Joseph L Decker

My name is Joe Decker, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. I study the intersection of travel and religion, and my research explores globalization's impact on contemporary pilgrimage routes in rural Japan. I am particularly interested in how the management and promotion of pilgrimage networks—made up of a diverse range of stakeholders—redefine the ways participants engage with religion, heritage, and culture.

This year, with the generous support of the Japan Foundation and Saitama Prefectural University, I am conducting ethnographic research on the reanimation of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage in Japan and its transnational connection to Spain’s Camino de Santiago. My dissertation examines how these traditional routes are being transformed into cultural resources for boosting regional tourism as a process of “sacred heritage” making. I analyze the impacts of using pilgrimage as a form of sustainable tourism on local communities, assess the personal experiences of visitors, and explore the creation and expression of international pilgrimage culture in the Kii Peninsula.
Supervisors: Dr. Heather Blair