Along with its economic development, Japan has experienced significant changes in its people’s living environments and lifestyles, as well as loss of tangible folk cultural properties that were originally produced as necessities of daily life and passed down from generation to generation while undergoing constant evolution and improvement. Tangible folk cultural properties are objects and implements traditionally used in everyday life related to food, clothing and shelter, livelihood activities such as farming and fishing, and annual events in local communities. They are important cultural heritages indispensable for understanding the changes in modes of life. However, with changes in the industrial structure and lifestyles since the Meiji Period, many tangible folk cultural properties are on the verge of being dispersed or lost. Furthermore, since they are familiar tools and implements used in daily life, their true value as cultural heritages is not fully recognized, and they are often not preserved or used properly. Tangible folk cultural properties have long been close to local residents who have created their own regional identities.A study and analysis project conducted in the Kanto and Seto-uchi Regions and three prefectures in the Tokai region in 2010, 2012 and 2013 showed that many tangible folk cultural properties were lost, particularly with significant changes in the industrial structure and social lifestyles during the postwar period of rapid economic growth. As expected, the most severe tangible folk cultural property loss was seen in the Kanto Region. In the Tokai and Seto-uchi Regions, many traditional tools used in daily life have unexpectedly survived.A hypothesis was developed from the results of the 2010 research conducted in the Kanto Region that tangible folk cultural properties remaining in a local area provide the major source of energy for developing unique communities and human resources. Based on this hypothesis, I conducted research in the Kyushu Region （Okinawa Prefecture excluded because it differs greatly from the rest of Japan in terms of historical and cultural background）, as well as the Tokai and Seto-uchi Regions to apply the hypothesis in these regions in addition to Kanto. The results showed that many tangible folk cultural properties produced in the Kyushu Region from the Meiji Period to the end of World War II were used throughout the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods, regardless of their type. This is also true in the Kanto, Tokai and Seto-uchi Regions. However unlike Kanto and Tokai, Kyushu has properties that were made in the Edo Period （before the Meiji Restoration） and use continued for occupational or religious purposes until after the end of World War II. Among folk cultural properties for occupational use, those produced and used until the 1970s account for 34% of the total in Kyushu, compared with 16% and 12% in Kanto and Tokai, respectively. As for folk cultural properties for religious use, some were made in the Edo Period, and continued to be used until the last years of the postwar high economic growth period （9% of the total folk cultural properties for religious use）. More folk cultural properties created in and before the Edo Period have survived in the Kyushu Region than in the three other regions. Kyushu even has folk cultural properties that were produced in the Showa Period （1965-1974） that are still used today. Northern Kyushu has been Japan’s leading center for heavy industries since the Meiji Period. Nevertheless, numerous folk cultural properties used in daily life for occupational purposes still survive in this area. This shows that in Kyushu, a region with a long history, the conventional ideas of the local people have been maintained, while both traditional local and heavy industries, which played a leading role in modern Japan’s economic growth, coexist well creating a dual industrial structure.JEL Classifications: H54, R51, R53, Z11
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Jan 1, 2017
Mariko Makita 
Open Access
