Originally a medieval Buddhist folk event, Rokusai-nenbutsu (nenbutsu means Buddhist invocation) in Kyoto largely changed into a more entertaining folk performing art in the latter half of the early modern period, i. e., from the late 18th to the early 19th century. Some of the most distinctive features of the invocation can be seen in its performers’ geographic movements and distribution. That is, the performers were peasants who lived in Kyoto’s surrounding villages. Organizing community-based associations (kochu) for the invocation, however, they came to the city to perform at shrines and temples and on the street there.
This article reveals the regional relationship between Kyoto and its surrounding villages in the early modern period by analyzing Rokusai-nenbutsu, what it was and how it changed.
According to my analysis based on many historical documents, the invocation in the latter half of the early modern period, and its performers’ geographic movements and distribution, demonstrate a stronger relationship with Kyoto City than in the earlier period.
This is because Rokusai-nenbutsu became more entertaining, thus popular in the city, which also meant that the performer-peasants could expect extra income in their off-season. They therefore needed to form a stronger relationship with Kyoto as the place where they could be rewarded both aesthetically and financially.
This stronger relationship can be also interpreted as a reflection of Kyoto’s cultural influence over its surrounding villages, and how strongly they became culturally connected to each other. This can be demonstrated by the distribution of Rokusai-nenbutsu associations, their concentration within an approximately eight-kilometer radius from the center of the city, which occurred during that period. This phenomenon can be regarded as the city’s cultural influence that manifested as “a selection of cultural phenomena (based on a major geographic factor).”
Not only the Rokusai-nenbutsu but also city festivals in Kyoto in those days showed a similar pattern, i. e., a stronger cultural relationship between the city and its surrounding villages. This can be contextualized in the larger flow of the social and cultural history of the “behavioral culture” that gained popularity nationwide.
抄録全体を表示