Affective dark tourism encounters: Rikuzentakata after the 2011 Great East Japan Disaster

Abstract

This article discusses the case of Rikuzentakata, a town almost completely destroyed by the 2011 tsunami provoked by the Great East Japan Disaster. It shows how the town has directed some of its recovery efforts toward the development of a specific form of post-disaster tourism. Two main strategies implemented by the local authorities are analyzed in detail: first, the celebration of Ipponmatsu, or the Miracle Pine, a symbol of resilience in the face of devastation; second, the promotion of Rikuzentakata as the 'Hiroshima of the North'. Both these discourses were based on the engineering and the apprehension of specific affective post-disaster atmospheres and perceived by residents and local authorities as key for attracting international visitors. Our analysis highlights how a politics of affect built around the tsunami has been spatialized and grounded using material landmarks (The Miracle Pine), but also narratives of hope and resilience based on comparisons with Hiroshima. Such affective atmospheres, we conclude, were planned and performed as an attempt to facilitate cross-cultural communication and allow visitors to contemplate death and disaster on their own terms, while at the same time involving them in a broader processes of healing from trauma and recovery for Rikuzentakata and its residents.Rencontres affectives du tourisme noir: Rikuzentakata après la catastrophe de 2011 au nord-est du Japon RÉSUMÉ Cet article discute du cas de Rikuzentakata, une ville presqu'entièrement détruite par le tsunami de 2011 provoqué par le séisme de la côte pacifique au Japon en 2011. Il montre comment la ville a dirigé certains de ses efforts de relèvement vers le développement d'une forme spécifique de tourisme de l'après-catastrophe. Deux stratégies principales mises en place par les autorités locales sont analysées en détail: tout d'abord, la célébration d'Ipponmatsu, ou du « pin miracle », un symbole de la résilience face ARTICLE HISTORY

Dark tourism through the lens of attachment theory and domestic tourists

“…Heritage tourism has been shown to contribute to the creation of national identity through heritage destinations (Packer et al, 2019). By selectively remembering and forgetting the past, tourism can serve as a tool for people to reconstruct their collective memory and identity, with dark tourism playing an important role in this process as a bearer of a tragic past (Martini & Minca, 2021).…”

“…Walby and Piché (2011) proposed acknowledgment, instruction, and stimulation as motives during their study at Ontario's penal history museum (Biran et al, 2011). Some places intentionally attract tourists' interest in death, as well as their desire to remember and witness death (Martini & Minca, 2021). Bearing witness to terrible events and dark environments and learning about them are both cognitive experiences, which could involve exploring the history of tragic events and interpreting their symbolic significance (Qian et al, 2022).…”

Tourism and natural disaster management: a systematic narrative review

“…Zhang (2021) further highlights the value of promoting dark tourism in sustainable disaster recovery by showing that visits to post-natural disaster settings encourage meaningful, relational experiences and contemplations of identity, life and disaster. Investigating dark tourism in the town of Rikuzentakata, destroyed by the 2011 tsunami in Japan, Martini and Minca (2021) indicate that the experiences and stories manifested in such tourism encounters offer the local community an opportunity to express empathy and communicate traumatic events to others. Dark tourism practices mirror an attempt to heal and build a promising future.…”

Exploring Aceh Tsunami Museum Visitors’ Motivation, Experience and Emotional Reaction

“…They found out that heritage tourism and the lightest tourism can be similar at first glance. Apart from that, Martini and Minca (2018) discussed a dark tourism location called Rikuzentakata, which was almost destroyed in 2011. Israfilova and Khoo-Lattimore (2019) study the educational importance of dark tourism suppliers.…”