SIETAR-Kansai - Past Monthly Programs

April 2004

Tourism of Festivals and Communication in Communities
-Comparison between Gion and Tenjin Festivals-

Date:
April 25, 2004, Sunday 12:30-16:30

Facilitator:
Prof. Masao Nakabayashi ( Kansai Gaidai University)

Place:
Takatsuki Shogai Gakushu Center, 3F, Room 2
10 min. walk from the south exit of JR Takatsuki Station or Hankyu Takatsuki station
Tel: 072(674)7700

Fee:
Members. Students 500yen, Non-members 1000yen

Language:
Japanese

Description of the Program:
Gion Festival started as a sacred meeting for the purpose of making a pray to eliminate plagues. Tenjin Festival is also a summer fete which started as a belief in souls when Osaka Tenma Shrine was constructed in 949 after Michizane's death. Kunio Yanagida supposed the advent of spectators as an impetus to change a feast into a festival. These festivals are supported by the communities in Kyoto and townspeople in Osaka as well as financial contribution from local governments. This helps to gather many spectators.

This presentation will compare historical and cultural background between two festivals with the use of some information obtained from the field works concerning Gion and Tenjin Festivals. Moreover, it will examine a view that a contemporary festival has been changed from Shinto rituals into tourism, because people in the communities and local governments support the festivals.

Profile of the Facilitator:
Masao Nakabayashi is presently an associate professor at Kansai Gaidai College. After graduating from Hindustani Department of Osaka University of Foreign Studies, he entered Kusuda Business Machines Company and worked for Kodak business products as a marketing director and general manager of Western Japan. In 1990, he changed his job and took up a new job of an English instructor. In 1996, he received MA degree for English language from Kansai Gaidai University. He has been majoring in intercultural communication and lecturing in comparative culture between US and Japan. Currently he acts as a director, advertising head and Kansai chapter president of Communication Association of Japan.

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