skip to main content
Language:
Search Limited to: Search Limited to: Resource type Show Results with: Show Results with: Search type Index

This Is Not a Powerspot: Heritage Tourism, Sacred Space, and Conflicts of Authority at Sēfa Utaki

Asian ethnology, 2019-03, Vol.78 (1), p.155-180 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Nanzan University Anthropological Institute ;COPYRIGHT 2019 Nanzan University ;COPYRIGHT 2019 Nanzan University ;info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ;ISSN: 1882-6865

Full text available

Citations Cited by
  • Title:
    This Is Not a Powerspot: Heritage Tourism, Sacred Space, and Conflicts of Authority at Sēfa Utaki
  • Author: Rots, Aike P.
  • Subjects: Actors ; Actresses ; Inventions ; Mediums ; Pilgrimages ; Rites, ceremonies and celebrations ; Sales promotions ; Tourism ; Tourism promotion ; Travel industry
  • Is Part Of: Asian ethnology, 2019-03, Vol.78 (1), p.155-180
  • Description: The sacred grove Sēfa Utaki was one of the most important worship sites of the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429–1879). In 2000 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and in recent years it has seen a dramatic increase in the number of visitors. The emergence of large-scale heritage tourism at Sēfa Utaki has caused tensions between various actors, including Okinawan pilgrims, spirit mediums, mainland Japanese tourists, and local authorities. The site is subject to competing claims, not least with regard to its spiritual significance and the question of proper ritual behavior. Contrary to most other UNESCO-listed sacred sites in Japan, Sēfa Utaki is not a religious institution, legally speaking, and therefore does not have its own clerical authority. This has led to different actors attempting to assert authority in various ways, as this article demonstrates. To some of them, the capacity to “feel” the spiritual power of the place becomes a marker of identity, distinguishing supposedly “authentic” Okinawan worship practices from such mainland inventions as “powerspot tourism.” Sēfa Utaki is promoted widely as a “sacred site” (seichi), but there appears to be little consensus on what this “sacredness” entails. Some Okinawan tour guides and worshippers assert that the grove is a place of worship (ogamu basho) where rituals are conducted for the well-being of Okinawan society as a whole; according to them, overseas visitors and powerspot tourists fail to understand this crucial aspect of Okinawan tradition.
  • Publisher: Nanzan University
  • Language: English;Norwegian
  • Identifier: ISSN: 1882-6865
  • Source: Freely Accessible Japanese Titles (ERDB Project)
    NORA Norwegian Open Research Archives
    ProQuest Central
    DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
Back to results list
INSPIRE LIBRARY - TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY (84-028) 37 755 057 Feedback
19 Nguyen Huu Tho St. Dist.7, HCM thuvien@tdtu.edu.vn

Copyright © 2017 INSPIRE LIBRARY - TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY

Searching Remote Databases, Please Wait