Japan’s heritage conservation policy and practice, as deployed through its foreign aid programs, has become one of the main means through which post-World War II Japan has sought to mark its presence in the international arena, both globally and regionally. Heritage conservation has been intimately linked to Japan’s sense of national identity, in addition to its self-portrayal as a responsible global and regional citizen. This book explores the concepts of heritage, nationalism and Japanese national identity in the context of Japanese and international history since the second half of the nineteenth century. In doing so, it shows how Japan has built on its distinctive approach to conservation to develop a heritage-based strategy, which has been used as part of its cultural diplomacy designed to increase its ‘soft power’ both globally and within the Asian region. More broadly, Natsuko Akagawa underlines the theoretical nexus between the politics of heritage conservation, cultural diplomacy and national interest, and in turn highlights how issues of heritage conservation practice and policy are crucial to a comprehensive understanding of geo-politics. Heritage Conservation and Japan’s Cultural Diplomacy will be of great interest to students, scholars and professionals working in the fields of heritage and museum studies, heritage conservation, international relations and Asian/Japanese studies.

Music has long played a prominent role in cultural diplomacy, but until now no resource has comparatively examined policies that shape how non-western countries use music for international relations. Ethnomusicology and Cultural Diplomacy, edited by scholars David G. Hebert and Jonathan McCollum, demonstrates music's role in international relations worldwide. Specifically, this book offers "insider" views from expert contributors writing about music as a part of cultural diplomacy initiatives in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria, Japan, China, India, Vietnam, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Nigeria. Unique features include the book’s emphasis on diverse legal frameworks, decolonial perspectives, and cultural policies that serve as a basis for how nations outside “the west” use music in their relationships with Europe and North America.

This book narrates the establishment of a cultural project in post-war Cambodia. It depicts a country at the crossroads of conflicting imaginaries, and shows, through the Centre for Khmer Studies’ story, how the neoliberal agenda of ‘northern’ academic institutions effectively constrain alternative ‘southern’ visions of development.

The first comprehensive overview of architectural conservation in Asia Internationally renowned author John Stubbs follows up on the success of his previous volumes Time Honored: A Global View of Architectural Conservation and Architectural Conservation in Europe and the Americas Architectural conservation is a rapidly expanding and under-researched field in Asia and is international experts are often brought in, making the subject of considerable interest to international academics Boxes and case studies by local experts add depth and interest to the authors' meticulous research A website with extra information and resources accompanies the series: http://conservebuiltworld.com

The act of identifying, protecting, restoring, and reusing buildings, districts, and built landscapes of historic and cultural significance is, at its best, a reflective and consequential process of urban and socio-economic reform. It has the potential to reconcile conflicting memories, meanings, and cultural tensions, bridging and expanding the perceived boundaries of multiple disciplines towards bigger aspirations of city-making and social justice. How and where do such aspirations overlap and differ across nations and societies across the world? In places with different histories, governance structures, regulatory stringency, and populist dispositions, who are the specific players, and what are the actual processes that bring about bigger and deeper change beyond just the conservation of an architectural or urban entity of perceived value? This collection of scholarly articles by theorists, academics, and practitioners explores the global complexity, guises, and potential of heritage conservation. Going from Tokyo to Cairo, Shenzhen to Rome, and Delhi to Moscow, this volume examines a vast range of topics – indigenous habitats, urban cores, vernacular infrastructure, colonial towns, squatters, burial sites, war zones, and modern landmarks. It surfaces numerous inherent issues – water stress, deforestation, social oppression, poverty, religion, immigration, and polity, expanding the definitions of heritage conservation as both a professional discipline and socio-cultural catalyst. This book argues that the intellectual and praxis limits of heritage conservation – as the agency of reading, defining, and intervening with built heritage – can be expansive, aimed at bigger positive change beyond a specific subject or object; plural, enmeshed with multiple fields and specializations; and empathetic, born from the actual socio-political realities of a place.

Asia is regarded as the fastest growing area for international and domestic tourism in the world today and over the next 20 years. Given the economic, social and environmental importance of tourism in the region, there is a need for a comprehensive and readable overview of the critical debates and controversies in tourism in the region and the major factors that are affecting tourism development both now and in the foreseeable future. This Handbook provides a contemporary survey of the region and its continued growth and development as a key destination and generator of tourism, which is marked by a high proportion of intra-regional travel. The book is divided into five sections. This first section provides an introduction to the region and context to the nationally focused chapters. The next three sections are then broadly based on the three UNWTO Asian regions: South-East Asia, South and Central Asia, and East and North-East Asia, providing readers with a valuable snapshot of tourism at various scales, and from various approaches and positions. The concluding section considers future prospects for tourism in Asia. The handbook is interdisciplinary in coverage and is also international in scope through its authorship and content. It presents a range of perspectives and understanding of the processes and forces that are shaping tourism in this fascinating and dynamic region that is one of the focal points of global tourism. This is essential reading for students, researchers and academics interested in tourism in the growth region of Asia now and in the future.

This book examines civic activism to conserve dark heritage built by the colonial and wartime labor regime in contemporary Japan. Introducing and analyzing local organizations and their activities in multiple locations throughout Japan, this book looks at the ways in which the Japanese have remembered, negotiated, and re-experienced their wartime past. Drawing insights from disciplines including critical heritage studies, social movements, the history of colonialism, imperialism, and decolonization, the book brings into focus the Japanese civic activism which confronts the legacies of the wartime labor regime operated throughout the colonial empire. By tracing the formation of grassroots movements to conserve war-related sites throughout Japan, it argues that reclaiming places for plural war memories bequeathed by colonial empire has been pivotal in creating public spaces for civic activism attentive to identities and differences in contemporary Japan. Delving into the multilayered connections between the memories of imperial wars, colonial empire, and place-based politics in postwar Japan, this book will be a valuable resource to students and scholars of colonialism, heritage studies and Japanese history.