Efforts to preserve and pass on the unique culture of remote islands through the development of historical research on the “transmission of island songs”
Faculty of Law, Economics and Humanities Department of Humanities Course of Area and Cultural Studies,International Center for Island Studies,Center for Modern Kagoshima Studies
Yanagawa Hidetoshi
- tatsugou
- kikai
- tokunoshima
- amagi
- isen
- wadomari
- china
- amami
- yoron
- yamato
- uken
- setouchi
Background and objectives of activities
At first, our activities began with research into the history and background of the island songs that have been passed down in the Amami Islands, but after we realized that the transmission of these songs has had a great tangible and intangible impact on the people who live there, we began to focus on questions such as how this transmission has actually been carried out in the past, and how it will be carried out in the future. We are still focusing on these questions in our current activities.
Summary of Activities
Interviews with people who are working to pass on the tradition of shimauta, including the singers who perform it, research into various attempts to pass it on, including shimauta classes, and holding shimauta concerts and symposiums on the subject.
Expected Benefits
This is an initiative that has been going on for more than 20 years, and while I have never been particularly conscious of the SDGs, if such unconscious activities can be linked to the motto of a certain era, that may be a very good thing.