About

The Return of the Tourist (in progress)

Journal article

In this project I look at how local populations create a sense of attachment to sacred heritage sites and how that is affected by international tourism at these sites. I do so on the two case studies in Kyoto, Japan: the Buddhist temple Kiyomizu-dera and the Shinto shrine Fushimi Inari Taisha. 

Happy places: Exploring the place-making of domestic spiritual tourists at sacred sites in Kyoto, Japan  (in writing)

Journal article

In this project, I am exploring the role of places in the well-being experience processes for domestic spiritual tourists in more depth. I do so on the case study of two sacred heritage sites in Kyoto, Japan: the Buddhist temple Kiyomizu-dera and the Shinto shrine Fushimi Inari Taisha. 

Managing the sacred: online narratives of wellbeing in Japanese heritage context (2023)

Book chapter

In: Ramkissoon, H. & Counted, V.: Place, Spirituality and Health. 

Relatively little research has been conducted to explore how the management bodies of sacred sites attempt to facilitate experiences of spirituality and well-being among visitors. In this chapter, we contribute to addressing this gap by examining the website communication approaches used by the management of two sacred sites in Kyoto, Japan—the Buddhist temple Kiyomizu-dera and the Shinto shrine complex Fushimi Inari Taisha. Using content analysis, we found that both locations present spiritual narratives, the spatial environment, and benefits to well-being as an interconnected trinity. Our findings suggest that linking up the concept of place attachment with well-being may be a useful approach for investigating the role of sacred site management bodies in communicating narratives of well-being. Based on the website content of the two sacred sites investigated in this chapter, we infer that sacred locations can play a role in fostering a sense of well-being among visitors.

Journey to well-being: On the role of culture and place in Japanese spiritual tourism (2022)

Academic brief

In: Wakayama Tourism Review 

In the past, research on tourist well-being has often employed a culturally universalist understanding of well-being, which ignores culturally specific aspects of well-being. To move towards a more nuanced concept of tourist well-being, we propose to consider (1) local conceptualizations of well-being, (2) place-bound well-being mechanisms, and (3) collective aspects of well-being. We do so based on our recent research on domestic tourism to Japanese sacred sites. We utilise our analyses of managerial well-being communications to explore the role of three different local well-being discourses (shiawase, koufuku, ikigai). Additionally, we present initial impressions from semi-structured interviews with domestic tourists at two sacred heritage sites in Kyoto, Japan, to illustrate the role places play in the well-being of individuals and their social circle. Based on our discussions, we look at what our conceptualization of well-being would mean for the field of tourism studies.

Who We Cite: A Reflection on the Limits and Potentials of Critical Research Methods (2021)

Book chapter

In: A. Day, L. Lee, & J. Spickard (Eds.), Doing Diversity in Teaching, Writing, and Research Policy Press Bristol.

In this chapter, I propose the approach of critical citation practices, which I define as a conscious engagement with the people we cite throughout the academic research process. To do so, I firstly provide a review of current publishing and citation practices. Based on this review, I propose critical citation practices, with a particular focus on how to apply them.