Researcher Profiles -Doctoral Program

The economic and social decline of city centers is more evident in Japan compared to European and other developed nations. Multidisciplinary and holistic analysis is necessary to tackle this ‘city center’ issue considering economics, tourism, sociology, politics, geography, civil engineering and urban planning.

Research projects are regarding with city centers ‘as a commercial space’, ‘as a tourist destination’, ‘as a sustainable urban space’ with regard to economics and management perspectives.

I am happy to supervise research students from a variety of angles such as World Heritage management, National park management, natural area tourism, and ecotourism theory/praxis. Students can choose their research topics relatively freely, however, it is strongly advised that they select research problems that have clear academic significance. Students are also required to follow appropriate research methods; as a rule of thumb, qualitative and field-based methods will be prioritized owing to my own familiarity with these lines of inquiry. In addition, research students must show a degree of awareness of the complex interaction pathways between tourism/recreation and natural/social environments. In particular, destinations such as the World Natural Heritage sites, national parks and other types of protected areas contain rare and vulnerable landforms and biota; and the well-being of these elements must also be included while designing tourism or proposing solutions for those areas. My current research sites include several mountain destinations, World Heritage sites of Yakushima, Shiretoko Peninsula, Shirakami Sanchi, and Shirakawa Village—and I am happy to share insights from these case studies.

Supervision will generally be provided for studies relating to three overlapping research projects. Research students wishing to study tourism in Japan using English, but not listed in the details below are also welcome.

Critical Tourism Studies: Philosophy & Ethics.

This ongoing project is an expressive outlet for philosophical and ethics-related research within the field of tourism studies. Inspired by thinkers like Deleuze, Derrida, and Jean-Luc Nancy, amongst others, I have examined themes of freedom and belonging, creation and praxis, hospitality, relational ethics, socializing tourism and post-disciplinarity. The aim of this research project is to help inspire a new generation of tourism scholars to engage with tourism philosophically at a time increasingly characterized by various modes of neo-pragmatism.

Lifestyle Sports: Surf Studies Japan.

Apart from a few sporadic contributions little has been written about Japan’s diverse surfing histories, cultures, destinations, and transnational networks. The broad aim of this research project is contribute to efforts to decolonize and decenter surfing and surf research in two ways. First is contextual, highlighting the importance of the culturally and site-specific character of how global surf cultures are being assembled within in the current Japanese context. Secondly, research aims to offer insight into the specific histories, gender relations, cultural politics, and transnational mobilities informing contemporary surfing and place-making in rural coastal Japan.

Tourism-Environment Relations (Coastal Environments).

This research area focuses on tourism-environment relations in coastal environments. Here we explore coastal tourism development, Japanese and global beach cultures, and ocean-based relations through the lens of lifestyle sports and tourism. In this context students research the history, politics, tourism development, and political ecology of coastal development in Japan. Current research is dedicated to examining the role of surfing and surf tourism in Fukushima Prefecture's post-disaster resurgence.

I supervise a range of researches related to the relationship between people’s everyday life and tourism, particularly focusing on the co-creation of the place for local people and visitors. I put weight on how people are spontaneously involved in making their place, how its involvements make place and relationship among people changed, and how tourism influences on there.

Through critical literature review, PhD candidate learns fundamental theories and makes a theoretical framework of his/her empirical research to analyze various phenomena and process like tourism development in urban areas. The candidate can learn lessons and implications from case studies of urban regeneration and local revitalization activities in cities and towns in Japan and other countries. Each empirical research result should be published on academic journals. The candidate systematically integrates all findings from the researches into the doctoral thesis finally.

The examples of prospective research theme are below; sustainable city and tourism development, townscape formation process and tourism development, urban tourism and urban planning.

Supervision will be provided for studies related to the environment, culture and sustainability from environmental humanities, environmental ethics, and sustainability perspectives. With current needs for environmental consideration and responsibility, the interrelatedness of culture and environment as a precondition for all social activities, issues concerning local culture and environment will be tackled with global sustainability perspectives. Globality referring to international examples, inter-disciplinarity referring to a wide range of fields, Originality in the form of the researcher’s perspective, are valued.

Contributions to international conferences and journals are encouraged to be part of a global knowledge generation network. Possible thesis topics may be in the areas of environmentally responsible tourism, intangible cultural heritage and environmental sustainability, resource use ethics, environmental activism, and culture.

We believe that cities are cultural products that have been formed over many years of human activity, and our laboratory aims to advance human understanding by studying them. Tourism can also be thought of as an action in which people leave their familiar space and experience the space of others. In order to understand them, a wide range of knowledge and methods research from cultural studies to spatial analysis is required, and these research guidance is fundamental. However, the content will be adapted to the students' research interests.

Possible research topics include "Research on the transformation of castle towns by tourism since the modern era" and "Promotion methods by digital transformation using tourism images in the future".

Focused on the regional development in farming, mountain and fishing villages through urban-rural exchange, research topics should be mainly circulation-type regional development as well as rural-urban interaction in local resources management that are guided by agriculture economics and regional economics perspectively.

Research topics will include sustainable tourism and natural resources management,the state of rural tourism, the regional development in farming through farmers' market and farm stays, etc.

Design is connected to tourism on multiple fronts. While tourism has many aspects, it also has a comprehensive connection to overall planning and design. The design for each setting must be attractive and appropriate, from specialty products and local products, specialty souvenirs, to advertising and publicity, the information uploaded on the Internet, the streets, and touristic facilities. Providing overall control of these is branding that is based on research and analysis of regional identity. Such branding makes design play an important role in tourism.

Research topics may include ‘Designing of regional identity’, ‘Universal Design in Tourism’, ‘Tourism and regional branding’.

I supervise the researches on the planning techniques of sustainable urban space established in harmonious coexistence between the lives of local people and tourism, based on comprehensive understanding on the historical context of local areas as well as the present issues of local communities. The PhD candidates are also encouraged to acquire background knowledge about the developing process of the city planning system, practical approaches of urban design and community-based planning. Possible research topics may be in the areas of public space management based on public-private partnerships, regional revitalization through the practical process of conservation and utilization of cultural heritages, historical development of spatial planning techniques supporting tourism.

Focused on the changes of social demands and understanding to forest resources, research topics should be mainly concerned with nature-based tourism and regional revitalization as well as rural-urban interaction in local resources management that are guided by forest economics and regional economics perspectively.

Research topics will include sustainable tourism and natural resources management, tourism and forest socialization, the social significance of volunteer tourism in local resources management, etc.

Dr. Sano principally supervises content in the following areas: 1) how business companies and destination management organizations (DMOs) in the tourism industry attract customers through social media and use social media to enhance their (destination) reputation management and (destination) brand management in the era of Tourism 2.0; and 2) how smart tourism, a strategy for increasing a destination’s competitive advantage, can be developed through value co-creation among different stakeholders.

Suggested research topics include “The competitive advantages of social media marketing in Tourism 2.0” and “The development of smart tourism destinations through value co-creation.”

Tourism can only take place with tourism resources and tourists, and the transport that connects the two. Transport in this sense is one of the three essences of tourism. The research agenda for transport include diverse topics, including demand forecast and analysis on tourism-related transport, supply analysis including standard of transport fare and services, changes in policies and regulation in transport market (e.g., liberalization of airline market) and how these impact on tourism.

Other agendas include infrastructure planning, evaluation and funding, policies for sustainable transport based on the environmental, social and economic impact assessment, transport policies and planning and coordination for tourism promotion in different sectors (e.g., rail, bus, road, flight, water transport). The partnership between local community, government, industry and transport operators to maintain transport should also be considered. Familiarity with the connection between social demands and research trends in transport research will be the foundation for topics such as ‘Partnership between private, government, community and academic sectors for the utilisation of local railways’, ‘Development of high speed transport network and local tourism promotion strategy’, ‘Evaluation methodology for barrier-free transport in tourism destinations’.

1. Research guidance£ºTourism management from the viewpoint of management accounting.
2. Guidance process for leading the doctoral thesis£º (1) Setting of research question, (2) Survey of previous research, (3) Selection of survey method and survey plan, (4) Implementation of survey, (5) Analysis and consideration of collected data
3. Assumed main research subject£ºRoles and Contributions of Managers in Tourism, Governance and management control in tourism management organization, Regional value re-engineering by DMO(Destination Management Organization) formation, Introduction of management accounting system to realize self-innovation.

My academic experiences and interests are in the field of social and political geography. My expertise in this field would be appropriate for supervising graduates who aspire to study tourism from a sociopolitical perspective.

I will support students through the following process: 1) reviewing the literature and setting research questions, 2) selecting research methods and targets, 3) collecting and analyzing data, 4) contributing the paper to journals, and 5) completing and submitting the thesis.

Dr Husna Zainal Abidin primarily supervises research around the topics of tourism and technology. Some key research areas include, 1) exploring how digital technologies influence tourism management and tourist behaviour for sustainable tourism development, 2) exploring how service design can be integrated to develop meaningful tourism experiences, and a recently developed research area of 3) exploring the development of Muslim-friendly destinations.

Dr Husna Zainal Abidin will support students’ research journey by facilitating the development of key research skills. This includes fostering critical thinking skills, nurturing resourcefulness, and providing guidance in the development of high-quality academic publications.