Conclusions – Reflections and Futures

This concluding chapter consists of three sections. The first section revisits the sustainability management in Japan’s heritage and tourism industries, referring to key themes for this book presented in Chap. 1 . The core of discussions in this section is the spirit of mottainai that emerged in Japan and has been inherited from generation to generation. In the past 15–20 years, the concept has been widely spread across the world. Along with this, the value and significance of the spirit has also been re-evaluated in Japan’s heritage or tourism industry. In relation to this, the section looks at relations between the mottainai spirit and the heritage and tourism industries in Japan followed by examination of theory and practice in these fields by giving real examples. The second section, on the other hand, demonstrates two themes that have emerged through the writing-up process of the book. One theme is the overflowing of SDGs and its relevant concepts in Japanese society. Nowadays, innumerable organisations/companies, including those in the heritage and tourism industries, especially the latter show the logo of SDGs on their websites, however, what they really do for SDGs is not always clear. The other is the impacts of COVID-19 on the economic, socio-cultural and environmental sustainability of main sectors in heritage and tourism. The negative impacts of the economic sustainability tend to be emphasised. However, its impacts have not been always negative for their socio-cultural and environmental sustainability. In fact, the impacts have been rather positive for their environmental sustainability. Last but not least, the third section suggests four concrete recommendations for the future, reflecting key points from the preceding two sections.