Convert Athena data types to JSON

To convert Athena data types to JSON, use CAST.

WITH dataset AS (
  SELECT
    CAST('HELLO ATHENA' AS JSON) AS hello_msg,
    CAST(12345 AS JSON) AS some_int,
    CAST(MAP(ARRAY['a', 'b'], ARRAY[1,2]) AS JSON) AS some_map
)
SELECT * FROM dataset

This query returns:

+-------------------------------------------+
| hello_msg      | some_int | some_map      |
+-------------------------------------------+
| "HELLO ATHENA" | 12345    | {"a":1,"b":2} |
+-------------------------------------------+