Music as Heritage and Tourism Resource in Japan

This book analyses the processes by which music is passed down to subsequent generations as heritage, and by which music past and present becomes a tourism resource. While the national case study is Japan, the book develops an original theoretical framework that is applicable internationally.

By eschewing genres in favour of performer-focus, composer-focus, community-focus, and place-focus music, and by identifying the three socio-economic music categories of popular culture entertainment, art music, and musical heritage, this framework shifts attention to the social relations generated via music rather than the specific characteristics of musical genres or national cultures. The Japanese case study is particularly suited to illuminating these various processes as Japan has such a rich variety of musical traditions. In addition to traditional musical styles, Japan imported Western musical theory and instruments from the late nineteenth century onwards, and then other worldwide styles throughout the twentieth century and beyond from samba to jazz to K-pop. Japan’s polyglot musical scene, therefore, is an ideal milieu in which to observe the heritage and tourism practices relating to diverse musical cultures. Examples of musical heritage and music tourism come from across the Japanese archipelago. There is also a transnational context addressing Japanese music and fans abroad, and inbound music tourism to Japan.

This book will be of interest not only to Japan specialists, but also to scholars and students of ethnomusicology and the social practices generated by the connections between music, heritage and travel in the digital age.