Beachheads (eBook)

War, Peace, and Tourism in Postwar Okinawa

Gerald Figal (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2012
276 Seiten
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Verlag)
978-1-4422-1583-2 (ISBN)

Infos

This original and fresh book explores Okinawa’s makeover as a tourist mecca in the long historical shadow and among the physical ruins of the Pacific War’s most devastating land battle. Gerald Figal considers how a place burdened by a history of semicolonialism, memories of war and occupation, economic hardship, and contentious current political affairs has reshaped itself into a resort destination. He traces cultural, political, social, and economic issues of Okinawa’s postwar experience to the present through the innovative frame of tourism development—both as it has been imagined and, in some cases, realized. Creatively, accessibly, and eloquently written, this compelling work highlights a set of islands that represent key issues facing contemporary Japan.

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This original and fresh book explores Okinawa's makeover as a tourist mecca in the long historical shadow and among the physical ruins of the Pacific War's most devastating land battle. Gerald Figal considers how a place burdened by a history of semicolonialism, memories of war and occupation, economic hardship, and contentious current political affairs has reshaped itself into a resort destination. Drawing on an innovative mix of detailed archival research and extensive fieldwork, Gerald Figal considers the ways Okinawa has accommodated war experience and its legacies within the manufacture and promotion of both a ';tropical paradise' image and a heritage tourism site identified with the premodern Ryukyu Kingdom. Tracing the postwar formation of ';Tourist Okinawa,' Figal addresses interrelated issues of economic sustainability, local political autonomy, interregional and international relations, environmental preservation, historical and cultural self-representation, and especially Okinawas role as a global peace site laboring under the legacies of war. From the end of World War Two to the present, the author follows Okinawa's evolution through three main themes: war memorialization, tourism-influenced environmental and historical restoration, and invasion and occupation represented by U.S. military bases and beach resorts. Creatively, accessibly, and eloquently written, this compelling work highlights a set of islands that represent key issues facing contemporary Japan.

Autor

Gerald Figal is professor of history and Japanese cultural studies at Vanderbilt University.

Inhalt

ProloguePart I: Graves and CavesChapter 1: Tours among the RuinsChapter 2: The Touristification of Sacred GroundPart II: Creations and RecreationsChapter 3: “Tropical Image Up”: Landscape under (Tourist) OccupationChapter 4: Ryukyu Restoration: Shuri Castle and Furusato OkinawaPart III: Bases and BeachesChapter 5: Military Bases as Tourist AttractionChapter 6: Beach Resort InvasionEpilogueBibliography

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.4.2012
• Reihe/Serie: Asia/Pacific/Perspectives
• Zusatzinfo: 20 Illustrations including: - 20 Halftones, Black & White including Black & White Photographs.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Freizeit / Hobby ► Sammeln / Sammlerkataloge
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Zeitgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft
• Schlagworte: Cultural tourism • Economic Sustainability • Pacific War • Political Economy • Tourism • World War II
• ISBN-10: 1-4422-1583-6 / 1442215836
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4422-1583-2 / 9781442215832