Performing rural heritage for nation branding: a comparative study of Japan and Indonesia

Abstract

The study aims to examine (1) how the nation brands in Japan and Indonesia are represented by the performances of rural heritage, 2) how locals legitimate their collective identities with nation imaginings, and 3) how the brand association of rural heritage places contributes to the nation brand. Using a comparative study, this paper examines how the Tsumago post town in Nagano, Japan, and Penglipuran village in Bali demonstrate how for rural places to contribute to the idyllic rural imaginings for each nation. The research project use qualitative approach by interviewing local people and tourists, observing local activities, with the collection of media data, and an examination of the data using discourse analysis. The research results are that: (1) both destinations construct their nation brands through the discourses of space, (2) discourse of people movements, which circulate in a turbine model of heritage process, and (3) the discourse of nation branding. This study supports the need to study the local characteristics and performance patterns of rural places that are seemingly idyllic to represent the imaginings of nation. As a conclusion, both places, similarly and differently, combine the narratives of rural place using local, nation identity, and tourism imaginaries that are circulating globally.

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