This case study analyzed the revitalization of festivals and residents’ reactions to it by considering the Tengu Festival in the Arakawa-Shiroku district of Chichibu, Saitama prefecture. Local Japanese culture, including festivals, has been supported and passed down by residents. However, many festivals have become unsustainable in modern Japan because of a decline in interest in them or a lack of participants as the population declines. This paper focuses on the revitalization and rediscontinuation of such festivals and examines how local residents have tried to revitalize previously discontinued festivals with new values while connecting with local communities in transition. Additionally, this paper analyzes the management and elements of festivals as well as various mindsets and people’s reactions to them.

In the Arakawa-Shiroku district, the Tengu Festival was traditionally held annually every November, during which boys of elementary and junior high school age burned bamboo and wooden towers on a mountain or riverside. However, in the 1960s, this festival was discontinued because it was regarded as a night-time fire hazard. One such festival continued in a village until 2010 but was stopped because of a decrease in the number of boys playing the lead role. In 2015, the Tengu Festival was revived for the first time in 50 years by a local community organization comprising several villages. However, it was discontinued again.

In the past, only boys managed the Tengu Festival. In subsequent festivals, some administrative duties, such as work assistance and date-setting, were undertaken by the community, while the main participants in activities, including traditional rituals, continued to be boys. The revived festival was managed by residents mainly in their 60s and 70s, and very few boys participated. It changed from a children’s ritual to an opportunity to communicate with residents. The space for inviting residents to participate expanded to a geographical area established by 2005 municipal mergers, making it easier to procure resources. The festival site changed from a nonresidential area, which was not a daily space for children’s activities, to the center of a residential area which visitors could easily access.

In the past, people who experienced the Tengu Festival associated it with childhood memories and farming rituals for children. Although the revived Tengu Festival gave them a sense of nostalgia, the fact that the main actors in the festival were not boys but elderly individuals, omissions of ritual elements, and the fall of ashes in residential areas after tower burning led to some negative opinions.

Thus, the Tengu Festival was revived through the expansion of its geographic area and changes in some practices. However, the festival is thought to have been discontinued again because the people who supported it no longer saw its significance due to a combination of unacceptable changes or the omission of elements central to the festival and its revival, which was a way for residents to interact.