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A changing tourism system in post-disaster recovery: Developing anime tourism in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake in Oarai, Japan A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science in Tourism at Lincoln University by Xiao Xu Lincoln University 2020 Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science in Tourism. Abstract A Changing Tourism System in Post-disaster Recovery: Developing Anime Tourism in the Aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake in Oarai, Japan by Xiao Xu Oarai is a coastal town in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The disaster severely damaged local industries, and the local tourism sector faced a sharp decline followed the event. To overcome the conundrum, the local tourism businesses have taken the opportunity to collaborate with an anime called Girls und Panzer, which has been developed by an external animation production studio. This collaboration has resulted in huge success, and the drop in the local tourism industry had been largely reversed, but has resulted in a significant change to the tourism system. This thesis explores the activities and outcomes of this tourism industry reimagining. A mixed-method approach was used to investigate the perception of local tourism businesses to the current Oarai tourism system, and examine the transformative effect of the disaster and its aftermath. Perceptions of disaster impact and anime tourism development were analysed through surveys (n=73) and interviews (n=2) which focused on tourism business operators, while participant observation was conducted to create the image of anime tourism operation in Oarai. Results show that the development of anime tourism in Oarai successfully helped the local tourism businesses to recover from the disaster. As new agencies and organisations joined the anime tourism network, anime tourism increased communication between stakeholders, and improved the resilience of the community. The new tourism development has transformed the local tourism industry, to some extent, however. the future trajectory of anime tourism in Oarai is difficult to forecast, and there is scope for longitudinal research of this tourism system. Keywords: Earthquake & tsunami, disaster impact, disaster recovery, popular culture, anime tourism, community resilience, social capital, transformation, Oarai, Japan ii Acknowledgements My thanks must go first to my supervision team, Joanna Fountain and Koji Kobayashi. To Jo, I have learned a lot from your guidance and suggestions. When I got stuck in the project, you always supported me and gave me advice. To Koji, the Japanese fieldwork was such a challenge to me, and you helped me to prepare and conduct the trip. It is one stop of my life journey and both of you are guiding me to the next stage in a brighter future. The period with you will be my precious memory in my whole lifetime. Thank you to the staff and students in our Faculty, Environment Society and Design for your advice and inspiration. It is always a pleasure to talk with you. My particular thanks go to Douglas Broughton, who supported me when I suffered from the mental pressure in the end of the project. Also, thank you to Joan Gladwyn for your incredible work on copy editing my thesis. For my research, I appreciate the assistance from the community of Oarai. Thank you to all the businesses who were willing to participate the project. Thank you to Murai Vintage Club for running such a cosy pub to know locals and serving nice drinks. Thank you to Sakamoto Junji for providing numerous local information to me. Thank you to my bro, Rintaro, for helping me delivering surveys to respondents in Oarai. Thank you to Matsuda san and Shinya Kato for being my interviews interpreters. Thank you to Shachō for helping me to attend the Yurucamp event. And so many friends I have made in Oarai, thank you. As an international student, I must give my thanks to both my Chinese family and Kiwi family. For my mum and dad, although you are thousands of miles away from me, you are always support me and my dream. I cannot say much to show my gratitude to you. To the Campbell family, Fay, Mark, Venessa, and Jacob, you are just like my kiwi family for transferring me from a shy Chinese young guy to a talkative Kiwi man. The past five years in the family just feel like I have never left home. I am grateful to have these people mentioned above helped me during my two-year thesis journey, which will be remembered and appreciated forever by me. iii Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 8 1.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................8 1.2 The significance of the current research ..................................................................................9 1.3 Research objectives ............................................................................................................... 10 1.4 The approach of this research ............................................................................................... 11 1.5 Thesis structure ...................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 Literature Review.................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Disaster and tourism .............................................................................................................. 12 2.2.1 Research into disasters in tourism studies ................................................................14 2.2.2 Conceptualising resilience ..........................................................................................17 2.2.3 Transformation in resilience theory ...........................................................................26 2.2.4 Connecting resilience to tourism ...............................................................................29 2.3 Chapter summary .................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 3 Context ................................................................................................................... 36 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 36 3.2 The destination, Oarai............................................................................................................ 36 3.3 The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake ................................................................................. 39 3.4 Popular culture and tourism .................................................................................................. 43 3.4.1 Characteristics of popular culture tourism ................................................................43 3.4.2 Anime tourism in Japan..............................................................................................48 3.5 The history of Girls und Panzer and the development of Garupan tourism .......................... 56 3.5.1 The story behind the Garupan production ................................................................56 3.5.2 The successful coordination between Garupan and Oarai ........................................58 3.5.3 The current Garupan tourism system in Oarai ..........................................................66 3.6 Chapter summary .................................................................................................................. 70 Chapter 4 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 71 4.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................