Religious Studies on the Relationship Between the Use of Religious Resources for tourism and an Assignment a World Heritage listed site

在那些努力争取被列入世界遗产名录的地区，利用宗教作为旅游资源的趋势是非常明显的。这部分是因为担心的地方政府和旅游业渴望这样做，但也有一些宗教团体利用这些机会向游客展示他们的宗教信息。然而，他们如何看待旅游业取决于宗教在该地区的背景下所持的立场。在熊野的案例中，神道在旅游业方面的地位非常积极，因为神道在该地区占据主导地位。相反，当地的天主教堂和信徒对外来游客非常怀疑，因为长崎的基督教曾受到严重迫害，当地民众对其仍存在偏见。在一些人们非常积极地争取被列入世界遗产名录的地区，这些活动有助于增强他们的当地身份，因为他们开始意识到自己的宗教传统和历史。

In those areas involved in making a great effort to gain an assignment as a World Heritage listed site, the tendency to utilize religion as a resource of tourism has been highly recognizable. This is partly because concerned local governments and tourism industries are eager to do so, but also some religious bodies have used these opportunities to display their religious messages to tourists. However, how they see tourism depends on the position of religion taken in the context of the region. In Kumano's case Shinto has a very positive position with tourism, because Shinto is dominant in the region. On the contrary, local Catholic churches and believers are very suspicious of tourists from outside, because Christianity in Nagasaki was once severely persecuted and there is still prejudice against it among local people. In some area where people are very active with getting an assignment as a World Heritage listed site, those activities contribute to the strength of their local identity because of their becoming aware of their religious tradition and history.