2010 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 653-658
Matsuage festivals are traditional fire ceremonies held in rural villages in mountainous areas reaching from northern Kyoto City up to Fukui Prefecture. Local forest resources are indispensable to the making of ceremony-related structures and tools. This study determined how forest resources were used in Matsuage festivals in 10 villages in northern Kyoto. We investigated the kind of materials used, the method of harvesting and the way torches and other festival-related tools or structures were assembled. The results showed that while there were some similarities in the use of resources in the 10 communities, there were significant regional differences in the kind of materials used or in the way torches and other elements were put together. The study also revealed that new issues have come up as a consequence of the sharp drop in mountain forest work due to unprofitability. Materials that are essential in Matsuage festivals are now in short supply, and there is a lack of skilled workers who can pass on techniques related to harvesting and handling forest resources such as fuji wisteria or akamatsu Japanese red pine.
