[Community Development] Local character is a cultural heritage that should be preserved. Niigata City Akiha Ward's initiative starting from 'I like this'

"Your individuality" changes
depending on the "place" where you live.

However,
while staying in the same place,

there is only one way
to easily change your "individuality".

That is

to fall in love with the town.

Here,
[Local Identity]
is a term.

It refers to "the attachment and pride that local residents have for their region."
of it.

Even if you live in the same town,
just whether you "like or dislike" that town
will definitely change your daily QOL.

If you are going to live in the same town anyway,
isn't it better to have more things you like?

Because,

falling in love with the town
is falling in love with yourself

that's why.

This is my personal theory.

So,
I participated in a workshop in my hometown of Niigata.

"Let's share Akiha Ward's cultural heritage♪"

This is the fourth session.

******

Click here for the contents of the 1st to 3rd sessions ↓
①[Community Development] 'Aim to be an influencer'? The initiatives in Akiha Ward, Niigata City are interesting
②[Community Development] Connections between people and the town starting from Akiha Ward, Niigata City - Part 2: Aim to be an influencer
③Revealing tips for [Effective Information Dissemination] learned from community development. Is it not enough to just want to convey it? - From the initiatives in Akiha Ward, Niigata City

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When you hear the term 'cultural heritage',

don't you just want to shut your ears and say,
'That sounds too complicated...'?

But,
this is a story about how,
by the fourth workshop, I was finally able to let go of that 'ear-shutting assumption'.

I would like to share that story this time.

Let's change the definition of cultural heritage

For example,

'This is a very precious work of art!'
or
'This is a very old building, and let me tell you some trivia...'
or
'It's a natural monument, so blah blah blah'
or

There are many cultural properties designated by the national or prefectural government,
and of course, they are all highly valuable.

I understand that.

But,
precisely because they are important,
they somehow feel like distant entities.

Because they are precious,
it's like you shouldn't approach them too casually.

It's like how a senior you admire is so dazzling
that you're satisfied just watching them from afar.
(Or is that not it?)

However, cultural heritage is not just those
'tangible things'.

'Intangible cultural heritage'
is said to exist.

For example, the same goes for Living National Treasures.

It turns out that it's not the 'person themselves' that is the cultural heritage, but rather the 'skill' that the person possesses.

A person who possesses 'national treasure-level skills'—that is what a Living National Treasure is.

Did you know that?

Fur-ther-more...

Customs, festivals, dialects, and flavors that remain in that region.

It seems those things can also become cultural heritage.

(I didn't know that!)

When you look at it this way, the little quirks in a town, or the things that just naturally flow as part of everyday life,

if that “local character” exists, then perhaps that is already a 'cultural heritage'.

Local character = local cultural heritage
—isn't that a good way to think about it?

(Oh, the scope has expanded!)

(Or rather, I forced it to expand.)

Thinking about it that way, I believe we can find many places where we can say,

'Hey, our town actually has some pretty good things, doesn't it?'

You see,
the ward representatives hosting the workshop also mentioned

even if it's not registered now,
by sharing 'culture we want to preserve',
it could become a cultural heritage in the future.(...maybe)

that was what they said.

So that means,

[We are creating new cultural heritage]

it's no exaggeration to say that.

(There goes the extreme opinion!)

It's not about wanting to be registered or anything like that.
As long as we can preserve it, the form doesn't matter.

If that's the case,

if the local people can all share
'I like this' and 'I want to pass this on'
together,

wouldn't that alone lead to
'preserving the town's important culture',
which is the goal?

We don't value things just because they are registered,
it's a matter of the residents' awareness.

Because it's about the desire to cherish them.

So, what should we start with to achieve that?

One way is

first,
someone starts sharing 'I like this'.

Who's with me?☝

So,
if the people in the town can share
the feeling of 'I like this',

that becomes a culture worth preserving.

▶▶▶(Unofficial) It's a cultural heritage certification!

Yeah!

And as that keeps increasing,

by seeing someone else's 'I like this',
the 'I like this' things you didn't know about increase.

And that keeps increasing
within the same town.

It's an 'I like this festival', you see.

Then,

because they are people who share the same 'I like this' sense,

people naturally connect with each other, and a sense of community is born,
and

you come to love the town you live in
and become able to take pride in the town.

I call it
the thing created by the 'I like this festival',

a system where local residents
spontaneously skyrocket their QOL.

Oh! This is good!
(Delusion running wild)
(Mo-so-bo-so)

The project for that purpose

Let's promote Akiha Ward's cultural heritage

will begin in this town, starting with a workshop.
It will start in this town.

We will be the first to
start the 'all who want to join, come here' call.

We may just be ordinary citizens,

but that is exactly why we have no ties
and are free to do as we please.

In the end, this workshop
didn't decide on the specific steps to take,

but it will surely be interesting.

Something might just explode into existence from here 💖

Aiming for a beautiful world created by the pillars of
[Food, People, and Society] [Kireido]

Since the region is an inseparable topic,
I will continue to
report on it here regularly.

Your likes and follows would be a great encouragement!

Updating every Tuesday and Friday at noon 🎉

This was Ayako Furukawa from
Kireido!

Click here for the content of the 1st to 3rd sessions ↓
①[Community Development] 'Aiming to be an influencer'? Niigata City Akiha Ward's initiative is interesting
②[Community Development] Connections between people and the town starting from Akiha Ward, Niigata City - 2nd 'Aiming to be an influencer'
③Revealing tips for [Effective Information Dissemination] learned from community development. Is it not enough to just want to convey it? - From Niigata City Akiha Ward's initiative