Mr Hiroyuki SHIMIZU

• Lecturer, Ibaraki Christian University / Former Curator of folklore, Hitachi City Museum, Japan

• Session 2: Presenter 4

Impacts of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on the Preservation and Succession of “Yama, Hoko, Yatai, Float Festivals” in Japan－Featuring Hitachi Furyumono－

Hitachi Furyumono is a festive event that can date back to about 300 years ago, characterized by its magnificent floats installed with the puppet theatre. This festival has been dedicated to a guardian deity of a local shrine in prayer for peace and well-being of the community, and handed down through generations.

Although the festival was once on the brink of extinction due to the devastation of World War II, it was successfully revived after the war thanks to enormous efforts of the local people. Triggered by the Act on the Protection of Cultural Properties that came into effect in 1950, the safeguarding association was formed, gaining momentum for the succession of this tradition.

Afterwards, however, this festival was held much more often by the safeguarding association alone as part of community events rather than being organized and dedicated to their guardian deity by the entire community in unity at the local shrine’s grand festival. This resulted in a growing assumption that the safeguarding association should be responsible for transmitting the festival despite the fact that the entire community had been taking on this role.

Consequently, the community was constantly facing a lack of successors for the festival while the members of the safeguarding association were aging, making it more and more difficult for them to sustainably pass down the “Spirits of Furyu (creative and ingenious ideas and techniques intended to please deities and people),” the authentic value of Hitachi Furyumono.

However, the inscription of this element to Intangible Cultural Heritage contributed to raising awareness of both its successors and the local people towards their own culture. They are gradually developing a solid conviction that Hitachi Furyumono must be preserved and transmitted as their own great tradition. As a result of this, a new project has been promoted in order to nurture successors of this tradition through cooperation between the safeguarding association and the local government.

Hiroyuki Shimizu is presently a lecturer at Ibaraki Christian University, Japan and a part-time lecturer at Ibaraki University, Japan. He is also a member of the Association for the Preservation of Hitachi Hometown Performing Arts, Japan.

At the age of 10, he became a performer of Narusawa-Sasara (Furyu-Style Three-Lion Dance performed by a group of 3 people currently designated as Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Ibaraki Prefecture. The preserving association of this folk performing art is currently part of the Association for the Preservation of Hitachi Hometown Performing Arts).

He served as a curator of folklore at Hitachi City Museum for 35 years as well as being in charge of administrative work in regard to the preservation of cultural properties for Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture for 12 years. He especially focused on the safeguarding, transmission and utilization of “Hitachi Furyumono,” an Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property and an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan while providing public assistance and support to the element.

When Japan nominated “Hitachi Furyumono” for inscription on UNESCO’s “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” under the “Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage,” he was involved in developing relevant documents and materials for the nomination as a local administrative official.