著者

大野 哲也

出版者

社会学研究会

雑誌

ソシオロジ (ISSN:05841380)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.53, no.2, pp.73-90,198, 2008

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Many regions in contemporary Japan are struggling to achieve the revitalization of local communities, where depopulation is progressing day by day. Under these circumstances, those communities having a unique culture or nature have discovered the possibility of revitalization through registration as a World Heritage Site. In order to turn their own nature or culture into tourist resources, many such communities are trying to apply for World Heritage registration. The world "heritage" has another important meaning in Japanese society. The policy of the World Heritage Convention is "development through protection", which is quite different from the policy of "either protection or development" which has been maintained by the Japanese administration. The fact that World Heritage sites became tourist attractions opened up the possibility for development while protecting, without destroying significant culture and nature. Even though Owase City in Mie Prefecture has been registered as a World Cultural Heritage site, there are some people who are still strongly opposed to the registration. Owase has "Yaki-yama", one of the famous tourist panoramic viewpoints in "Kumano-kodo¯", registered in 2004 as the World Heritage site "Kii-sanchi no reijo¯ to sankeido¯: Kumano-kodo¯" (Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes of the Kii Mountain Range). Why does Owase maintain its objection despite its problem of depopulation? Taking this question as a starting point, this paper introduces the logic of their protest, while exploring another possibility of local community revitalization based on the arguments accumulated in the field of sociology.