TY - JOUR
KW - Japan (JP)
KW - Tourism (THE\_202)
AU - Michael Foster
AB - Toshidon is a “visiting deity” (raihōshin) ritual that takes place every New Year’s Eve on a small island off the southwest coast of Japan. Performed for purposes of education, Toshidon is an event in which groups of men, masked and costumed as demon-deity figures, walk from house to house frightening and disciplining children. In 2009, Toshidon was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List, a significant occurrence for this relatively isolated community. Based on ongoing fieldwork on the island, this essay explores specific events and discourses that emerged from this recognition. I conclude that the UNESCO inscription becomes a floating signifier within the community, one of many elements in an ongoing discussion about the broader future of the island itself.
BT - Journal of Folklore Research
DA - dec
DO - 10.2979/jfolkrese.52.2-3.217
LA - English
M1 - 2-3
N1 - Publisher: Indiana University
N2 - Toshidon is a “visiting deity” (raihōshin) ritual that takes place every New Year’s Eve on a small island off the southwest coast of Japan. Performed for purposes of education, Toshidon is an event in which groups of men, masked and costumed as demon-deity figures, walk from house to house frightening and disciplining children. In 2009, Toshidon was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List, a significant occurrence for this relatively isolated community. Based on ongoing fieldwork on the island, this essay explores specific events and discourses that emerged from this recognition. I conclude that the UNESCO inscription becomes a floating signifier within the community, one of many elements in an ongoing discussion about the broader future of the island itself.
PY - 2015
SP - 217
EP - 232
T2 - Journal of Folklore Research
TI - Imagined UNESCOs: Interpreting Intangible Cultural Heritage on a Japanese Island
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84938887382&doi=10.2979%2fjfolkrese.52.2-3.217&partnerID=40&md5=bca0220eea0a95937bf4d51ac5dfabf9
VL - 52
SN - 07377037 (ISSN)
ER -