Footprints in Paradise: Ecotourism, Local Knowledge, and Nature Therapies in Okinawa

Andrea E. Murray

Jun 2017 · New Directions in Anthropology Book 40 · Berghahn Books

About this ebook

The economic imperative of sustainable tourism development frequently shapes life on small subtropical islands. In Okinawa, ecotourism promises to provide employment for a dwindling population of rural youth while preserving the natural environment and bolstering regional pride. Footprints in Paradise explores the transformation in community and sense of place as Okinawans come to view themselves through the lens of the visiting tourist consumer, and as their language, landscapes, and wildlife are reconstituted as treasured and vulnerable resources. The rediscovery and revaluing of local ecological knowledge strengthens Okinawan or Uchinaa cultural heritage, despite the controversial presence of US military bases amidst a hegemonic Japanese state.

About the author

Andrea E. Murray is an Associate in Research at the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies. She received her PhD in Social Anthropology from Harvard in 2012, was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropology and Asian Studies at Hamilton College, and lectured in Sociocultural Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis.