List of Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties
Encyclopedia
This is a list of Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan
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Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
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Criteria
- It must exemplify something original in the Japanese people's everyday life in terms of origin and content, and be typical.
- It must exemplify the process of evolution of some technique.
- It must exemplify some local characteristic.
Manufacture, livelihood
6 designations| Name | Criteria | Date | Remarks | Location | Image |
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Life, courtesy/etiquette
6 designations| Name | Criteria | Date | Remarks | Location | Image |
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| 1 | |||||
| 1 | |||||
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| 1 |
Amusements, contests
7 designations| Name | Criteria | Date | Remarks | Location | Image |
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| 1 | |||||
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Social life (knowledge of folk customs)
2 designations| Name | Criteria | Date | Remarks | Location | Image |
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| 1 | Local residents welcome the gods, drinking tea together, reading the tea and predicting the bounty in their lives. | ||||
| 1 |
Annual functions or events
30 designations.| Name | Criteria | Type | Date | Remarks | Location | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visiting kami Marebito is a 2004 Japanese horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu.-Plot:The film is about a man named Masuoka, played by Shinya Tsukamoto, who carries a camera everywhere he goes. He becomes obsessed with the idea of fear when he sees a frightened man shove a knife in his eye to commit suicide... |
A person called "Suneka", representing a kami Kami is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term... and dressed in a strange mask and a straw raincoat, visits each house in a given district to punish lazy or crying children; related to the Namahage Namahage is a Japanese ritual which is observed throughout Oga Peninsula, Akita Prefecture in northern Honshū, Japan. It is said to have originated as a ritual for cleansing people's souls, and for blessing the new year. It is a kind of toshigami.... tradition of Akita Prefecture Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region of northern Honshu, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Akita.- History :The area of Akita has been created from the ancient provinces of Dewa and Mutsu.... ; handed down in Yoshihama district, Sanriku, Ōfunato Ofunato, Iwate is a coastal city located in Iwate, Japan.It was founded on April 1, 1952.On November 15, 2001, the town of Sanriku, from Kesen District, was merged into Ōfunato.... , Iwate Iwate Prefecture is the second largest prefecture of Japan after Hokkaido. It is located in the Tōhoku region of Honshū island and contains the island's easternmost point. The capital is Morioka. Iwate has the lowest population density of any prefecture outside Hokkaido... |
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| 1 | Harvest/fertility | January 11–16 | Bird chasing procession (tori-oi) involving children; traditionally a festival to pray for abundant harvest and good health; handed down in Tsukihama district, Miyato, Higashimatsushima Higashimatsushima, Miyagi is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.It was created on April 1, 2005, when the towns of Naruse and Yamoto, both formally of Monou District, merged to form the new city.... , Miyagi Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku Region on Honshu island. The capital is Sendai.- History :Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu. Mutsu Province, on northern Honshu, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the... |
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| 1 | Protection | February 12 | Event to ward off fire; young men and men of a critical age (yakudoshi, 42 years of age) dress in straw raincoats and headdresses their faces painted with soot; after a shrine visit they return to town and throw water on the houses; home owners try to extract from the participants' costumes straws which are then considered charms against fire | |||
| 1 | "Little New Year" (koshōgatsu) event celebrated by children involving the burning of a hut of Sae-no-kami Dosojin is a generic name for a type of Shinto kami popularly worshiped in Kantō and neighboring areas where, as tutelary deities of borders, they are believed to protect travelers and villages from epidemics and evil spirits... and a bird chasing procession (tori-oi) with singing |
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| 1 | Visiting kami Marebito is a 2004 Japanese horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu.-Plot:The film is about a man named Masuoka, played by Shinya Tsukamoto, who carries a camera everywhere he goes. He becomes obsessed with the idea of fear when he sees a frightened man shove a knife in his eye to commit suicide... |
December 31–January 16 | Young men dressed in traditional straw garments and wearing large masks representing the Namahage deity visit houses of new community members urging them to work and study hard; after receiving sake and mochi Mochi Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time... they leave blessing the house |
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| 1 | February 11–15 | snow huts | ||||
| 1 | Visiting kami Marebito is a 2004 Japanese horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu.-Plot:The film is about a man named Masuoka, played by Shinya Tsukamoto, who carries a camera everywhere he goes. He becomes obsessed with the idea of fear when he sees a frightened man shove a knife in his eye to commit suicide... |
January 1, 3, 6Each day in another district of the town | A person called "Amahage", representing a kami Kami is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term... dressed in a straw coat and covered with a red or blue ogre mask visits each family distributing mochi Mochi Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time... ; also includes a tori-oi bird chasing event with drums and singing; the straw coats are burned together with kadomatsu Kadomatsu A is a traditional Japanese decoration of the New Year placed in pairs in front of homes to welcome ancestral spirits or kami of the harvest. They are placed after Christmas until January 7 and are considered temporary housing for kami... and shimenawa Shimenawa Shimenawa are lengths of braided rice straw rope used for ritual purification in the Shinto religion. They can vary in diameter from a few centimetres to several metres, and are often seen festooned with shide... in an event known as Honte-yaki (Honte burning) |
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| 1 | ca. January 15 | Fire festival praying for abundant harvest, sound health and escape from evil; an artificial structure (Sai-no-kami) made of a sacred tree and new year's decoration is burned | ||||
| 1 | January 3 | |||||
| 1 | Bon Festival Bon Festival or just is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed... |
August 15 | Construction of 108 moundsMounds are constructed every year which is special for 108 lights festivals and lighting of as many lights; said to originate in a ritual to console the spirits of Inomata Koheirokunoritsuna |
Religious festivals and beliefs
54 designations| Name | Criteria | Type | Date | Remarks | Location | Image |
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| 1 | ca. end July-15 August | |||||
| 1 | 1-7 August | |||||
| 1 | 2-7 August |  |
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| 1 | 1-3 August | |||||
| 1 | Harvest/fertility | ca. 17-19 September, after leap year | ||||
| 1 | 7-9 September | |||||
| 1 | 5-7 August | |||||
| 1 | 20-21 July | |||||
| 1 | various | |||||
| 24-26 August | ||||||
| 1 | ca. 16-18 November |
Manufacture, livelihood
8 designations.| Name | Criteria | Remarks | Location | Image |
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| 2, 3 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
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| 3 | ||||
| 3 |
Necessities of life
2 designations.| Name | Criteria | Remarks | Location | Image |
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| 3 | ||||
| 3 |