The tug-of-war is widely spread throughout the world, especially in agricultural communities. The Gijisi Tug-of-War Festival is highly regarded. Held on the second weekend in April, it has a five-hundred-year history. The event, which is based on agriculture, fishery, and merchant traditions, is held to wish for prosperity and good luck for the coming year. The tug-of-war represents the agricultural, rural, and social characteristics of the region. The rope used for the event is two hundred meters long and one meter thick, so it is truly a community event. Similar tug-of-war games are also held in other nations. After creating a museum for Gijisi tug-of-war, members discovered that it could be a symbol of the region, so the local government invested into the museum. After building the museum, we wanted to expand our knowledge of tug-of-war events in other countries. In the past, there wasn’t much communication among the different communities celebrating tug-of-war festivities. However, after building the museum, we had the opportunity to invite other countries as a sort of network that allows research into other types of tug-of-war in the Asia-Pacific region. As Gijisi tug-of-war is well known, we thought that having a festival to display other cultures’ traditional tug-of-war through a networked festival. \n\nTug-of-war (juldarigi in Korean) is an intangible heritage that is commonly found in various regions across the world. In particular, it is a popular activity that takes place with the aim to foster harmony and solidarity among communities in rice-farming regions across Korea, Japan,and various Southeast Asian countries.

UNESCO has ten subcategories of human communities and networks, but there are two patterns of human civilizations—sedentary and nomadic communities. Difficulty with archaeologists and historians to explore and discover civilizational heritage information. Nomadic communities served as an ancient networking system, bridging sedentary communities with cultural and technological information. There is a necessity of a network approach on the discovery, excavation, preservation, and public opening of Silk Roads intangible cultural heritages through a singular project hub—namely through ICHCAP. Examples of existing projects include the Caravanserai projects by UNESCO and National Geographic, which focus on tangible heritage along the Silk Roads without considering cultural interconnections and influences. A Korean case is the KBS six-episode documentary series on the origin, spreading and localization of noodle cuisine in Eurasian communities. Another networking case currently under way is the development of series on Silk Roads martial arts, dance, and play through Korea, Japan, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Iran.

Urashima Taroyo is a famous Japanese folk tale of which numerous adaptations have been made in multiple genres, from novels to animations. This dance adaptation of a folk tale familiar to all Japanese people uses the beautiful melodies of folks songs and the dramatic movements of the dancer to express the changing emotions of the young fisherman Urashima in tender detail.\n\nCharacteristics:\n∙ Dance adaptation of a traditional Japanese folk tale\n\nPerformed by Hanayagi Ayamai

Urushi Lacquer in Japan: Restoration of Cultural Properties and the Current State of Urushi Production by Yuji Yonehara (Director, Center for Innovation in Traditional Industries Kyoto Seika University)

Examining human ethics revealed in the traditional use of natural resources and human-nature interactions. Introducing the environmental ethics concept of ‘creative conservation’, sharing examples from Japan and Australia in the use of intangible cultural heritage for environmental sustainability.

Alyne Delaney presents an overview of the current situation of intangible maritime cultural heritage among coastal residents and fishing cooperative association members who work and live in the Matsushima Bay region of Miyagi, Japan.