Shudan-shushoku, or institutionalized mass labor migration within Japan, has generally been regarded as a phenomenon of the High Economic Growth Period. However, the institutions that brought about this phenomenon were established under the wartime regime as part of the labor mobilization plan. The wartime labor market was a seller's market, and there was room for job seekers to choose their occupations. Young workers referred to as "young industrial warriors" were not only mobilized by the government, but also desired to move to major companies that were responsible for the munitions industry on their own choice. Families who had received post-1920s career-oriented vocational education also wanted this. At that time, the wide-area employment placement system spatially expanded the labor market, opening the way for people from remote areas to find employment in large companies in urban areas. Even during wartime, companies were not recruited or allocated employees by the government, and each company had to actively promote itself through its recruitment activities. Mass labor migration under the wartime system was made possible by a combination of mobilization at the request of the state and, the actions of various actors, namely the choices of those seeking employment and their families, recruitment activities, and welfare practices of companies in a competitive environment. This phenomenon has largely been forgotten in modern Japanese history.

Focusing on Tokyo Shibaura Denki (Toshiba), which was established in 1939, this paper examines recruitment activities in remote areas such as the Tohoku region, group assignments from there, and living conditions at youth schools and dormitories. During the war, Toshiba employed young workers, mainly from Tohoku, as also from all over mainland Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. Toshiba dispatched employees with local knowledge to remote areas, such as the Tohoku region, gained the trust of family members and school officials, and established it as a base there. The company also set up multiple youth schools, including a girls' school, and more than 160 dormitories for "young industrial warriors". The company made efforts to improve the welfare of job seekers and emphasized ties with their hometowns, both for the retention of young workers and for promoting recruitment activities for future job seekers. Families of young workers in their own hometowns sent their children to work for large companies in distant locations, not only for the sake of their country but also with an eye on their children's future, and supported both children and Toshiba by sending them food until the end of the war.

This study focuses on the "Siden Shaman" (喜登萨满) phenomenon, analyzing the transformation of contemporary Manchu shamanism particularly the restructuring of its ritual space through a comparative analysis with lineage-based shamans.

The fieldwork was conducted from 2022 to 2024. The main research sites were selected based on the presence of lineage-based shamans from Clan A and Clan B (Jilin Province), and the public activities of Siden Shamans (Liaoning Province). Complementary investigations were also conducted at museums and cultural institutions.

The analysis revealed four key findings. First, the emergence of the Siden Shaman phenomenon is a structural product of the complex interplay between shifts in state policies, institutional changes, intra-clan conflicts, and contemporary social demands, indicating the diversification of cultural transmission agents and the transformation of descent-based authority structures.

Second, the restructuring of ritual space and practice, interlinked with the shift in succession prerequisites (from descent-based criteria to achieved qualifications), jointly reorganizes the basis of legitimacy, participation criteria, and selection criteria for transmitted content.

Third, multiple actors engage in multilayered negotiations over cultural definition and interpretation, constituting strategic relationships that combine cooperation and competition.

Fourth, the the function of the "yuanshengtai" (原生态, often translated as ‘original ecology' or ‘authentic/primordial state') concept as a discursive device for strategic articulation stems from its interpretive duality: a spatial aspect (authenticity of place) and a temporal aspect (primordial state). The analysis reveals this duality allows both lineage-based and Siden Shamans to strategically negotiate their respective legitimacies.

This study enhances understanding of how ethnic minority cultures transform under regional socioeconomic reforms by revealing the reorganization of inheritance patterns and legitimacy from the perspective of the restructuring of ritual space, in contrast to previous research that primarily focused on content changes. Furthermore, it demonstrates that Siden Shamans function not as religious authorities but as cultural transmitters of ethnic identity, representing a form of strategic authenticity that maintains cultural distinctiveness while ensuring political acceptability.