Research on Local Communities and the Role of Shinto Shrines in an Area Hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake——Case Study of Rikuzentakata City

摘要

This research focuses on the Shinto shrine belief spaces and festivals of Rikuzentakata City in Iwate Prefecture, a location known as a treasure chest of intangible folk cultural assets offered to Shinto shrines with strong ties to the local community.The distribution of shrines, spatial characteristics, overview of festivals and the relationship of shrines with the local community were examined via interviews, a survey of literature and direct observation to investigate and analyze relationships of elements in festival scene.The identity of "old villages" from the feudal clan era in Rikuzentakata City remains strong in the form of current local collaborative bodies.The "old village Shinto shrines" that use the old village boundaries to demarcate parishioners, are still revered as land tutelage deities of the local area.Nearly all residents of a parishioner district participate in aGreat Festival(Anniversary Festival)held once every several years in which the Tiger Dance, the daimyo's procession, "dancing" with hands and arms from a seated position and other traditional performances are offered.Reenactment and succession of festival events inherited over many years is not only work that reinforces local identity, but the experience and memory of it is shared by children and senior citizens alike as it increases the ties that bind local community.This phenomenon received attention as the role of Shinto shrines improves the vitality of collaborative organizations rooted in,and improves continuity of, local areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake.