Chapter 25
Intangible Cultural Heritage and Communities
Field of expertise: Disaster Humanities

Yu Fukuda & Hiroki Takakura
Translated by Catherine Sachi Kikuchi

Summary
Many festivals and folk performing arts were damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The
use of 3D measurement technology to record and compile a database of props used for theintangible cultural heritages will contribute to the early recovery of festivals and the reconstructionof local communities. In the future, it will be necessary to develop studies that contribute to disasterprevention from the same approach in the regions expected to be affected by the upcoming Nankai
Trough Earthquake.
Keywords: intangible cultural heritage, festivals, SfM/MVS, 3D measurements, disasterhumanities

Introduction
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, the role of intangible cultural heritage such as
festivals and folk performing arts in the recovery of local communities has attracted much attention.
However, it often takes a long time to restore the props (the lion head, kagura masks, etc.) used inthese types of festivals. How can the humanities, which have been studying festivals and folk
performing arts, contribute to this?

1: Problems Revealed by the Great East Japan Earthquake
What happened?
In the Pacific coastal areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, many uniquefestivals and folk performing arts have been identified. There are more than 1,000 in the threeprefectures affected by the disaster, but many have been damaged. Shortly after the disaster,
many people searched for props and costumes in the rubble because they expected festivals andfolk performing arts to play a role in integrating the local community, confirming identity, andrestoring daily life (Takakura, 2021). Recognizing this important role, researchers in the humanities
and social sciences such as anthropology, folklore studies, and religious studies, as well as
government officials, understood the disaster situation and supported local communities. In doing1

so, we have been able to work on the early recovery of intangible cultural heritage (Takakura,2016).
The reality of the damage
The damage caused by the disaster to intangible cultural heritage is wide-ranging. The lossof bearers and successors, loss of social opportunities such as not being able to secure places toperform and practice are serious. Though intangible, the loss of props, costumes, and musicalinstruments was a big part of the damage. In particular, damage to the lion head used in the lion
dance and masks used in Kagura (Shinto theatrical dance) was a major issue. The original form of
these props, which vary in shape and material depending on the community, were important to thelocal residents. However, before the disaster, not many villages kept detailed records of theirdimensions (size, thickness, inner dimensions) and structures (material, weight, color, etc.) forrestoration purposes. Restoration that relied on people's memories, and the repeated production ofprototypes and revisions through interviews, have required a great deal of labor and time. In someareas, this resulted in a delay in the resumption of festivals and folk performing arts. In somecases, the delay in the restoration and reconstruction work even hindered the recovery of thecommunities.

2: Paradigms Destroyed by the Earthquake
Conventional wisdom and necessary responses
The reason why festivals and folk performing arts have maintained the continuity of local
communities through the ages and generations is that props such as the lion head and kaguramasks have been handed down as a constant reference point for the community, even though thebearers and performances have changed. However, detailed records of the dimensions andstructures of these props have not been sufficiently maintained, as it required a great deal of timeand effort to measure manually and record accurately. In addition, even if there are records in theform of photographs and videos, it is not easy to capture the three-dimensional shape of the props
only with these records. In a disaster-prone country like Japan, where large-scale disasters suchas the Nankai Trough Earthquake are expected in the future, if we can measure the form of theprops used in intangible cultural heritage in a small amount of time and at low cost, we can create
a database. This will make it possible to resume the intangible cultural heritage as soon as
possible, even if they are damaged by a disaster. This will also help restore the local community as
quickly as possible.

3: A New Approach
Based on the above issues brought to light by the Great East Japan Earthquake, a new
approach to disaster humanities was developed, which is to contribute to the recovery of intangible
cultural heritages using 3D measurement technology. In recent years, the development of researchusing 3D measurement technology has been remarkable, and there have been attempts to apply
this technology to disaster research such as the reconstruction of damaged topography. The costof equipment and software has decreased, and this new approach can be applied to thereconstruction of intangible cultural heritage.

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For example, Fukuda (2019) studies the possibility and challenges of using two 3D measurement
techniques, passive (Fig. 25-1) and active (Fig. 25-2, Fig. 25-3), to measure an object, the lion
head. The purpose of this study was to determine the advantages and disadvantages of eachtechnique by measuring a certain measurement target using different techniques and comparing
the results. In the former passive measurement method (SfM/MVS), a large number of photos aretaken with a digital camera, and the computer software calculates and processes this information,
which enables relatively inexpensive 3D measurements. On the other hand, this took a long time tocomplete, there it resulted in a large volume of data. The latter type of active measurement can beperformed in a short time, but installing a 3D scanner is expensive. There was no significant
difference in data accuracy between the two methods as far as the purpose of restoration andreconstruction of the lion head was concerned. From this, it became clear that it is possible tomeasure the props of intangible cultural heritage with the above two methods in a short time andwith a small amount of labor if the measurement object is 30 centimeters to 1 meter, such as thelion head or a kagura mask.

Figure 25-1. Passive 3D measurement

Figure 25-2. Active 3D measurement

3Figure 25-3. The lion head scanned by active 3D measurement

4: Achievements and the Future
A new approach to disaster science
Based on the results of the research described above, we are now conducting research torecord props for intangible cultural heritage such as the lion head and kagura masks and toprepare 3D data. We are also working on the 3D measurements of larger structures used infestivals. In Wakayama Prefecture, which is expected to be affected by the Nankai TroughEarthquake, there is a festival in which small boats of 7 to 10 meters in length are used to go
upstream in rivers and race in the sea. Some of the boats used in these rituals are difficult to repair
even when we have a blueprint. We are currently working on 3D measurements and research
projects for these boats.
Finally, we would like to describe the issues and possibilities of the 3D measurement
research project of intangible cultural heritage. Regardless of which measurement method is used,
there is much room for improvement in the 3D measurement of props and boats, such as
improving basic measurement techniques and refining the processing methods. In addition, thereis the issue of how to maintain the results of these 3D measurements as a database and how tomake them available to the public. While there are these issues, there is also a great potential forthis research. As mentioned above, by encouraging the early reopening of intangible culturalheritage, we can support the recovery of communities. This work makes it possible to compare thevarious tools and structures used in the festivals, and to trace how the festivals have propagatedand gradually transformed. This research itself can be an opportunity for local communities torecognize the value of their own cultural heritage. In addition, this research has the potential forinternational comparison. Other disaster-prone countries that have a variety of intangible cultural
heritage include Taiwan and Indonesia. Compared to tangible cultural heritages, 3D
measurements of the tools used in intangible cultural heritages have hardly been conducted. In thefuture, it is expected that international joint research will contribute to the sharing of knowledge andexperience, as well as to the protection of intangible cultural heritage.

4Conclusion - from the authors
In this report, we have described the results and future prospects of my research on
disaster humanities using 3D measurement technology. This research only just began in 2018. In
the future, important findings and issues that need to be resolved will continue to be discovered
through interdisciplinary joint research with researchers from various fields. Improvements inmeasurement technology, updates in processing software, and the way data is managed will alsochange. We would like to learn from various studies in the future and refine our own research.

References
Fukuda Y. (2019). Three-Dimensional Measurement for Revitalization of Intangible CulturalProperties After Disasters. Journal of Disaster Research, 14(9), 1329-35.
https://doi.org/10.20965/jdr.2019.p1329.
Takakura, H. (2016). Lessons from anthropological projects related to the Great East Japan
Earthquake and Tsunami: Intangible Cultural Heritage Survey and Disaster Salvage Anthropology.
In John Gledhill (Ed.) World anthropologies in Practice: Situated Perspectives, Global Knowledge.
ASA monograph 52. London: Bloomsbury, pp.211-224.
Takakura, H. (2021). How Does Intangible Cultural Heritage Contribute to Disaster Mitigation? ICH
Courier Online 48: 16-1. https://ichcourier.unesco-ichcap.org

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