COMPLETION REPORT
What can an “Old Village” tell us about a nation? A Comparative Study of Local Preservation Movementsin the Cultural Heritage Villages of Tsumago, Nagano-Japan and Penglipuran, Bali- Indonesia
Ms. Desideria Cempaka Wijaya Murti
Lecturer
Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta
Aim/purpose:
Using a comparative study, the research project examines how the performance of heritage from Tsumago PostTown, Nagano, Japan and Penglipuran, Bali, Indonesia by looking at the similarities and differences inpromotional media and on site investigation.
Methodology:
In Indonesia, the researcher was able to conduct 60-150 minutes semi-structured interviews with 24 local people
and 18 international tourists (Repository data is available in http://ddfe.curtin.edu.au/5AF3D9B88F520/). In Japan,
the researcher was able to conduct, 30-60 minutes semi-structured interviews with 10 local people and 4international tourists. (Repository data is available in http://ddfe.curtin.edu.au/5B57E2644E9A1/)
Results:(1) Both destinations construct the landscape of heritage through the discourses of local religions, naturalpreservation, and nostalgic landscape. The local religions motivate the design of landscape and human activity
around the heritage. Meanwhile, natural preservation reconfigured the landscape to function as a place of memoryand nostalgia.
(2) Both rural heritages develop local movement, which circulated in a turbine model of heritage process. I develop
the turbine model to identify the process from the beginning of establishment until the present day.
(3) Both destinations demonstrate the representation of rural heritage in the imaginings of the nation. Tsumago as arural heritage place, functions to enrich the dominant discourses of Japan’s nation brand using three modes ofdiscourses. Those are as an alternative view on the Japanese national imaginings, as an anchor for the past topresent the brand of “Endless Discovery,” and as a confirmation to the imaginings of certain aspects in theJapanese national brand. To compare, Penglipuran functions in two discourses. Those are as a confirmation to thedominant discourses Indonesian diversity and Indonesian brand of “Wonderful Indonesia”
Advices:Pragmatically, in the postmodern market, both places gather similar segment of market such as educated visitors,
professionals, families or groups, school children/youth, and nostalgia seekers, through motives of consumption
where nature, interactions, and nostalgia are interwoven in a virtual reality. Rural heritage can develop educationaland cross cultural programs, activities, workshops, meetings, and commerce to target these increasing segments.
The similarities between both rural heritages can be developed into a joint cooperation and exchange trip for local
leaders or government officials in tourism sectors to learn from each other under G2G platforms or B2B.
Recommendations:
1. For Indonesian rural heritage, Japan case study can give example on how to articulate the local history andnarrative through the existences of printed media, awards exhibitions, village museums, and multimedia room.
Indonesian rural heritage especially tourism villages, can develop similar approaches by communicating more in
printed media, exhibit their awards for tourists, establish village/local museums to display the documentations ofvillage history, and develop multimedia room/tools for a better explanation (if English is still a difficult challenge
for locals).
2. For Japan rural heritage, the interactions with tourists need to be developed outside the commercial purposes.
Workshop to learn Japanese culture (cooking classes, calligraphy, and making small handicraft from woods) canbe done in Tsumago to increase interactions between tourists and local people.

Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)
1. Date: 26-28 July 2017
Venue: Murdoch University’s Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability incollaboration with the Global Corporate Governance Institute.
Name of the Conference: 4th International Conference on CSR, Sustainability, Ethics andGovernance in Perth
Title of Presentation: Same old town with a brand new story: Exploring the Sustainable
Preservation of Tsumago, Post Town for the Nation Branding of Japan.
Presenter: Desideria Cempaka Wijaya Murti
2. Date: 19-20 November 2018.
Venue: University of Western Australia
Name of Conference: 7th International Conference on Business, Management, and Governance(ICBMG 2018) by University of Western Australia, Perth.
Title of Presentation: Locating Nation from Rural Destinations: A Comparative Study between
Tsumago Post Town, Japan and Penglipuran village, Indonesia.
Presenter: Desideria Cempaka Wijaya Murti
Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
1. Name of Journal: Journal of Heritage Tourism
Title: Performing Rural Heritage for the Nation: A Comparative Study of Tsumago, Japan andPenglipuran, Indonesia
Author: Desideria Cempaka Wijaya Murti
Status: Accepted with revision (revisions has been sent)
Publication: for 2019 edition (in process)Publisher: Taylor & Francis
2. Repository Raw Data Material:
Murti, Desideria (2018): Ethnographic interview participants and photographic images of Tsumago
Post Town, Japan. Curtin University. https://researchdata.ands.org.au/ethnographic-interview-participantstown-japan/1333228
Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)