Akita Folk Culture

This book represents a comprehensive overview of how Akita residents perceived their folk culture and organized their lives in a non-metropolitan area of northeastern Japan during the 20th century.

Drawing on the rich essay collection of Minoru Yamada alongside the author’s native sensory ethnography (2012–2025), this study centers the voices of farmers, artisans, and women frequently excluded from public discourse. The book addresses critical intersections of rapid demographic aging, entrenched conservative gender roles, regional economic disparities, and the erosion of local dialects. Framed through Tim Ingold’s concepts of “wayfaring” and “transport” lines, it explores how residents actively negotiate survival, endurance, and cultural preservation against natural and national pressures.

Utilizing an autobiographical, reflexive approach to navigate honne and tatemae, this work offers a deeply relational and transparent analysis of modern non-metropolitan Japanese society, serving as a vital resource for anthropology and area studies.