Selected as an “Oyodo Legacy” site

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In mid-March, I got an e-mail from Mr. Matsuda, the expert of the local authority, suggesting adding the annex for tea ceremony in our premises as an “Oyodo Legacy” site upon approval by the selection board, mainly consisting of local residents. As we found last March, the tea house was supposedly built by Mr. Sakujiro OKITA, the godfather of the town. Some investigation is conducted on the occasion of the centennial of the town as of a municipal organization.


OYODO LEGACY

Since 2016FY, the municipal government selects the local legacy, both tangible and intangible, as “Oyodo legacy” (80 in number as of April 2020). The legacy is expected to be preserved, used, and taken over to the next generation, in cooperation with residents.

The local governments itself established the framework as its own effort. It’s supposed to be more flexible than Designated/Registered Cultural Properties (see previous post), managed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, i.e. the Cultural department within the Government of Japan.

For a site to have an attractive historical story is one of the criteria for the selection. I don’t know well what’s behind the framework, but in general, any story, something dramatic would be a good catalyst for people’s attention and further engagement by somehow affecting their emotions. Any region has interesting historical stories when providing the narrative information deeper than a merely chronological table, but such an approach would be effective for Yoshino, a reservoir of dramatic histories.

When it comes to tapping into cultural heritage, all model cases in Japan, as far as I know, has its key in the active engagement of local residents. In this regard, the town has advanced regional resources.


AFTERWARDS

The selection procedures from my side were very simple. Indeed I did nothing but writing “no problem with proceeding to the selection procedures”. Then, Mr. Matsuda drafted all necessary documents. Finally, I knew the annex for tea ceremony called “Gei-Shun An” (tea-house for welcoming spring). He found the name at the tablet displayed on the entrance of the annex, but I and even my mum (she grew up in the house.) never noticed something is written on the tablet. His expertise brought us a surprise.
the tablet

In mid-May, I got a follow-up message, saying that the tea house has been selected as a site of Oyodo legacy as of the end of March (the Japanese fiscal year ends March.), and some publication materials are now available on the website:

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