Is tourism the culprit of commodification of Japanese Cultures

First off, what is Commodification?
It can be defined as the process of turning something into a commodity, or to make something commercial.
In general, it is apparent that tourism is usually the main culprit behind of commodification of cultures and traditions.

This is due to the key that makes the world go round: Money.
It is understood that tourists want to have a taste of the food, the cultures and the luxurious experience that is provided by the destination. Thus to earn tourist dollars, people commodify their cultures into products that can be sold to tourists for money. Taking the Ainu for an example, they traditionally make handicraft for their various religious and cultural purposes, but it was never done on a near-mass-produced level. However, with the introduction of tourism and after learning that selling the handicraft would earn them extra revenue, the Ainu commodified their cultural object of handicrafts into a souvenir made to be sold commercially, without any traditional value or meaning.
Thus when relating to the context of tourism, it is due to the fact that there is a demand to see and experience the culture that the culture of Japan is commodified and made commercial.

However, whilst people generally write commodification off as a negative impact of tourism, when taking on another perspective, it can yet be argued that the locals themselves are also partly the cause of commodification of culture. Taking the Tea Ceremony as an example. The way of the Tea Ceremony has lost its standing in Japanese society as people slowly forget the ritual and the right etiquette in performing it. However, in recent years the Tea Ceremony is regaining its popularity and is being adopted as a hobby for some, as stated in the post "The Traditions of the Japanese". Due to the fact that there is high demand from many people in taking lessons to learn this ritual, classes are being created as a product and sold to the Japanese themselves.
No matter how noble the reason, this is in essence, the very same as commodification of cultures as where tourists pay to view the Tea Ceremony carried out by a professional.

Thus whilst tourists and tourism are the main culprits of the commodification of Japanese cultures, the locals have also contributed to this phenomenon.

Reference:
Commodify. Retrieved on 9th December 2010, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/commodify