ABSTRACT
In 2013, the television drama Amachan received record-breaking ratings among Japanese viewers, generating significant tourism growth in the area in which it was set. Amachan portrays a countryside village’s need to rely more and more on domestic tourism for revenue. In order to do so, the main characters reinvent their everyday occupations as tourist attractions. Railway employees, sea-urchin divers, and even high school students, plot and discuss how to make their village more attractive. Amachan offers a deep view on the bottom-up management of tradition in rural Japan. The chapter analyses how the drama deals with heritage creation, both within the plot and in its real life effects. Focusing on Amachan provides a novel analytical frame to address forms of heritage creation.
