著者

廣田 龍平 Ryuhei HIROTA

出版者

現代民俗学会

雑誌

現代民俗学研究 = Journal of Living Folklore (ISSN:18839134)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.9, pp.43-53, 2017-03

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Despite the popular assumption that yōkai has been one of the central themes in Japanese folkloristics, there have actually been few monographs about them. Given this, I discuss how yōkai became excluded from folkloristics by examining works of Kazuhiko Komatsu. By contrasting Komatsu and Kunio Yanagita, I suggest that Komatsu more or less explicitly replaced yōkai from old-style folkloristics to structural anthropology. His analysis of yōkai is particularly anthropological in that he takes them to be found in the world of the Other. This fact contrasts sharply with his (and Yanagita’s) definition of folkloristics as an understanding of the Self. Yet another of his definitions would explain this replacement: a central theme of folkloristics is“ kami.” Examination of his works reveals that his view on yōkai implies that while his formulation of the continuity between yōkai and kami could apply to folk societies of the Other, contemporary societies lost this continuity. Therefore yōkai became excluded from his folkloristics.

著者

廣田 龍平

出版者

現代民俗学会

雑誌

現代民俗学研究 = Journal of Living Folklore (ISSN:18839134)

巻号頁・発行日

no.6, pp.113-128, 2014-03

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This article critically examines the ontological commitment on which modern folkloristic studies of yokai (a category of mysterious creatures in Japanese tradition) have been established. Academic yokai scholars have assumed that yokai are supernatural beings and that yokai do not exist in mundane form. However, the adequacy of these assumptions when studying the world of people who does not share the same ontological framework as modern scholars has hitherto been of little concern in yokai studies. Through critically examining the discourses and theories that have dominated yokai studies, this article suggests that researchers have failed to understand the perspective of folk who recognize and co-inhabited with yokai.Why have yokai studies assumed this ontological commitment? There is a historical process continuing from the late Edo period on in which intellectuals and urbanites increasingly assumed what is now called yokai to be supernatural and unreal. At the turn of nineteenth century, some scholars who sought to affirm the reality of yokai began to juxtapose the supernatural realm against the backdrop of the rise of modern scientific empiricism in Japan. Furthermore, the presumed supernatural essence of yokai was a perspective that had also slowly been adopted by disbelieving researchers. This article conceives this process as an epistemological rupture by which researchers can only understand different worlds or ontologies through the ontological framework generated after the rupture. This article proposes a "plural ontology" model that makes it possible for researchers to understand the diverse worlds in which people recognize yokai.

著者

田邊 元 TANABE Gen

出版者

現代民俗学会

雑誌

現代民俗学研究 = Journal of Living Folklore (ISSN:18839134)

巻号頁・発行日

no.6, pp.59-72, 2014-03

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This paper makes explicit the authenticity and functions for maintaining the traditions of one traditional folk entertainment group. The folk entertainment is "Owara Kaze no Bon" of Yatsuo Town, Toyama Prefecture.Folk entertainment has been very successful as a tourist attraction. The traditions are carried on by a preservation society organization in the town. The problem for the preservation society is that it is short of successors, but it works hard to conduct activities that are rooted in the people of Yatsuo Town themselves. On the other hand, there is another group, which split off from the preservation society due to opposition to changes in the traditions. This group calls its own traditions "an original model." They claim authenticity by refining the performance. Importance is placed on hin (quality of performance) in the skill examinations, and this acts as the function for maintaining the quality of performances. The group consists of people from all over Japan who are not from one locality, as are the preservation society. However, they are accepted as a preservation society by residents living in Yatsuo Town and by tourists. It is neccessary to caryy out research on folk entertainment by taking a fresh look at what we mean by regional characteristics.

著者

佐藤 喜久一郎

出版者

現代民俗学会

雑誌

現代民俗学研究 = Journal of Living Folklore (ISSN:18839134)

巻号頁・発行日

no.6, pp.77-91, 2014-03

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This paper is intended as a sympathetic critique of the cultural activities of Rekijyo-Japanese history buffs. A rekijyo is regarded as female enthusiast who has an obsessive interest in historical figures. Some rekijyos are males, in which case they are often called rekidan. Rekijyos throw themselves into touring historical sites like palaces, temples, graves, and castles, as if they are on a pilgrimage. Sometimes they wear costumes there to portray a certain historical character or role.A rekijyo is also a self-educated amateur historian who attaches great importance to fieldwork. Their pilgrim-like activity is somewhat related to a romantic reaction to their academic or educational history. It is a way for them to resist the formal, dry and unemotional discourse on history that they experienced when they were younger. The prefer to empathize with their favorite historical characters than to analyze them. However, just like other Japanese youth, rekijyo culture is excessively postmodernized. Rekijyo also engage in an endless deformation and imitation of persons from history. Even though their view of history is based on empathy, theif behavior is rooted in modern consumerism. Rekijyo culture is merely otaku consumption, but it is also a form passive resistance against those who set themselves up as authorities on history.

著者

中里 亮平

出版者

現代民俗学会

雑誌

現代民俗学研究 = Journal of Living Folklore (ISSN:18839134)

巻号頁・発行日

no.2, pp.41-56, 2010-03

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Taking the example of the annual Kurayami Festival at the Ookunitama Shrine in Tokyo’s Fuchu city, this thesis will consider the handling of conflicts that arise at the festivals, and also the "rules" of festivals which can be seen from that example. Although various conflicts may arise at festivals, these are handled according to different rules than those applied to conflicts that arise in everyday life. Kurayami Festival, which is also sometimes called the "Argument Festival" , is known for its frequent conflicts. This thesis takes as examples conflicts that have arisen at the Kurayami festival , and clarifies the reasons for the conflicts, how they were handled,and according to which "rules". In addition, by posing the question "why was he hit?", this thesis aims to offer a new viewpoint on the issue of the conflicts that arise at festivals.

著者

西海 賢二 NISHIGAI Kenji

出版者

現代民俗学会

雑誌

現代民俗学研究 = Journal of Living Folklore (ISSN:18839134)

巻号頁・発行日

no.1, pp.41-52, 2009-03

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It has been some time since people began to argue that folklore studies is in decline. The author might not be alone in thinking that a huge gap is opening between folklore studies and history as an adjacent academic field. In this paper, by looking back at works of and exchange among Tatsuo Hagiwara (Medieval history), Yoshihiko Amino (Medieval history), and Yoshio Yasumaru (Modern history), all historians who were active in the 1970s and 1980s and who positively evaluated folklore studies in Japan, the author provides, in the form of a memoir, insights into the possibility of integrating folklore studies and history, before questioning the integration of folklore studies with sociology, cultural anthropology, and ecology as currently proposed by scholars of folklore studies.

著者

佐々木 陽子 SASAKI Yoko

出版者

現代民俗学会

雑誌

現代民俗学研究 = Journal of Living Folklore (ISSN:18839134)

巻号頁・発行日

no.4, pp.25-38, 2012-05

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The objective of this paper is to explore the meaning contained in the apparently irrational act of preparing food that will never be consumed by the persons for which it is intended, based on a survey of the views of 75 persons with regard to the acts of kagezen (a tray of food for temporarily absent people) and o-sonae (an offering to the dead—people who will never return). The study revealed that kagezen, which is thought to have been a custom related to war, is still practiced, and that o-sonae functions as a mechanism for sharing food with closely related deceased and conversing with them. O-sonae appears to be used by the living as a means of expressing the thought that they will not forget closely related deceased. The institutionalization of o-sonae also appears to help the living to avoid nihilistic thoughts by furnishing a peaceful image of the deceased and encouraging them to believe in the happiness of the deceased in the next world.