational and dark tourism have spread in Japan. Second, the article clarifies how educational dark tourism has developed in the case of the Fukushima Hope Tourism Guided Tour.

KEYWORDS:

• Dark tourism
• disaster
• educational tourism
• Fukushima
• peace tourism

Acknowledgements

This article is dedicated to all those working to commemorate the memory of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The Hope Tourism Guided Tour is sponsored by Fukushima Prefecture.

Notes on contributors

Kyungjae Jang

Kyungjae Jang is an Associate Professor/Lecturer in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University. He holds a PhD and MA in tourism studies from Hokkaido University, and a BA from Korea University. Dr. Jang has conducted participatory research on popular culture-related tourism, and war memories and tourism. His recent publication is Creating the sacred places of pop culture in the age of mobility: fan pilgrimages and authenticity through performance, Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change (2020).

Kengo Sakamoto

Kengo Sakamoto works for JTB Corporation, Japan. He holds a BA in School of Integrated Arts and Sciences from Hiroshima University.

Carolin Funck

Carolin Funck obtained her Ph.D from the Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg. She is professor for human geography at Hiroshima University (Japan), Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her research focuses on the development of tourism in Japan and sustainable island tourism. She is the author of Tourismus und Peripherie in Japan and co-author of Japanese Tourism.