Japan: Rice in Japanese Folk Culture
odd: label: Introduction
content: If we wish to see in the world something more than our own image, to learn from the lifeways of others, to be stimulated by another's aesthetic thought, Secretary Robert McC. Adams reflected in the 1986 Festival Program Book, then we need to find ways of understanding what it means to turn a pot or sing a song in another's culture. Of course, if the living people are present, as they are at the Festival, visitors can ask them. Another way is to sense the resonances among several elements of a single culture presented. In the area of the Festival devoted to Japan, for example, the 13-foot straw samurai figure, in isolation, might have conjured ferocious thoughts of others' values. But visitors could also notice the rice paddy that the figure adorned and the festive planting ceremony enacted in the field and the rice straw hanging up to dry, the very material from which the figure was constructed. What emerged then was a complex and beautiful resonance among these cultural practices, deepening visitors' appreciation of each and opening the possibility to begin to understand the many ways that Japanese folk culture speaks and sings about that most important commodity, rice.

More than 50 Japanese and Japanese Americans demonstrated the cultivation and myriad uses of rice found in the traditional folk culture in Japan, and how many of them have been retained in the U.S. In addition to the craft presentations focused on crafts related to rice cultivation, performing groups presented several local folk music traditions, masked dance-drama, and the ritual of hand-transplanting rice (demonstrated in a flooded rice paddy constructed on the Festival site). Japanese Americans brought additional craft demonstrations, children's activities, and foodways to the Festival.

Alicia María González served as Japan Program Curator, and Susan Asai as Program Coordinator; the Coordinator in Japan was Kozo Yamaji, and Karen Brown and Todd DeGarmo were Assistant Program Coordinators.

Japan: Rice in Japanese Folk Culture was made possible by the Japan Foundation, the Asian Cultural Council and the following corporations: Epson Corp., Hitachi, Ltd., Kibun Co., Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Toshiba Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., and United Airlines.
label: Presenters
content: Hirohide Akutsu, Linda Fujie, Ryuta Imafuku, Yoko Kurokawa, Diedre Lammers, Leila Philips, Yoko Pusavat, Barbara Stephan, Setsuro Tagami
label: Participants
content: Japanese

Crafts

Akira Handa, 1910-,  -- takezaiku --  (bamboo craftsman), Miyagi

Hiroji Hashimoto, 1945-,  -- hariko ningyo --  (papier maché doll maker), Fukushima

Jisho Inamori, 1953-,  -- toki --  (potter), Shiga

Torataro Ishikawa, 1914-,  -- waraningyo --  (straw doll maker), Akita

Kazuko Kano,  -- orimono --  (Japanese weaver), Tottori

Sotaro Kato, 1925-,  -- warazaiku --  (rice straw craftsman), Yamagata

Yoshichi Matsubara, 1937-,  -- somemono --  (indigo dyer), Tokyo

Keichi Sato, 1921-,  -- sakadaru --  ( -- sake --  barrel maker), Kyoto

Yuichiro Takahashi, 1930-,  -- waraningyo --  (straw doll maker), Akita

Kyujiro Watanabe,  -- waraningyo --  (straw doll maker), Akita

Shozo Yamaguchi,  -- wagasa --  (umbrella maker), Kyoto

Performance

Akita Minyo, folk music from Akita

Yoshie Akutsu, vocalist, Akita

Yasuji Asano, vocalist, shamisen player, Akita

Sanae Yabumuki, 1963-, vocalist, Akita

Amami Oshima Minyo -- , folk music from Amami Oshima

Kazumi Nishi, 1942-, vocalist, Kagoshima

Yutaka Tsuboyama, 1930-, vocalist, shamisen player, Kagoshima

Shunzo Tsukiji, 1934-, vocalist, shamisen player, Kagoshima

Hanadaue -- , ritual rice planting

Akiko Hiranaka, 1932-, dancer, Hiroshima

Emiko Ishii, 1929-, dancer, Hiroshima

Kunichi Kaneko, musician, Hiroshima

Seiso Kono, 1926-, musician, Hiroshima

Michiyo Maeoka, dancer, Hiroshima

Yoshio Maeoka, 1964-, musician, Hiroshima

Gunzo Maruoka, 1925-, musician, Hiroshima

Teruto Matsushima, 1949-, musician, Hiroshima

Masaru Miyake, 1941-, musician, Hiroshima

Suzue Miyake, 1946-, dancer, Hiroshima

Akira Nishio, 1937-, musician, Hiroshima

Tsutomu Sasaki, 1963-, musician, Hiroshima

Miho Takafushi, 1963-, dancer, Hiroshima

Susumu Yoshimoto, 1962-, musician, Hiroshima

Kuromori kagura -- , masked dance-drama from Kuromori

Kinsaku Hatakeyama, 1937-, Iwate

Yoshio Hatakeyama, 1925-, Iwate

Ichihei Maekawa, 1935-, Iwate

Saburo Matsuura, 1955-, Iwate

Hironori Saeki, 1960-, Iwate

Katsuji Sasaki, 1909-, Iwate

Zenichi Sasaki, 1909-, Iwate

Masajiro Takeda, 1930-, Iwate

Choichi Yamamoto, 1934-, Iwate

Japanese-American

Children's Activities

George Abe,  -- taiko --  drummer, Los Angeles, California

Yoko Harada King, 1934-, dancer, Riverdale, Maryland

Katsumi Kunitsugu, 1925-, games, songs, Los Angeles, California

Crafts

Eiko Hatamiya, 1925-,  -- temari --  (hand-woven ball maker), North Hollywood, California

Akiko Keene, 1942-,  -- kami ningyo --  (paper doll maker), Bowie, Maryland

Daniel Wayne Nakamura, 1957-, origami, Whittier, California

Foodways

Akira Hirabe, 1946-, mochi maker, Los Angeles, California

Shinya Toyoda, 1960-, sushi maker, Montebello, California

Henry Wakabayashi, 1920-, mochi maker, Rockville, Maryland

Seiko Wakabayashi, 1919-, mochi maker, Rockville, Maryland

Ikuko Yuge, 1937-, mochi maker, Los Angeles, California
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1986 Festival of American Folklife
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1986, Series 5
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials