Festival Utilizing Landscape Characteristics of Immigrants' Homeland and Inheritance of Local Culture

摘要

The purpose of this study was to research festivals which were originated by people who moved from the Suwa area to Ichinomiya in Chiba prefecture, in memory of their homeland, and which incorporated parts of the landscape of the their homeland into the festivals.The Suwa Shrine in Ichinomiya was founded as a branch shrine of the Suwa Shrine in the Shinshu area in 1581.People who moved to the Arachi area in Ichinomiya created scenery resembling that of Lake Suwa, in their homeland, at a location where there is a paper mulberry tree, which is the symbol of the Kijima family.Paper crafts from the Suwa Shrine are very rare throughout Japan.This art is relived in a festival every July, and in 1981 this has been recognized as a cultural asset of Ichinomiya.Specifically, the local people create a lake with the appearance of Lake Suwa, and streets and buildings from the hometown of their ancestors.Other than the pillars of buildings, everything is assembled with Japanese traditional paper and rice glue.These paper creations are closely related to ancient local myths and beliefs.In the present study, we firstly investigated and consulted literature and photos on local myths, beliefs, rituals, and occupations.Secondly, we investigated cultural inheritance in the Ichinomiya area as it is now.Based on our investigations of ancient literature and local interviews, we have found the following:① During the period from the beginning of February to March, around 35 believers, namely half of the 70 households, gather to begin digging a pond resembling Lake Suwa.② Before the war, there were many worshippers from the bustling Shirasato area.After people started talking about visiting the Suwa god in Arachi, the festival made the village where the people from Suwa lived become famous, and local people became proud of their area.③ Until the 1950s, theatre groups from Tokyo were invited to perform there, and the festival became large in size.This was recreated once in 1980, but at present only shrine rituals are performed, with few decorations.