2016 Volume 2016 Issue 29 Pages 80-91
Before WWII, Japan's urban festivals were conducted by residents inside the urban community with part-time actors from agricultural villages. However, the situation changed in the 1960's. This research clarifies how the urban communities mobilized other participants into the festivals instead of farmers, to recreate their festivals. The author conducted the research on the transition in the role of shagiri music in the Hikiyama festival in Nagahama, Shiga. In conclusion, we see that the shagiri contributed to the mobilization and recreation of the urban festival by creating both a cooperative structure between distinctive communities and a new system for passing the festival on down the generations.
