Cultural environment - a set of sociocultural objects related to the creation and dissemination of cultural values, as well as the style and nature of cultural relationships of people, cultural and everyday conditions and a spiritual and moral atmosphere in society.

Daimokutate is a performing art where young people read aloud in turn the lines for each character in a tale without background music. The repertoire of Daimokutate performed for the past one hundred years consists of two tales about the feud between the Genji and Heike clans which actually happened in Japan in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. These stories have eight and ten characters. Recently Daimokutate with fewer characters are often performed. The stage is installed outside the main hall of the Yahashira Shrine in the community; a wooden board of 1.8 meter squares with a straw-made mat on it is placed within an area of approximately 3.6 meters wide and 4.5 meters deep delineated with bamboo fences of approximately 1 meter in height. After seven o’clock in the evening, an old man guides to the stage young men singing in a line, wearing samurai clothes, and holding bows in their hands. They stand on the stage, leaving space between them, and face the centre with their backs toward the fence. When the old man calls the name of a character in a tale, the young man taking that role reads aloud a long script with a distinctive accent and intonation. No specific acting can be seen. Calling on the young men one by one, approximately twenty-six scripts are read aloud in turns. Then, one young man advances to the centre and rhythmically stamps his feet. Finally all say together the celebratory remarks, and they are guided again off the stage by the old man while singing in a line. It takes approximately one hour in total. Daimokutate is a performing art carried out by a person who takes the role of a specific character and simply reads aloud with almost no acting. Currently in Japan there are no performing arts similar to this. This performing art is important in that it reminds us of the image of performing arts existing in Japan from the twelfth to around the seventeenth centuries Daimokutate has been transmitted and performed for the public as part of the distinctive local culture by the people in the community for many years. Japan has no performing art similar to this. The more its value is recognized in the history of Japanese performing arts, the more fully the people of that community understand it as part of their own valuable culture. Designated by the Government in 1976 as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, it is widely recognized as an element of important cultural heritage reflecting the shifts in the Japanese daily life style. From the seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries, Daimokutate was transmitted by the twenty-two families in the Kami-fukawa community. The twenty-two families recognized the Yahashira Shrine as their guardian and constituted a community. The eldest son recognized as the heir of each family performed Daimokutate on the eve of the festivals of the Yahashira Shrine at the age of seventeen. Performing Daimokutate is a sign of formal admission to the community of the twenty-two families. Since the twentieth century, in addition to the twenty-two families, people who worship the Yahashira Shrine have also participated in the transmission and the public performance of Daimokutate. If there is no young man exactly seventeen years of age in the community, these days a senior young man assumes the role instead. Daimokutate constitutes of a long script with a kind of melody. Roles in the tale are assigned to young men in August, two months before the public performance, so that they can completely memorize their respective scripts; they practice under the instructions of former performers every Sunday. Every night from October 8th to 10th, they gather and practice intensively. On the morning of the performance day, they make the stage and prepare for the actual performance before the public at night. The community of Kami-fukawa which has transmitted Daimokutate is located deep in the mountains, and life was severe. Stronger solidarity and more mutual cooperation were required of this community than of other communities. Thus, Daimokutate is recognized to be indispensable for the local solidarity, and hence it has been transmitted from generation to generation to the present day, and performed every year. Members of the transmitting group and their local community recognize Daimokutate as part of their own excellent, distinctive culture, and take pride in it in relation to other groups and communities. Participation in the performance of Daimokutate once meant approval of admission to the community. Even today the transmission and the performance of Daimokutate allow the group and community to reconfirm their own identity, and reinforce their continuity. Daimokutate is a performing art transmitted down to today by ordinary Japanese for many years, and still performed, reflecting the Japanese sense of performing arts. The Japanese concept of confirmation of a community can be found in the background of the transmission and the performance of Daimokutate. Daimokutate mentioned above has a significant meaning in today’s Japan from a social and cultural viewpoint. The bearers continue their efforts to ensure that this inheritance from their ancestors is transmitted to the future.

Japan 2009

Worshipping practices of sacred sites in Mongolia have been developed in specific cultural space of nomadic lifestyle in the vast grassland steppe of Central Asia. One of the main characteristics of nomadic culture is its close relationship and harmony with nature and environment. These practices, according to ancient shamanism, are based on belief in the existence of invisible deities of sky, earth, mountains, and all natural surroundings. Furthermore, Mongolians believe that these deities exist on the top of the mountain or any hill between sky and earth and choose these places as sacred sites for the worshipping for and offerings to these deities. They pile up Ovoos (stone mound) in these places and perform worshipping rituals and ceremonies. All participants at the worshipping rituals ask a deity to bring a timely rain, to protect humans and livestock from natural disasters, and to bestow prosperity and blessings on the participants and local people of given areas. In early times, sacred sites were worshipped with shamanic rituals and these wonderful traditions were later enriched with Buddhist teachings and rites. In a sense of respect and symbol and in geographical importance, sacred mountains, hills or the head of rivers in general have become as a cradle (centre) of the natural and cultural areas concerned and create a specific socio-cultural space and a unique cultural heritage landscape. These sacred sites are the symbol of cultural identity and spiritual cohesion of local people concerned and a sacred site for performing worshipping rituals and organizing important social events and ceremonies of given communities. Researchers regard the worshipping practices of sacred sites as multi-functional and multi-content cultural heritage element. The worshipping rituals in Mongolia have originally been conducted by the kin group and later by the local and indigenous people of a specific areas and further by specific representatives of State authorities and interested people at national level. The procedures and ritual order of worship ceremony are usually similar but some differences can be observed in regards to local customs and traditions. In different places, the people who lead worship ceremony are variously called as the owner of Ovoo or head of Ovoo. Those experienced people should be native and respectful people. In rare occasions, if a ritual is conducted in the way of shamanic tradition, a shaman leads this ritual ceremony. If it is a Buddhist ritual, a monk leads a worship ceremony. The key organizer consults with respectful elders, the head of the Buddhist monastery or shaman about the time for conducting ceremony. Timing is determined in accordance with traditional astrology. Once the time is set up, the day of worship is publicly announced. A worship ceremony is often conducted during the summer and/or autumn of the year. In the early morning before sunrise, all participants, in their best dresses, carrying offering food and items, start to head towards the Ovoo together with their young children. Bringing young children to the worship ceremony allows the youngsters to learn the customs and traditions of the community. Before starting the worship ceremony, varied coloured ceremonial scarves are tied to the main wood that is placed in an Ovoo and a hand-made figure of the deity is placed on white cotton in front of the Ovoo. Offering food and items are also placed in front of the Ovoo. Honourable guests, usually elders, sit in the north west direction of the Ovoo. If the State worship ceremony is performed, a state official opens the ceremony by reading an official decree issued for particular worship ceremony. Buddhist monks sit in the north east direction of the Ovoo. There should be more than three monks. Monks should possess knowledge of how to recite (sutra) offering texts with the use of various musical instruments. Sometimes the elders recite offering texts. Offerings including dairy products or cooked meats are placed in the east of the Ovoo. Various aromatic substances such as juniper’s needle, wormwood and wild thyme are burned as a sanctification of the sacred site. The procedure of the ritual ceremony starts with invoking deities and nymphs to come to the offering site then followed by presenting various offerings to them. After making offerings, participants of the ceremony make requests to deities and nymphs to grant richness in livestock and bestow success and prosperity on them. Monks chant sutras dedicated to this mountain and Ovoo. Meanwhile, an arrow called as bringer of auspiciousness is shot towards the sky and mark out any livestock animal as being consecrated to a divinity. Following the ceremony, a festival of horse racing, wrestling and archery competition as well as singing and dancing take place immediately. This tradition is highly considered as one of unique and humane intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia. - Locals participate at sacred site worship ceremony on a voluntarily basis. The local elders personally teach younger people how to attend and behave at the worship ceremony. A sacred site worship ceremony brings all community members together and builds a sense of community and solidarity. - The worshipping natural environment creates more awareness among the people about interdependence between human beings and the environment and creates more respect for the nature. This is one of the best environmental protection methods that has been preserved by the Mongols since ancient time. - The ritual procession is based on Mongolian folk beliefs, literature, poetry, song, dance, rituals, festive events and as well as handicrafts. Thus, the sacred site worship ceremony preserves those ICH elements through time. In sum, it is clear that worshipping practices of sacred sites have immeasurable value both in transmission of ICH and as a source of public education, identity and pride. At the practical level, these practices play an important role in maintaining ecological balance and the preservation and protection of biological and cultural diversity. This heritage significantly contributes to the protection of our natural environment and wildlife as sacred and pristine.

Mongolia 2017