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Gunawan, Rosalie Tatiana

University of British Columbia

This thesis explores how the town of Katsuura in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan leverages notions of Japanese national identity for community revitalization (chiiki kasseika) through the town’s formation of the Big Hinamatsuri (Biggu Hinamatsuri). Started in 1988 in Katsuura, Tokushima, the Big Hinamatsuri began in reaction to poor economic conditions when a cold snap devasted the agricultural town’s mikan orange crop, the town’s primary export. Held annually from mid-February to late March in a public display hall, the Big Hinamatsuri is a festival that draws on elements of nostalgia and national identity by embellishing features from Hinamatsuri, a beloved tradition with roots in the Heian period (794–1185 CE) that is celebrated annually across Japan on March 3 by displaying sets of ornamental dolls within the home to wish for the health and prosperity of girls. This study examines the close association of the Big Hinamatsuri with Katsuura’s image and tourism promotion to understand how national identity is reproduced using tourism as a conduit for community revitalization. I investigate the political and historical elements shaping community revitalization in Japan and Tokushima Prefecture, analyze portrayals of Katsuura depicted in tourism promotion, and draw on ethnographic interviews to demonstrate how the town and residents of Katsuura make use of non-local traditions to align with national narratives of the rural for the town’s continuation. I assert that Katsuura’s formation of the Big Hinamatsuri and close association of the festival with the town’s image and tourism promotion (re)produces notions of Japanese national identity to attract people to the rural town and revitalize the community through heritage tourism.

Text

2024-06-11

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/88454

Anthropology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/