著者
長尾 洋子
出版者
一般社団法人 人文地理学会
雑誌
人文地理 (ISSN:00187216)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.61, no.3, pp.187-206, 2009 (Released:2018-01-10)
参考文献数
76

Local performances in provincial areas of Japan have witnessed various changes since the Meiji era. Along with the policies of the government, the changes were occasioned by the complex effects of industrialization and the spread of Western political styles and social reorganization. Exhibitions held through the late 19th century to the early 20th century demonstrate these transformative processes. By focusing on an exhibition that took place in Toyama, this paper asks how local people experienced and interpreted modernity, and what kind of cultural transformations occurred.The Joint Exhibition of Nine Prefectures hosted by Toyama Prefecture was held in 1913 to celebrate the opening of a train service between Nao’etsu and Toyama (part of the Hokuriku Main Line), and the completion of a harbor in Fushiki. The exhibition was typical of the era in performatively demonstrating the Enlightenment, industrialization, imperialism and the shift to a consumer society. The new train service and harbor symbolized these elements. These multi-faceted elements were also incorporated into the new Toyama Dance which was skillfully staged in the Entertainment Hall situated on the main fairground. One conspicuous image embraced in the production was that of “the sea”. The sea motif announced the emergence of Toyama as a modernizing prefecture whose domestic and international trade was made possible by enhanced transportation systems, industrialization, and tourism in coastal areas. Its semiotic effect also configured the locality of Toyama coupled with the traditional scheme of literary imagination and the classifying and commodifying effects of light, a distinctive feature of exhibition spaces.However, such a dominant discourse was also contentious. Amateur singers were invited from Yatsuo, a town located about 20km south of Toyama City, to take part in the production. Historical accounts suggest that this experience left them with uncomfortable feelings about the staging of the performance: it “defeated the true purpose of the Etchu Owara-bushi”. Eventually these Yatsuo townspeople created a dance called Honen-odori (Harvest Dance) to be performed in conjunction with Etchu Owara-bushi, and this modification has been passed down to the present. The creation of the Honen-odori involved efforts to reconcile frustrations arising from lowered status, on the one hand, and local pride, on the other, by assessing the town’s position in a rapidly changing Toyama Prefecture and in relation to the interests and visions of other prefectures across Japan (and its overseas territories). Such efforts brought about a new, reflexive sense of belonging to a Yatsuo situated within Japan as a multi-layered ideological construct. In addition, it is important to realize that Honen-odori imparted a visual element to Etchu Owara-bushi, primarily a musical performance, and thus served to conjoin the cultural tradition of Yatsuo with modernity, which privileges the visual. The creation of a new dance form for the Etchu Owara-bushi embodied the self-affirmation of Yatsuo in this new historical context.Modification of the Etchu Owara-bushi in response to the exhibition shows that people in provincial areas were not as passive as generally believed. Instead, multi-layered parties and discourses actively interacted to participate in the vision(ing) of modernity, by creating cultural forms representing identities that were constantly being renewed.
著者
長尾 洋子 畑中 朋子 平井 宏典
出版者
和光大学社会経済研究所
雑誌
和光経済 = Wako Keizai (ISSN:02865866)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.53, no.1, pp.17-45, 2020-09

Universities are expected to play a role in society as a cultural resource which offers new ideas and values created through intellectual activities. However, it is concerning that such expectations are not fully met because the learning environment of Japanese universities tends to be homogenous and uniform. This paper addresses such lack of diversity by examining an action research project aimed at creating a space for stimulating new ideas and values through the collaboration between Wako University and a local restaurant/café business in Machida City, a suburb of Tokyo. The project developed an original learning program modelled on informal conversations in a living room or café. It was designed for students and the public to meet people with different backgrounds, listen to each other and share ideas and values. The keys to making this work were changing the contexts of learning and facilitating multi-directionalexchanges among participants.