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Research and Study in Folklore Based upon Regional Differences in Roles and Reasons for

Research Project

Project/Area Number 12610320
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field 文化人類学(含民族学・民俗学)
Research InstitutionNational Museum of Japanese History

Principal Investigator

SEKIZAWA Mayumi  National Museum of Japanese History, Forklore and Forklife depart., Assist.Prof., 民俗研究部, 助手 (00311134)

Project Period (FY) 2000 – 2002
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2002)
Budget Amount *help
¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
KeywordsAging Society / the Aged / Reasons for Living for the Aged / Folklore / the folk custom of mura-inkyo / village retirement / the miyaza (council of elders representing families associated with a local shrine) / 60歳 / 長老衆 / 苗村神社 / 由緒 / 『隠居と定年』 / 老い / 神社祭祀 / 村落 / 滋賀県 / 高齢者 / 高齢化社会 / 老人会 / 公的役割 / 私的役割
Research Abstract

This research comprises fieldwork that investigates the roles and reasons for living of the aged in traditional communal societies that serve as strategies and measures for enhancing old age. Particular attention was paid to the folk custom of mura-inkyo (village retirement) in communities in the Kinki region. According to the custom of mura-inkyo, all males 1 retire from village administration when they reach 60 years of age, whereupon they assume central roles in the miyaza (council of elders representing families associated with a local shrine) related to rituals involving tutelary deities. The service to the shrine performed by the elders who make up the miyaza produced substantial changes in the individuals involved. We witnessed at close hand elderly people whose feelings of gratitude toward deities and nature were being deepened through various experiences such as shojin kessai, a purification ritual involving abstinence from meat, fish and alcohol, and first-hand experience of … More serious illness. We were able to detect a transformation from being merely an old person to being a sanctified elder.
Even in communities such as farming villages in the Tohoku region and urban neighborhoods in Kyoto City where there is no formal system of traditional communities for handing roles over to the next generation or changes in roles as a result of mura-inkyo, a time comes when the people living there realize that some day they will grow old. It was in this connection that we interviewed veterans from the war, who have personal experience in confronting death, which lies at the other end of old age. Two interesting phenomena came out of these interviews. One is the diversity of forms in which they expressed their feelings toward those who died in the war. The second is the individual sense of loss that encompasses the acquisition of a means of expressing those feelings toward the dead. The point at which these people experience this loss and acquisition is the point at which they begin to think about what remains of their lives, and in most cases the occurred after they had turned sixty. We were able to confirm that this realization that they must do the things they had yet to do during the time remaining gave them reasons for living and that there existed reasons for living that were brought about by internal changes within an individual that were separate from the reasons for living for the aged provided within the miyaza system for elders in the Kinki region. This research uses specific examples to make a comparison of the reasons for living found within the miyaza system and the reasons for living found within an individual's life. Less

Report

(4 results)
  • 2002 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report Summary
  • 2001 Annual Research Report
  • 2000 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (8 results)

All Other

All Publications (8 results)

  • [Publications] 関沢まゆみ: "村落研究と民俗学"日本民俗学. 227. 101-115 (2001)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2002 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Publications] 関沢まゆみ: "農民兵士の生と死-北上市の二人の手紙より-"国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告. 101. 231-282 (2003)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2002 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Publications] 関沢まゆみ: "暮らしの中の民俗学3.一生(共著)"吉川弘文館. 244 (2003)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2002 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Publications] 関沢まゆみ: "隠居と定年-老いの民俗学考察-"臨川書店. 196 (2003)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2002 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Publications] 関沢まゆみ: "兵工の生死の記録と記憶-北上市の二人の事例より-"国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告. 101. (2003)

    • Related Report
      2002 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] 関沢まゆみ: "隠居と定年-老いの民俗学的考察-"臨川書店. 196 (2003)

    • Related Report
      2002 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] 関沢まゆみ: "宮座と長老-宮座の類型論試論-"国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告. 91. 341-359 (2001)

    • Related Report
      2001 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] 筑波大学民俗学研究室編: "心意と信仰の民俗"吉川弘文館. 311 (2001)

    • Related Report
      2001 Annual Research Report

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Published: 2000-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

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