A Tradition of Adaptation: Preserving the Ritual for Paebaengi

Abstract

This chapter considers the effects of cultural policy in Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture, as an example of a region-led approach to cultural heritage within the framework of national law. It presents case studies of the implementation of local and national cultural policy and considers some of these social and political meanings and objectives. Cultural property designations have had a number of direct effects on the way in which Okinawa is culturally and politically imagined at local, national and international levels. Internationally, UNESCO's 2008 representative list of intangible cultural heritage includes the Chinese guqin and the Armenian duduk amongst other instruments, and the organization has produced a number of publications related to instruments. During the years of political separation, the use of cultural property legislation was frequently aimed at maintaining links between Okinawa and Japan, such as the 1956 visit of Okinawan musicians to Tokyo, or the designations of Okinawan performing arts by mainland Japanese regional governments.