ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes a theoretical framework for war-related contents tourism. It articulates how war transitions from being traumatic to entertaining in the public imagination and works of popular culture, and how visitation to war-related sites transitions from being an act of mourning or commemorative pilgrimage into an act of devotion or fan pilgrimage. Three main tourism imaginaries are identified: imaginaries of (subjective) war experiences, imaginaries of (objective) war heritage, and imaginaries of war-related entertainment. With reference to the Japanese case, the factors affecting the speed at which war history may be entertainmentized and the Japanese tourism policy context are clarified.
