Paper short abstract:

This paper traces the 20th-century trajectories of two major festivals through the lens of the communities that organize them. It focuses on how ruptures caused by changing social, political, and religious circumstances compel communities to reconsider in/exclusion and modify “tradition.”

Paper long abstract:

This paper traces the 20th-century trajectories of two major Japanese festivals through the lens of the communities that organize them. Both Fukuoka’s Hakata Gion Yamakasa, first mentioned in the historical record in 1432, and Kyoto’s Jidai Matsuri, first organized in 1895, are widely recognized as defining cultural symbols of the cities in which they are held. Like many other festivals, in both cases it is the local community that has carried on the practice of planning and organizing the festivals' annual parades throughout their respective existences.

However, neither the organizing communities nor the social, political, ideological, and religious circumstances in which they and the festivals exist have remained unchanged over time. Irrespective of the length of their respective histories, Hakata Gion Yamakasa and Jidai Matsuri are the product of continuous, complex, and sophisticated processes of (re)invention and alteration as a result of city mergers, epidemics, war, and other external influences that transform both the festivals themselves and the local community that organizes them.

By focusing on the lived experiences of the organizing communities rather than on the content of the parades themselves, this paper attempts to clarify the mechanisms behind the “reinvention of tradition” as it relates to festivals. Moreover, it also discusses the related issue of inclusion vs. exclusion as the festivals serve as a means to build and reinforce a communal identity, whereas the external influences often force the communities to rethink their stance as to who can (or cannot) partake in organizing and executing the festivals.