Abstract
A community used to be the place where residents could share feelings of joy and anger until rapid economic growth in 1960s and early 1970s in Japan. Residents had to tolerate inconveniences caused by close relationships but, at the same time, they could develop sympathetic relationships in which they ‘melded' each other beyond families. Children played a role of bonding agent among residents. Difficult theories are useless for children. It was the ‘melding' of bodies that connected children and adults, and furthermore nurtured relationships among adults through children.
An area called Hakata in Fukuoka city is one of a few places where such nature of community has been maintained in Japan. Especially, the Hakata Gion Yamagasa Festival, that was said to be succeeded for seven hundred years, played an important role in keeping the bond in the area. The Hakata area gives us a forgotten image of the former community that is necessary to regain community in which residents can meld with each other.
This study investigated how children living in the Hakata area was affected by the Festival. The results clearly showed that children who participated in the Festival and whose family members participated in it tended to be more involved in the ties of community than those who did not participate. Specifically, it was found that children who were involved in the Festival tended to call a greeting to residents and play with the children who were different in age but living in the same community more frequently and they tended to have more feeling of attachment to the Hakata area.
