1. Title of the Project

Efforts for the Tanedori Festival of Taketomi Island

2. Name of the Performing Art Concerned in the Project

Performing arts of the Tanedori Festival

3. Geographic location of the Community

Taketomi Town (Taketomi Island), Yaeyama District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

4. Introduction of the Performing Art

The Tanedori Festival has been celebrated on TaketomiIsland for 600 years. It lasts nine days and is characterised by seed-sowing rituals to pray for the prosperity of the community. On two designated days during the period, almost all the islanders participate in the festival. The day starts with an early-morning prayer at the shrine, followed by a welcome ceremony, paying homage, performances in gardens and on a stage, and house visit through the night.

The Tanedori Festival has been continuing because it is based on a legend to which the foundation of the island is related. Many performances given during the festival are dedicated in worship of and faith to the gods of Muyama on Taketomi Island.

5. Problems the community faced before the launch of the project, and the factors which caused the decline of and threatened the performing art

After World War II, Japanese who had stayed in Asian countries were returning to Japan. Taketomi Island also had such migrants; however, with the stabilisation of social conditions in mainland Japan, many settlers started leaving the island. The sharp decline of the population and rationalistic thinking after the war gave rise to a crisis in passing on the traditional culture of the island.

The decline made it difficult for the island to secure performers for the festival, for which more than 500 are needed. The festival also has to be supported by people who carry out shrine rituals, provide food, prepare offerings and meals and set up venues. Therefore, the island asked for help to the Ishigaki-Taketomi Kyoyukai friendship club, whose members were born on Taketomi Island but now live on the adjacent Ishigaki Island. Fortunately, a great number of Taketomi people in Ishigaki voluntarily participated in the festival.

Around the mid-70s, differences in views emerged between the friendship club and the Taketomi Kominkan (community centre). The friendship club questioned the meaning of the Tanedori Festival as what was originally an agricultural ritual compared to the reality; that tourism is the main industry of the island. Furthermore, a practical proposal was made to move the climax of votive performances of the festival to a weekend.

In the 1980s, the island had a growing number of newcomers, such as wives of the islanders and young people. In many cases, they lacked deep understanding of the traditional culture and had little willingness to participate in the Tanedori Festival. In order to preserve the Tanedori Festival, it became an important challenge to motivate and involve "the new Taketomi islanders" in the traditional culture.

6. Details of the project for solving problems of the performing art, especially who and how it started, finance, and involvement of younger generation

Taketomi Island had no particular plan to overcome the crisis. This is because at that time municipal administrative organisations rarely made efforts for promotion of the traditional culture. Furthermore, Taketomi Town was spread across several islands and its town office was located on neighbouring Ishigaki Island, and had no room for the town to pay attention to the promotion of each island's traditional culture.

Therefore, the Taketomi Kominkan, organised by islanders, has played a prominent role in the life and the traditional culture of Taketomi Island. The Kominkan is based on community associations and fulfills an important role in this island. No special action was taken at the crisis of the Tanedori Festival, but the neighbouring villages held meetings and Taketomi Kominkan played an important role under its Director's leadership.

The proposal made by the Ishigaki-Taketomi Kyoyukai friendship club to move the Tanedori Festival to a weekend was an expression of club members' willingness to participate in the festival. However, after several meetings among the three villages, the villagers reached a consensus to the effect that the tradition should not be so easily changed even at the expense of cooperation with the friendship club.

In order to encourage active participation in the festival by the "new Taketomi Islanders" the villagers formed a group and started training for their children. The training was to teach them to dance and perform on stage based on the following three principles:

1. Study of Taketomi's tangible and intangible culture by instilling skills and purifying minds
2. Harmony of five fingers which expresses the spirit of Utsugumi (working together) of Taketomi Island
3. Joy and gratitude after enduring hardship in daily life

7. Project's Outcomes Including Success Stories and Difficulties

Successful Outcomes

• Participation of a large number of children in the Festival: it was once difficult to gather enough children for the festival.
• Formation of a learning method of the traditional faith and the spiritual world of Taketomi Island through performing arts
• Positive influence on other villages to develop a strong sense that the performing arts dedicated at the Tanedori Festival are not just a show of performing arts
• Development of cooperation with younger generation of related organisations such as Okinawa-Taketomi Kyoyukai friendship club, Ishigaki-Taketomi Kyoyukai friendship club and Tokyo-Taketomi Kyoyukai friendship club
• Realisation of importance of making own costumes/props with traditional skills such as material cultivation,hand weaving and hand making

Challenges

• A need to help the younger generation to understand the ancestral spiritual world of Taketomi Island in order to hand down the festival and our traditional performing arts