Abstract

This book deals with tourism, popular culture and everyday life in Japan. It offers some interesting statistics about Japanese life and society, discusses popular kinds of tours in Japan, considers images of Japan found in guidebooks about the country, and discusses the pleasures people get from travel in Japan. The book interprets various aspects of Japanese culture and provides an analysis of popular visitor destinations. It is written in an accessible style and thus will be of interest to tourists considering visiting Japan, Japanophiles, social scientists and humanities scholars with interests in Japan, and students taking courses in tourism, Japanese culture, cultural studies and consumer culture.

Arthur Asa Berger is Professor Emeritus at San Francisco State University, where he taught for 38 years. He is the author of numerous books and articles on tourism, media, popular culture and everyday life. Among his books on tourism are Vietnam Tourism, Thailand Tourism, The Golden Triangle, Deconstructing Travel and Bali Tourism. He has lectured in more than a dozen countries and his books have been translated into nine languages.

Tourism in Japan: An Ethno-Semiotic Analysis is an interesting work on tourism in Japan from a sociological perspective. It is a welcome addition to tourism literature as little has been written about tourism in Japan and this work sheds light on many fascinating aspects of tourism in the country. The volume will benefit both students of tourism studies and the general public who wish to have a better understanding of Japan as a tourist destination. It will long be remembered for its unique contribution to the literature.