Abstract - Recentering the Cartographies of Karate: Martial Arts Tourism in Okinawa
Background. Since the beginning of the 2010s, the Okinawan Government has been making significant efforts to develop, professionalize, and promote karate tourism in Okinawa, since this is known to be an essential sector for the island’s economy.
Problem and aim. A systematized study into the nature of karate tourism in Okinawa has so far not been conducted. This article offers a comprehensive overview of the historical development of martial arts tourism in Okinawa, by discussing the most recent events in karate as a martial arts tourism niche and its ongoing institutionalization.
Method. The method of research presents and analyses a corpus of institutional and public sources of information on karate tourism available through the web. It should be noted that web presence is one of the leading action methods for the Japanese and Okinawan governments, and hence it supplies a valuable resource of information, particularly considering the lack of specific scholarly references on the matter. The article incorporates academic literature on martial arts tourism and other relevant types of sports and cultural tourism, as well as a body of work on Japanese and Okinawan studies examining the subject.
Results. The creation of an official karate tourism industry in Okinawa responds to Japan’s economic and cultural plans for attracting higher numbers of tourists to the country, thus increasing overall revenues and fostering regional revitalization. However, Okinawan karate as a martial art and tourism sector is also conditioned by powerful global and transnational factors superimposed onto local interests and narratives.
Conclusions. Karate tourism is being actively promoted by the Japanese Government and the Okinawan Prefectural Government as a form of martial arts tourism intermingling cultural and sporting factors. Despite this convergence of economic objectives, hierarchical tensions exist as the Okinawan and mainland definitions of traditional karate and its cultural significance differ, forcing a debate on the current touristic institutionalization process for karate.