The Nationalization of Tourism in Modern Japan : Focusing on the Case of Nihon Ryokō Kyōkai, the Journal “Tabi” and the Discourse of Taiwan
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Usui, Susumu
Abstract
Using the example of the Japan Travel Society (Nihon Ryokō Kyōkai) and the analysis of its travel magazine, Tabi (meaning “travel” in Japanese), this thesis attempts to trace how Japanese national consciousness and national spirit were shaped and what this national consciousness and spirit meant in Japanese modern history. I tried to link the development of modern Japanese traveling culture with the formation of a Japanese national consciousness and national identity. Analysis of the establishment and development of the Japan Travel Society allows us to examine the relationship between traveling culture and Japanese nationality. The Japan Travel Society was founded in 1924 as a civil organization. However, in 1934, it was forced by the Ministry of Railways to merge with the Japan Tourist Bureau and then served as an organizing framework for disseminating official ideology and constructing Japanese national consciousness.his thesis explores the relationship between modern Japanese traveling culture and national consciousness in three aspects. First of all, inspired by Shigetaka Shiga’s book The Theory of Japanese Landscape in which Shigetaka Shiga tried to relate the predominance of Japanese national consciousness to spectacular landscapes, Japanese citizens especially in Tokyo, Kobe and Osaka began to travel to reinforce their national consciousness, rather than for making pilgrimages like their ancestors did. Secondly, travel is also institutionalized within an official organization. For example, the Ministry of Railways led the Japan Travel Society to advocate public morals in tourism and promote national consciousness. Finally, the analysis of two editions of the Japan Travel Society’s travel magazine, Tabi, concerning traveling in Taiwan also allows us to trace how the Japan Travel Society shaped the image of Taiwan and inspired Japanese national consciousness. The Japan Travel Society’s travel magazine, Tabi, spans from 1924 to 1943, providing historians with a rare window on how the Japan Travel Society displayed the predominance of Japanese landscapes and how it contributed to encouraging national consciousness.
Subjects
tourism in Japan
Japan Tourist Bureau
Tabi
national consciousness
nationalism
public morals in tourism
Taiwan image
Type
thesis
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