Onathallu, a martial art form of central Kerala, India, specifically on the banks of the River Nila, started as a form of entertainment for the upper castes, especially the rulers. Also known as kayyamkali, it means a martial exercise using hands. It is performed on festive occasions to show the strength of a group or village. It started as martial exercise for the soldiers who were part of the military troupe of a local landlord or king. In the old days, it was practiced in the courtyards of tharavadu (a big house where the landlords used to live). It then slowly started appearing in local festivals, adapting few steps and methods from the ancient martial art form called Kalari Payattu.\n\nOnly few artists are available to take the legacy forward; their attempts to do that bear positive results nonetheless, as young people have been inducted into training sessions. Since it requires mental and physical strength, only trained performers are allowed to participate in the show. It normally takes three to four years to become a good performer, depending on the speed and mental strength of the performer. During the initial years of the performers’ career, their opponents are from the same team or the asan (master) himself. They are allowed to select their opponents if they have enough maturity.\n\nChayikkaran (referee) controls the entire show. Traditionally, aged and experienced players take the role of the chayikkaran. The chayikkaran should know a few immediate tricks and treatment methods in case of emergencies during the show. Before they start the performance, the masters and chayikkarans bless the performers. These days, onathallu is performed only during the Onam season as a cultural show.\n\nPhoto : Onathallu demonstration © Vinod Nambiar

Cultural heritage is not limited to archaeological sites, monuments, and collections of objects. It includes tradi- tions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as ceremonies, rituals, performing arts, beliefs about the world, and enactment prac- tices. While these expressions may not be tangible, they are a continuously evolving form of living tradition, recreated and adapted in response to the environment around us. They provide us with a sense of identity, a feeling of belonging, and an inclusive, representative, collective way of expressing culture.

Tugging rituals and games survived in Ukraine from different epochs, keeping a deep ethnological sense and didactic use. Through decades and centuries, tugging traditions, which later formed the basis of different sport competitions and educational exercises related to tugging, have been modified, reflecting changed environments and social demands. As a rule, they constituted an important part of rural street (open-air) life and entertainment as well as public festivals associated with calendar or religious holidays, like Kolodiy, Masliana, and Stritennia (Pancake Week, Shrovetide, and Candlemas Day, respec-tively) and Midsummer Day, Christmas, Easter holidays. A lot of popular customs from pre-Christian (pagan) times passed to the Christian holidays and have continued until now. Obviously, as a recognized researcher of folk life, V. Skurativsky, wrote, the ethnographic term “street” to mean the ancient traditional form of youth entertain-ment that originated from the places of young people’s meetings.

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) refers to the non-physical aspects of cultural heritage. We can preserve tangible cultural heritage, such as buildings and artifacts, to pass them down to the next generation. It is, however, difficult to determine what specifically should be preserved when it comes to ICH. Generally, ICH elements are selected and then practitioners of the arts or skills are designated to preserve and transmit the elements. The essence of ICH preservation, therefore, is to transmit the arts and skills of ICH from people to people and from generation to generation.

Abstract: This paper discusses lion dances as an example of shared heritage. In the local communities of Japan, there are several thousand lion dance troupes. These types of performances, where the dancers don animal costumes, can be found in various locations across Asia. While the dances are similar in shape, they vary in meaning, religious background, music, style, etc. Such differences are a manifestation of diversity. As such, when considering shared heritage, it is important to recognize the aspect of diversity.\n\nJapan has never made a multinational nomination to the UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). The reason for this lies in Japan’s method of selecting candidate properties for nomination. That is, Japan abides by a unique policy of selecting candidate properties from among those designated as cultural properties by the national government. “Cultural properties” refer comprehensively to the system for safeguarding cultural heritage in Japan and can be designated not only by the national government but also by local administrative units such as prefectures and municipalities. However, only nationally designated cultural properties have so far been eligible for nomination as a UNESCO’s List of ICHs, and the national designation criteria include no requirement to consider international compatibility. The designation criteria of local governments include no such requirement, either.\n\nIn other words, as long as Japan’s criteria for selecting candidate properties for nomination to the UNESCO’s List of ICHs conform to the domestic criteria for selecting cultural properties, making a multinational nomination would continue to be extremely difficult. Under the present system, responding to proposals from other countries would also be difficult. Yet, I have hope. In 2021, the cultural properties system for ICH in Japan was slightly modified. In place of the conventional system of designation, a system of registration was adopted with respect to intangible cultural heritage to provide more flexibility in safeguarding a wider scope of properties than ever before. Such a new system might promote the awareness of the need to take a more international perspective. At the same time, views that Japan should strive to make multinational nominations are emerging within discussions about UNESCO’s List of ICHs. When considering such trends, the prospect of Japan making multinational nominations or responding to proposals from other countries may be realized in the future.\n\nThus, in this paper, I wish to discuss what types of multinational nominations would be possible, based on case examples of folk performing arts, my specialty area. It should firstly be noted, however, that there are two categories of performing arts in Japan, namely traditional performing arts and folk performing arts. Traditional performing arts are fundamentally performed in theaters by professional performers. There are also amateur performers of traditional performing arts, who generally study under a specific master. Folk performing arts, on the other hand, are fundamentally performed by amateur performers within a specific event held in a particular region. Most are linked to faith and have been inherited through festivals and annual events. In placing them under the domestic system for safeguarding cultural properties, traditional performing arts are judged by their artistic and historical value, and folk performing arts are evaluated mainly by their folkloric value (stipulated by law as performing arts that show transitions in lifestyles). A large number of folk performing arts exist in Japan. As of 2020, as many as 8443 properties, including festivals and annual events, have been nationally or locally designated for safeguarding as intangible folk cultural properties. When including properties that have not been designated, more than several tens of thousands of performing arts are thought to exist. These folk performing arts have emerged from diverse historical contexts and are further classified into a number of subcategories. Among these performing arts, I wish to focus on Lion Dances, or “Shishi-mai.” I must, however, confess that I am regrettably not well-versed in the intangible cultural heritage situation in East Asia as a whole. I, therefore, wish to apologize in advance that the case examples I present herein are not necessarily common to all countries in East Asia.

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) provides a continuous link between the past, present and future. Every country flourishes with distinct ICH elements which needed to be safeguarded and transmitted from one generation to another. Weaving is one of the ICH elements that has thrived and intertwined knowledge systems, creativities, customs and belief systems of different cultures around the world. Communities identify their cultures through their traditional costumes which were handwoven using ancient weaving techniques.

By using Rakhine Royal Drum was found at the period of Visali of the king of Chandra.\nAt the time of king Chandra, the lyrical ode of the crown princess Saw Pyae Nyo was played with the various kinds of instruments. Long-drum and Than-Lwin-drum contained in this instruments.In the Myanmar era of 897 ( 1535 AD ) when was called Lay Myoe Age, King Min Bar built Yan Aung Zaya Chittaung stupa with a vaulted vase. \nRakhine oil lamp dance, Shawl dance, Powewar dance, the sports of Mrauk.U period such as the posture of wrestling, boxing, the stick martial art and the figures in the posture of playing the Rakhine musical instruments such as the Rakhine Duelong Harp, bamboo pipes wind instrument, melodious small drum , hand-cymbals , cymbals၊ horn, long drum , Marlakhon fiddle, the bugle , the cymbal and the flute were sculpted as the ancient supporting evidences of Rakhine long drum on the western wall of the second tunnel of Shittaung pagoda.Rakhine nationality mostly used long drum. According to the ceremony, the drum which is used to celebrate pagoda festival is called MuYoe Drum. Pan-taja drum is used for the wedding ceremony and the ceremony of propitiate nats. Khat- Ttin drum is used for the funeral ceremony. \nSi- Byaw( kind of long drum ) is used to play the novitiated ceremony. One- headed drum is used for ceremony of pulling gharry. Kyin-drum is used for the posture of wrestling. There are fourteen kinds of Rakhine drum. They are Mhyaut drum, Than Lwin drum, Mu-Yoe drum ( Si-Pyaw ), Singal headed small drum, Big drum (Shan si) , Donmin drum , Si Pataung drum, Si wun drum , Melodious small drum, One-headed drum, Pan:taya: si drum, Pat Si drum (Kyin si), Si chay drum, Si ai drum.

The Tao Foundation for Culture and Arts is a Philippine non-profit, non-governmental orga-nization based in Quezon City, National Capital Region, Luzon and in Agusan del Sur, Caraga Region, Northeastern Mindanao. Established in 1994, the Tao Foundation is led by an all-fe-male Board composed of Filipino scholars, artists, and Indigenous community leaders engaged in cultural regeneration initiatives in response to the five centuries of colonial and neocolonial histories and the need to help build strong cultural communities. The Tao Foundation’s mission is to (1) facilitate the exchange, transmission, and development of Philippine ICH/TCH; and to (2) contribute to the empowerment of culture bearers or those who possess ancestral practical and theoretical knowledges that have endured and transformed to remain relevant through colonial and neocolonial histories as a result of day-to-day and more large-scale acts of resistance.

The Tao Foundation for Culture and Arts is a Philippine non-profit, non-governmental orga- nization based in Quezon City, National Capital Region, Luzon and in Agusan del Sur, Caraga Region, Northeastern Mindanao. Established in 1994, the Tao Foundation is led by an all-fe- male Board composed of Filipino scholars, artists, and Indigenous community leaders engaged in cultural regeneration initiatives in response to the five centuries of colonial and neocolonial histories and the need to help build strong cultural communities.

Engaging the youth in the safeguarding and promotion of intangible cultural heritage has been a priority for intangible cultural heritage experts in the Republic of South Korea. In the present research, I therefore seek to briefly examine the issue of youth engagement in Korean intangible cultural heritage system through the lens of critical theory of youth engagement. By examining current programs developed and implemented for, with and by the youth, I would like to identify the dynamics that inform the engagement of young people in the safeguarding and promotion of Korean intangible cultural heritage. Among many other things, I argue that, the youth-adult relationship significantly influences both the operation and outcome of the existing programs. And in a broader sense, such evolving relationship should be understood as manifestation of the symbolic dynamics currently informing the operation of intangible cultural heritage system in the Republic of South Korea as well as the expected outcomes of intangible cultural heritage safeguarding and promotion.

In light of UNESCO’s mission to overcome conflicts of the Cold War through cooperation in education, science and culture for peace and development, inter-Korean cooperation in intangible heritage and its contribution to peace on the Korean peninsula is a pertinent field that ties in with UNESCO ideals. As we hope for improvement in inter-Korean politics paving the way for future cooperation, let’s examine the considerations necessary for inter-Korean cooperation, as well as potential areas of cooperation.

Since Korea has undergone the fierce contemporary history through the Japanese colonial era and the Korean War, the Korean government enacted the Cultural Heritage Protection Act in 1962 for safeguarding and transmitting Korean cultural heritage. In this act, the term intangible cultural heritage (ICH) was officially coined as a legal concept, and provisions were prepared to designate and safeguard ICH at the national level. Thus, the Korean legal system for safeguarding ICH was established forty years before the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003).