The Japanese encounter with the South: Japanese tourists in Palau

Tourism is a primary ground for the production of new cultural forms on a global base. In the name of tourism, capital and modernized peoples have been deployed to the most remote regions of the world, farther than any army was ever sent. Institutions have been established to support this deployment, not just hotels, restaurants, and transportation systems, but restorations of ancient shrines, development of local handicrafts for sale to tourists. In short, tourism is not just an aggregate of mere commercial activities; it is also an ideological framing of history, nature, and tradition; a framing that has the power to reshape culture and nature to its own needs.