Community-Based Museum and Intangible Cultural Resources: From the Perspective of the Concept of Post-Museum

Abstract

This study investigated museum activities that utilized intangible cultural resources. In particular, this study focuses on resident participation in museums as bearers of regional culture. Interpreting the term “participation” literally, users are presumed to engage in activities inside the museum; nevertheless, we also need to consider the museum itself engaging with the community. As a research method, fieldwork, including action research, was conducted in two regions. The first was Tono City in Iwate Prefecture, and the second was Miyoshi City in Tokushima Prefecture. The former has utilized The Legends of Tono, written by Kunio Yanagita, as a tourism resource. The latter utilized the yokai (monstrous beings) folklore, passed down orally through generations, as a local resource. Both are characterized by the positioning of invisible beings as cultural resources; however, the direction of museum activities differs. Through these case studies, two types of practical models for the preservation and utilization of intangible cultures were constructed. First, Tono represents a network-type model that connects various facilities, centered around government-led museums. Second, Miyoshi presents an intangible model that deconstructs a museum’s functions and incorporates them into the local community. By focusing on intangible culture as “local knowledge,” this study presents issues aimed at the post-museum.