This ethnographic study examines the impact of the Great East Japan earth quake on kagura practice, more specifically the Ogatsu Hōin Kagura in Miyagi Prefecture, and shifting notions of the functions and meaning of ritual per formance. Referring to Satsuki Kawano’s notion of “emplacement,” I argue that the disaster has expanded the range of meanings in multiple ways. By demonstrating that practitioners play an essential role in redefining the nature of kagura performances in the wake of the earthquake and that the adaptation of the performance to changing circumstances helps to maintain its relevance, I argue that Hashimoto Hiroyuki’s concept of “the authenticity of practitio ners,” which seeks to understand folk performing arts as evolving rather than “authentic” cultural phenomena, continues to be highly pertinent.
This ethnographic study examines the impact of the Great East Japan earth quake on kagura practice, more specifically the Ogatsu Hōin Kagura in Miyagi Prefecture, and shifting notions of the functions and meaning of ritual per formance. Referring to Satsuki Kawano’s notion of “emplacement,” I argue that the disaster has expanded the range of meanings in multiple ways. By demonstrating that practitioners play an essential role in redefining the nature of kagura performances in the wake of the earthquake and that the adaptation of the performance to changing circumstances helps to maintain its relevance, I argue that Hashimoto Hiroyuki’s concept of “the authenticity of practitio ners,” which seeks to understand folk performing arts as evolving rather than “authentic” cultural phenomena, continues to be highly pertinent.