Japanization of Korea’s Traditional Tug-of-War in the 1920’s

In 2015, Juldarigi, Korea’s traditional tug-of-war, was registered as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage along with the tug-of-war in Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines. The tug-of-war of these four countries was highly regarded for its heritage value, such as wishing for a good harvest, promoting community unity, and announcing the beginning of farming. However, as only six of the cultural artifacts in Korea have been listed as intangible cultural heritage, the various types of the local and regional tug-of-war in Korea and their uniqueness can be ignored or marginalized.This article examines the Japanization process of Korea’s traditional tug-of-war during the Japanese colonial rule, through examining the newspaper articles published in the 1920s. By the influence of the cultural politics of Japanese assimilation of the time, various forms of regional tugs-of-war were transformed and solidified into a Japanese style. By reviewing this process, we argue that it is possible to provide suggestions for securing the play’s diversity and its succession.Japanese colonial cultural politics led to Japanization of Korean traditional tug-of-war. Specifically, the politics has weakened, eliminated, or dismantled the community consciousness embedded in regional tugs-of-war, and has changed the way tug-of-war is played, including the use of larger rope and the participation of large-scale personnel. As the regional tugs-of-war in Korea had become subject to Japan’s authorization, they were converted into Gossaum-nori. During this process, Korea’s tug-of-war, which had been carried out in various ways in each village, was largely dismantled.