The Role of Residents their Conflicts in the Succession of Festival

A typical festival in Japan is the “Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals,” which has been registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. In this article, we take the example of a festival using a yatai. It is the festival of the Toyohama Hachiman Shrine in Toyohama-Cho, Kannonji City, Kagawa Prefecture, and is also called the “Sanuki Toyohama Chosa Festival.” The subject of study is the festival management organization. We will analyze the influence of the activities of both organizations for the festival, focusing on the 1980s and beyond.The concepts used in the analysis work are “taste” and “local identity.” The local identity confirms that the organization’s activities have strengthened the sense of solidarity. In terms of taste, the residents confirm their conflicts over the ideal way of practicing the festival, based on their sense of physical techniques. Then, it has become clear that the conflict created by the sense of solidarity among the residents forms a relationship that considers better practices to continue the festival.