Paper short abstract:

四国・愛媛県の山奥にある村島神社で毎年の春大祭にお神楽の行事が執行される。村島神社をめぐる信仰または祭りが手厚く行われているのである。その一例としてお神楽があげられる。村島神社は元々無人社であるが、祭事の際多くの村人が山に集合するのである。お神楽の祝詞は如何なるものなのか。その内容はどのようなことを伝えているのであろう。祭り全体の30分も占めている祝詞奏上は主催者の趣旨を濃縮しているのである。平成18年から現地の祭り及び信仰について調査を続け、お神楽の一部「祝詞奏上」とその文の構成を分析し、地域の人々との繋がりや神社芸能のあり方を考察する。

Paper long abstract:

四国・愛媛県の山奥にある村島神社で毎年の春大祭にお神楽の行事が執行される。村島神社をめぐる信仰または祭りが手厚く行われているのである。その一例としてお神楽があげられる。村島神社は元々無人社であるが、祭事の際多くの村人が山に集合するのである。5時間も続く祭事の一番目は本殿で行われる祝詞奏上である。神主が祝詞奏上をあげ、代表者たちが玉串奉奠を捧げる。お神楽の祝詞は如何なるものなのか。その内容はどのようなことを伝えているのであろう。祭り全体の30分も占めている祝詞奏上は主催者の趣旨を濃縮しているのである。平成18年から現地の祭り及び信仰について調査を続け、お神楽の一部「祝詞奏上」とその文の構成を分析し、地域の人々との繋がりや神社芸能のあり方を考察する。

Paper short abstract:

In the context of kagura performances we find the most intriguing relations between performers and audiences. In the context of an intimate performance of a small village home, these are especially complex. This paper examines several kagura examples to explore these identities and connections.

Paper long abstract:

Among the traditional so-called Japanese "Folk Performing Arts" (minzoku geinô), kagura is considered to be the veteran genre, and it still preserves, in all its varieties and forms, its ritualistic essence and function. It is in the context of the various kagura performances that we find the most complex and intriguing relations between performers and audiences.

In kagura performances, it is often the case when the performers, even in their guises as visiting gods, physically touch their audiences in a variety of manners. Also, in the context of an intimate performance of a small village shrine or home, where the performers are family members or familiar neighbors of the viewing audiences, these connections create complex levels of reflexive identities: of gender, of divine or of human identities, on both local and cosmological levels. It also infuses the patterns of mutual conduct and action with pregnant meanings.

The proposed paper will explore these complexities as they unfold in four kagura performances from Miyazaki Prefecture (Takachiho Kagura), Aichi Prefecture (Hanamatsuri, Tsuki), Nagano Prefecture (Shimotsuki-sai at Shimoguri), and Iwate Prefecture (Hayachine Take Kagura). Other examples (e.g., from Mitsukuri Kagura of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Buzen Kagura of Oita Prefecture and Shiiba Kagura of Miyazaki Prefecture) will also be considered.

The paper will discuss the central role of the audience in creating a performance, in this case, a ritual performance, especially in an intimate context of a small community. It will question the identities of performer and audience in their reciprocal roles, and will muse about the meaning of defined identity and action in the flow of blurred conceptual boundaries.

Paper short abstract:

This case study on the folk performing art "Dance of the Herons" introduces the history and characteristics of the tōya preservation organization in Yamaguchi and Tsuwano. Analyzing the challenges of preservation, I will discuss the present-day strategies of the two communities.

Paper long abstract:

The "Dance of the Herons" (sagimai in Tsuwano; sagi-no-mai in Yamaguchi) is a dance with instrumental and vocal accompaniment, performed by two dancers in full-body costumes representing a pair of herons. Born in the fourteenth century as a hayashimono, a musical 'encouragement' for the elaborate floats of Kyoto's Gion festival, it was transmitted via Yamaguchi to nearby Tsuwano (Shimane prefecture) and is only preserved in its old form in these two places.

This raises the question of how this tradition was preserved until the present. Unlike many other Japanese performing arts, the "Dance of the Herons" does not have any written text or school; the tradition is handed down orally and by repetition of the dance movements. Responsibility for the execution and funding of the performance falls on the tōya, a term referring to both a person and his house. Found mainly in western Japan, the tōya system takes multiple forms to support religious ceremonies. I will show how this system developed, focusing on its local characteristics in Yamaguchi and Tsuwano, where it is associated with particular houses. Further, I will shed light on the shift from an emphasis on one family in its early period to a system with a number of rotating households in the early Edo period, challenges it faced in the Meiji period, and finally how it maintains its function in the modern age.

Due to an aging population, decreasing birthrate and migration of young people to large cities, many communities in Japan now face difficulties handing down their folk performing arts. I will compare how the Yamaguchi and Tsuwano communities preserve their cultural heritage in the present. Are modern regulations, such as designating the "Dance of the Herons" as an Important Cultural Property or establishing a preservation committee (hozonkai), really effective? Do they compensate for the shortcomings of the tōya system? Does the "Dance of the Herons" contribute to forming a community identity that attracts young people?

I will try to answer these questions, analyzing the results of my field research and putting them into historical context, relying on earlier research by Japanese scholars.