The purpose of this study is to clarify characteristics of the members of the Kagura teams in Hiroshima and to explore their consciousness for the Kagura. A questionnaire survey was conducted to 165 members belonging to the 15 teams of the Kagura in Hiroshima in 2015.

The survey clarified diversification of the members and spatial expanding of their living area. Previously, only grown man who was eldest son of each household in the local community was able to be a member of the Kagura team. But, in recent yeas, in order to ensure the members, not only them but also their younger brothers, wives, children and Kagura fans those are living both in and outside the local community join the teams. They continue practicing the Kagura and often appear on the Kagura events with the corporation of their family while balancing their works.

And these changes in their attributes, especially their age and residence, have led changes in their consciousness for the Kagura. On the one hand, the elder members and those who lives in the municipality based by the Kagura team often think that their involvement in the Kagura is responsibility of the residents and that they have to protect and inherit authenticity of the Kagura. On the other hand, the younger members and those who lives outside the municipality based by the Kagura team regard the Kagura as a captivating traditional culture and they wish to promote the cultural taste for those who has not seen the Kagura.

These results imply that not only outsiders' gaze but also changes in the members' attributes and their consciousness can promote utilization of the Kagura as a tourism resource. It is predicted that population of the communities and municipalities based by the teams of Hiroshima Kagura, especially number of the children, will decrease. Reduction of the population requires acquisition of new members living outside the communities and the request may bring further diversity and spatial expanding of livelihood of the members. These changes in the attributes will bring the change in their consciousness for the Kagura and facilitate further utilization of Hiroshima Kagura as a tourism resource.

Gentrification, firstly coined by British sociologist Ruth Glass, refers to a process of spatial reconstruction with social class upgrading, which focuses on class differentiation and its spatial effect. Nowadays, this process has evolved and mutated along with the transformation of the urban development all over the world. Therefore, this paper aims to review and analyze the changes of gentrification research and its regional expansion.

This paper first examines the evolution of the gentrification's definition and the applicability of this term. It then reviews the mutation of gentrification around the 2000s in terms of forms and locations. These results have shown that a broader definition of gentrification has been advocated by most scholars nowadays. After that, it looks at the relationship between gentrification and public policy, and finds that the state has played an important role in the process of gentrification, which is a distinct characteristic of contemporary gentrification. Furthermore, it turns to review the issues of gentrifiers and displacement which have changed and diversified over the past decades. In addition, specific emphasis and reviews have been given to East Asian countries and districts (Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) where gentrification research has taken off recently and increased dramatically. Research into gentrification in East Asia provides a new theoretical insight and alternative perspectives towards contemporary gentrification. Finally, this paper summarizes the conclusion ans expects the further research on gentrification in East Asia.