Paper short abstract:

This paper is an examination of "Akahachi no irei-sai", a commemoration of a local hero of Ohama vlg. By analysing the event`s narrative, I reveal how it is constructed to function as both a religious ritual and a storytelling practice that places the village at the center of regional politics.

Paper long abstract:

The connections between storytelling and anthropology have been a theme repeatedly discussed in recent years, with interesting conversations being carried both about anthropology as storytelling and the anthropology of storytelling (see, for example, Maggio 2014). This paper relies on this discussions about storytelling in anthropology to approach the way people of the former Ryukyu kingdom space pass down their history in the context of religious practices.

Examining the categories of traditional storytelling existent in Japan, Fukuda Akira (2011) states that besides the three traditional genre of stories defined by Yanagita Kunio (legend, folktale, gossip), for the space of the southern islands we have to admit to the existence of a different genre of stories which he calls "shitan"(史譚) or historical stories and describes as a form of public storytelling of history. Little attention has been paid thus far to the way this storytelling is reinforced in the context of public ceremonies, but this paper intends to approach this aspect by analyzing "Akahachi no irei-sai, an event happening every year in Ohama village of Ishigaki island. The event is of modern origin and its aim is to commemorate Oyake Akahachi, a historical figure who fought against the annexation of the island to the Ryukyu kingdom, on the supposed day of his death. By analyzing this event, I show how Fukuda`s "historical stories" are being passed down to new generations and the worldviews imbedded within them.

This paper relies on both ethnographic data and the interpretation of historical sources to point to the different interpretations of this event in different regions of the Ryukyuan space and the storytelling both within and surrounding the event. Since one of the most remarkable characteristic of the event is its obvious educational intent, with the local school children being brought to the commemoration site for a lecture on the story of Akahachi and his revolt against the kingdom, I intend focus on the elements that are being highlighted or left aside in the process of transmitting the story to the younger generation, but also the ethnic politics involved in the storytelling.