Contemporary Situation of Succession of Noro Rituals in the Southern part of Amami Oshima: Focusing on the Reciprocal Relationship with Shrines

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K12964
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01030:Religious studies-related
• Research Institution: Kagoshima National College of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Machi Taiki 鹿児島工業高等専門学校, 一般教育科, 准教授 (30725693)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ノロ / 奄美大島 / 神社 / ユタ / 外来宗教 / 継承

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research is to examine the modern situation of the succession of Noro rituals in the southern part of Amami Oshima, including mutual negotiations with Shinto shrines, and to clarify the worldview and religious awareness of the Noro, Yuta, and local people who carry out Noro rituals. At the beginning of the research, I was planning to do fieldwork on Kakeroma Island in the southern part of Amami Oshima, but it was not possible due to the epidemic of the new coronavirus.　Instead, I analyzed articles in local newspapers about Noro rituals and conducted interviews with shrine administrators in Kasari Town in the northern part of Oshima. From these investigations, it became clear that although Noro rituals themselves were discontinued, ritual sites and folk knowledge were fragmented in various contexts of local communities.

Free Research Field

宗教人類学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、ノロ祭祀やユタといった在地の宗教文化と外来宗教（神社神道）との相互交渉過程における在地側の主体性に着目する。これは近年の研究動向と重なるが、時期として戦前や明治維新期に主たる関心を寄せる従来の研究とは異なり、本研究では現在進行形の問題として宗教文化間の相互交渉過程を論じる点に新規性がある。本研究によって、当初の想定以上にノロ祭祀が断絶していること、他方で、ノロ祭祀の祭場等が地域住民の手によって、ノロ祭祀とは異なる文脈で保存・再建が果たされている事例が存在していること、実態としてのノロ祭祀が途絶えた後でも、それらに関する記憶から神社の管理者が選出される事例が明らかになった。