Displaying Mythological Characters
Changes in the Meanings of Decorations in the Sawara Grand Festival in Chiba, Japan
In: Journal of Religion in JapanSearch for other papers by Shinji Tsukahara[塚原 伸治] in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Jude Pultz in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
The large figures displayed atop the floats in the Sawara Grand Festival portray characters drawn from mythology and history that have been strongly associated with Japanese nationalism and imperialism. In order to investigate the meanings that these float figures hold for the participants and audience of the festival, this article acknowledges the close relations between folklore and politics and interprets the works themselves as agents that enact emotions and responses, rather than focusing on the creative intentions of the producers. The figure subjects were freely chosen by the people of Sawara, mostly during the prewar period, and were based on characters that were popular at the time—namely, the emperors and their mythological ancestors and historical champions. In the present, however, the figures are rarely seen in light of their nationalistic origins. Instead, they are appreciated more for their aesthetic beauty and as mascots of the various wards of Sawara.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Abrahams, Roger D. 1993. “Phantoms of Romantic Nationalism in Folkloristics.” Journal of American Folklore 106: 3–37.
-
Appadurai, Arjun. 1986. “Introduction: Commodities and the Politics of Value.” In The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective, ed. Arjun Appadurai, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 3–63.
-
Bendix, Regina F. 2012. “From Volkskunde to the ‘Field of Many Names’: Folklore Studies in German-Speaking Europe Since 1945.” In A Companion to Folklore, eds. Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan-Rokem, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 364–390.
-
Chiba-ken Sawara-shi Kyōiku Iinkai 千葉県佐原市教育委員会. 2001. Sawara dashi matsuri chōsa hōkokusho 佐原山車祭調査報告書. Sawara: Kyōiku Iinkai.
-
Fukuhara, Toshio 福原敏男 and Sasahara Ryōji 笹原亮二 (eds). 2014. Tsukurimono no bunka shi: Rekishi, minzoku, tayōsei 造り物の文化史—歴史・民俗・多様性. Tokyo: Bensei Shuppan.
-
Gell, Alfred. 1998. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Glassie, Henry. 1999. Material Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
-
Henare, Amiria, Martin Holbraad and Sari Wastell. 2007. “Introduction: Thinking through Things.” In Thinking Through Things: Theorising Artefacts Ethnographically, eds. Amiria Henare, Martin Holbraad and Sari Wastell, New York: Routledge, 1–31.
-
Hobsbawm, Eric and Terence Ranger (eds). 1983. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
-
Ikeda, Yasaburō 池田弥三郎. 1978. Nihon minzoku bunka taikei 2: Orikuchi Shinobu 日本民俗文化大系2 折口信夫. Tokyo: Kōdansha.
-
Itō, Hisayuki 伊藤久之. 2000. “Dashi” 山車. In Nihon minzoku daijitenge 日本民俗大辞典 下, eds. Fukuta Ajio 福田アジオ, Shintani Takanori 新谷尚紀, Yukawa Yōji 湯川洋司, Kanda Yoriko 神田より子, Nakagomi Mutsuko 中込睦子, Watanabe Yoshio 渡邊欣雄, Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 41–43.
-
Iwamoto, Michiya 岩本通弥. 2008. “Kajika sareru shūzoku: Minryoku kan’yō undō ki ni okeru ‘kokumin girei’ no sōshutsu” 可視化される習俗—民力涵養運動期における「国民儀礼」の創出. Kokuritsu rekishi minzoku hakubutsukan kenkyū hōkoku 国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告 141: 265–322.
-
Kamada, Yumiko 鎌田由美子. 2016. Jūtan ga musubi sekai: Kyōto Gion matsuri Indō jūtan e no michi 絨毯が結ぶ世界—京都祗園祭インド絨毯への道. Nagoya: Nagoya Daigaku Shuppankai.
-
Kinoshita, Naoyuki 木下直之. 1993. Bijutsu to iu misemono: Aburae chaya no jidai 美術という見世物—油絵茶屋の時代. Tokyo: Heibonsha.
-
Miller, Daniel, ed. 2005. Materiality. Durham: Duke University Press.
-
Murakami, Shigeyoshi 村上重良. 1970. Kokka shintō 国家神道. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
-
Murakami, Tadayoshi 村上忠喜. 2010. “Shinsei o obiru yamahoko: Kinsei Gion matsuri yamahoko no henka” 神性を帯びる山鉾—近世祇園祭山鉾の変化. In Nenjū gyōji ronsō: “Hinamikiji” kara shuppatsu 年中行事論叢—『日次紀事』からの出発, ed. Hinamikiji Kenkyūkai 日次紀事研究会, Tokyo: Iwata Shoin, 289–312.
-
Murakami, Tadayoshi 村上忠喜. 2018. “ ‘Yama, hoko, yatai gyōji’ no imiron/seijiron: Kyōto de kangaeru minzokugaku no katachi” 「山・鉾・屋台行事」の意味論／政治論—京都で考える民俗学のかたち. Nihon minzokugaku 日本民俗学 296: 59–65.
-
Noyes, Dorothy. 2005. Fire in the Plaça: Catalan Festival Politics After Franco. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
-
Orikuchi, Shinobu 折口信夫. 1965. “Higeko no hanashi” 髯籠の話. In Orikuchi Shinobu zenshū dainikan 折口信夫全集 第二巻, Tokyo: Chūōkōronsha, 182–211.
-
Oring, Elliott. 2012. Just Folklore: Analysis, Interpretation, Critique. Los Angeles: Cantilever Press.
-
Seimiya, Ryōzō 清宮良造. 2003. Sawara no taisai dashi matsuri 佐原の大祭山車祭り. Sawara: NPO Machi Okoshi Sawara no Taisai Shinkō Kyōkai NPO.
-
Shimazono, Susumu 島薗進. 2017. Kokka shintō to nihonjin 国家神道と日本人. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
-
Tsukahara, Shinji 塚原伸治. 2008. “Machi ni okeru ‘uru-kau’ kankei: Akinai o meguru futatsu no en” マチにおける「売る—買う」関係—商いをめぐる二つの縁. Nihon minzokugaku 日本民俗学 254: 57–85.
-
Tsukahara, Shinji 塚原伸治. 2011. “Gōshō no suitai to nenrei soshiki no seiritsu: Kin gendai ni okeru danna no dōtai o megutte” 豪商の衰退と年齢組織の成立—近現代におけるダンナの動態をめぐって. Shi sakai 史境 62: 54–71.
-
Tsukahara, Shinji 塚原伸治. 2014. Shinise no dentō to “kindai”: Kagyō keiei no esunogurafī 老舗の伝統と〈近代〉—家業経営のエスノグラフィー. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan.
-
Ueki, Yukinobu 植木行宣. 2001. Yama, hoko, yatai no matsuri: Fūryū no kaika 山・鉾・屋台の祭り—風流の開花. Tokyo: Hakusuisha.
-
Ueki, Yukinobu 植木行宣 and Fukuhara Toshio 福原敏男. 2016. Yama, hoko, yatai gyōji: Matsuri o kazaru minzoku zōkei 山・鉾・屋台行事—祭りを飾る民俗造形. Tokyo: Iwata Shoin.
-
Yamaji, Kōzō 山路興造. 1986. “Gion gōryōe no geinō: Bachō warabe, kuze maiguruma, kakko chigo” 祗園御霊会の芸能—馬長童・久世舞車・鞨鼓稚児. Geinōshi kenkyū 芸能史研究 94: 15–29.
-
Yanagita, Kunio 柳田國男. 1915. “Hashira matsu kō” 柱松考. Kyōdo kenkyū 郷土研究 3(1): 1–10.
-
Yasumaru, Yoshio 安丸良夫. 1979. Kamigami no Meiji ishin: Shinbutsu bunri to haibutsu kishaku 神々の明治維新—神仏分離と廃仏毀釈. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
-
Yoshida, Yukako 吉田ゆか子. 2016. Baritō kamen buyō geki no jinruigaku: Hito to mono no orinasu geinō バリ島仮面舞踊劇の人類学—人とモノの織りなす芸能. Tokyo: Fūkyōsha.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 293 | 99 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 247 | 14 | 3 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 389 | 21 | 2 |
Displaying Mythological Characters
Changes in the Meanings of Decorations in the Sawara Grand Festival in Chiba, Japan
In: Journal of Religion in JapanSearch for other papers by Shinji Tsukahara[塚原 伸治] in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Jude Pultz in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
The large figures displayed atop the floats in the Sawara Grand Festival portray characters drawn from mythology and history that have been strongly associated with Japanese nationalism and imperialism. In order to investigate the meanings that these float figures hold for the participants and audience of the festival, this article acknowledges the close relations between folklore and politics and interprets the works themselves as agents that enact emotions and responses, rather than focusing on the creative intentions of the producers. The figure subjects were freely chosen by the people of Sawara, mostly during the prewar period, and were based on characters that were popular at the time—namely, the emperors and their mythological ancestors and historical champions. In the present, however, the figures are rarely seen in light of their nationalistic origins. Instead, they are appreciated more for their aesthetic beauty and as mascots of the various wards of Sawara.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 293 | 99 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 247 | 14 | 3 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 389 | 21 | 2 |