일본 ‘마쓰리(祭り)’의 변용을 통해 본 지방창생

Abstract

In September 2014, when the second Cabinet of Ministers Abe was established, the Japanese government laid out the policy of regional revitalization as a top priority. The key point is to reinvigorate the province by restraining the influx of population in Tokyo. In order to specify this, the Japanese government established the “Machi, Hito, Shigotto Law for Revitalization” in November of the same year, and it is the fourth year of this year that the full-scale regional revitalization policy was put into operation. In each province, regional revitalization is recognized as a survival strategy and strives to make charming towns with the principles of independence, locality, and consequence. Among them, efforts to find the motif of revitalization from folk culture are grabbing attention. this article examines the change process of ‘Matsuri’ in Japan and also examines the ways how ‘Matsuri’ has gone through change and contributes to the regional revitalization in the local community. Originally, Matsuri was a rite for god in order to pray for preventing misfortune and good harvest, as well as identifying the local identity and playing a central role in energization of the village. Normally, distinguishing Matsuri in the form of “traditional Matsuri” and “citizen events” is the folk cultures that the ‘Sairei’ defined by Yanagita kunio have been inherited and transformed according to the changes of the times. MatsurI is a source of identity to local residents, and they are actively promoting not only local residents but also as a catalyst for participating in linkage between regions and activities of local communities. Recently, Japan has been rediscovering the charm of Matsuri, considering the economic effect, and diversifying the way to attract tourists. Also, they try to find to develop the regional revitalization through the openness of Matsuri that participants, spectators and even foreigners visiting Japan freely participate in. This is why MatsurI, which is newly transformed according to the changes of the times, is the key to regional revitalization.