This paper aims to clarify how contemporary hunters in the Nekko village form their self-image, based on data obtained through fieldwork conducted in the Nekko village located in Kitaakita City, Akita Prefecture. First, we discuss how, despite recent advancements in research on Matagi, the image of “Traditional Matagi” constructed by early folkloric studies and investigation reports continues to hold influence over the public. We then examine the construction of their self-image by referencing their narratives. This paper reveals that the self-image of modern hunters is paradoxically and complexly formed through negations that position themselves in contrast to the image of “Traditional Matagi” and the opposing category of “hunters.” Specifically, they define themselves as “not Matagi,” “not a hunter,” and “not following the methods of harmful wildlife control.” Furthermore, we demonstrate that this self-image is established through influences from literature and the tourism industry, the performance of rituals in new forms while referring to past research, and a process of acceptance and adaptation in external communications where they are referred to as Matagi.

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the embodied practices and sensory experiences of individuals in death rituals. Building on this trend, this study adopts the approach of “the investigator’s body” to capture the sensory aspects of ritual spaces and examines how “cleanliness” is generated and performed in the increasingly utilized funeral halls in urban areas of contemporary China.
Based on fieldwork conducted in 2020, 2022, and 2023, this paper explores how Y Funeral Service and L Funeral Home employ strategies such as the adjustment of lighting, the choice of decorative colors, the modification of the deceased's appearance, and spatial tactics to separate the visible space from the backstage area. These strategies work to dispel the sense of death-related impurity and meet the evolving expectations of users regarding funeral spaces and ceremonies. The study reveals that the pursuit of “cleanliness” in funeral rituals is not merely a matter of physical perception. Instead, it encompasses a broader emphasis on the deceased's individuality and dignity, particularly as funeral responsibilities shift from families to professional funeral service providers.

With an evolution from the regional to global, capitalism finds its latest and best form to dominate the world with the help of neoliberalism. As a political normative order, neoliberalism not only causes privatization of public institutions, but also turns what Aristotle called homo politicus to human capital. Regarded as a way of resistance to hegemony, universalism and enlightenment ideology, folklore studies seems to have potential to resist the neoliberal doctrine. However, since the strategy of governance has changed rapidly under the rule of neoliberalism, folklore studies also need to reconsider the method of resistance. Thus, this paper examines power structure’s transformation after social movements in the 1960s, and is especially focused on how neoliberalism reversed the individual autonomy advocated for in 1968 from the posibility of resistance to ally of neoliberal rationality. This also made cultural identities lose their potential of political resistance in neoliberal world. Hence, as a discipline closely related with cultural movements, folklore studies should be aware of the reposition of hegemony and the invalidation of universalism. Facing this situation, this paper turns to Giorgio Agamben’s discussion of “play” and Karatani Kojin’s discussion of “Other”, suggesting these alternative approches of resistance do have strong connection with folklore studies, which ultimately leads to solidarity between political theories and folklore studies.

This paper examines Okinawan women’s practices and experiences with beauty and considers what Okinawan beauty salons have become for such women. This study analyzes beauty salons from the perspective of “place.”
By describing Okinawan women’s practices and experiences regarding beauty and examining how they have experienced beauty salons, the following points were identified: First, Arakaki Mitoko, one of the modern girls in Okinawa during the Taisho period, attended beauty school in Tokyo and became a hairdresser because she needed to support herself. She opened one of the first beauty salons in Okinawa. Second, during the U.S. occupation, manicures spread among Okinawan women through beauty salons around U.S. military bases. This is because people from U.S. military bases ordered manicures at beauty salons near the bases. Third, in contemporary Okinawan beauty salons, regular customers enjoy “yuntaku” (chatting) daily. Furthermore, hairdressers and regular customers sometimes form “moai” (mutual aid associations). For these women, beauty salons have become a “place” that is embedded in their lives that has its own unique meaning.
In conclusion, beauty salons in Okinawa have been linked to the local context throughout time and have become a “place” that is rooted in the daily lives of women.

This study explores the academic history of 19th-century England, focusing on the birth and subsequent development of the term “folk-lore”. English folklore studies originated from antiquarianism and were shaped by over 300 years of accumulated "heritage". In the early 19th century, the works and methodologies of the Grimm brothers were introduced to England, giving new meaning to the fragmented research of antiquarianism and inspiring William Thoms to coin the term “folk-lore” in 1846. Moreover, the founding of Notes and Queries and the establishment of the Folklore Society in 1878 also merit further investigation. By the late 19th century, a new generation of folklorists took on the burden of the “heritage” of antiquarianism and adopted cultural evolutionism as their theoretical foundation, hoping that folklore studies would gain academic legitimacy within the scientific framework of the time. However, they ultimately failed. According to the examination of the interactivity between folklore studies and related disciplines, this paper aims to provide new insights into the origins of British folklore studies, explore its role in specific national contexts, and offer reflections on the future development of folklore scholarship.

This paper focuses on the facilities built by civilians in Taiwan to commemorate Chiang Kai-shek. He has been deified from the time of the Nanjing government in Mainland China to the authoritarian regime in Taiwan. Although his cult of personality was created by the party, military, and other organizations, there are some facilities that were created by civilians to commemorate him. There are more than 10 facilities remaining today. Many of them were established by the Dachen people. There are also many that began to deify Chiang Kai-shek after receiving an oracle from the gods.
Today in Taiwan, commitment to transitional justice has been intensified. In the process, Chiang Kai-shek's reputation has been dramatically overturned from a once-great leader to a genocidal man. The removal of his statues from public spaces is also carried out by law. These circumstances are totally incompatible with facilities that commemorate Chiang Kai-shek.