市民活動によるコミュニティ形成の起源 : 東京都世田谷区の市民まつりを中心として

抄録

This paper examines the connection between the citizens' voluntary activities and the development of a community by looking at the actual process of community formation in Setagaya, which can be seen as the exemplary case for the formation of a new community in Japan. Setagaya is a place whose population is made up largely of people coming from the outside areas after the 1920s, and thus barely has communities of its own to link local residents. Having faced such circumstances in the 1970s, some individuals started to organize voluntary groups to support those in need, especially handicapped persons who came from other parts of Japan and settled in Setagaya. Since these groups had little connections between them, they sought to set up a network to bridge their activities and address common issues by organizing a social event, which they chose to call a 'festival (matsuri)', to provide for them and local residents a platform for communication and sharing of information as well as the place for amusements. This festival, called 'Zakkyo-Matsuri', which literally means a festival by and for people with different values and needs living in the same region, has contributed to promote the formation of a community in Setagaya, which became a precedent for community development in other parts of Japan.